“Laza Kostic” award to Kosovo Online cartoonist: The award belongs to the portal, not to me

The Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS) presented this year’s awards today, marking the 144th anniversary of its founding. The “Laza Kostic” Award in the cartoon category was presented to Kosovo Online cartoonist Vladislav Filipovic for his cartoon titled “Map.”

UNS President Zivojin Rakocevic congratulated the award recipients, telling them that they represent the brightest mosaic of Serbia this year.

Rakocevic said that the year behind us is not just one year, but rather ten years of pressure, a hostile atmosphere of attacks, and a serious endangerment of everything the journalistic profession stands for.

“We live in a time, both global and local, when an individual professional in search of the truth must consciously expose themselves to pluralism and propaganda. It is a difficult period. But there is one joy that makes us important and special, and that is that in this hall today there is a mosaic of the brightest figures of this profession, coming from different newsrooms, holding differing views. Thank you for being here and for being the brightest mosaic of Serbia this year,” the UNS president said.

The chair of the jury that decided on the “Laza Kostic” Award, Predrag Rava, explained that Filipovic’s cartoon depicts the need for a family grave, transformed into an absurd adventure resembling a search for lost treasure.

“In that way, irony and sorrow are combined in a single image,” Rava said.

The award was presented to Filipovic by UNS President Zivojin Rakocevic.

Filipovic pointed out that there are fewer and fewer places where cartoons can be published, and that Kosovo Online is one of those rare platforms.

“In 2021, I also received a UNS award for a cartoon while working for Kosovo Online. I thank the portal, because there are fewer and fewer places where something can be published. My cooperation with Kosovo Online is something I will always be grateful for to the entire team,” Filipovic said.

A few years ago, one of his cartoons was also awarded the “Golden Pierre.”

“And that, too, was an award for the portal, not for me—just like this one. I am immensely glad to have received this award on behalf of the Kosovo Online portal,” Filipovic emphasized.

He added that, unfortunately, it is easy for him to find inspiration, especially considering the situation in which Serbs live in Kosovo.

“The situation in Kosovo and Metohija is such that anyone with even a little cynicism can see what is happening and how, and it is very easy to find a topic and inspiration,” Filipovic said.

The “Aleksandar Tijanic” Award for journalistic courage was presented to Milan Culibrk, economics editor of the weekly Radar.

The “Laza Kostic” Award in the news and report category, for the exclusive story “Colonel Spasoje Vulevic: I Was Dismissed on Friday Because the SAJ Is Not Under Vucic’s Absolute Control,” was awarded to Beta journalist Velimir Perovic.

The “Laza Kostic” Award in the reportage category went to Kurir journalist Jelena Spasic for her series of reports on Prebilovci.

Lifetime achievement awards were presented to journalist, analyst, and publicist Branislav Gulan, and to journalist and ANEM president Veran Matic.

The award for the best annual editorial concept, “Dimitrije Davidovic,” was presented to Jelena Božovic, editor of the Current Affairs desk at Radio Television of Serbia (RTS).

The special award for contribution to the history of journalism and publicistic works, “Zika M. Jovanovic,” was awarded to journalist Bojan Cvejic for the publication “Codes of Journalists of Serbia from 1965 to 2025.”

The photography award, which this year bears the name “Jaroslav Pap,” was presented to Nenad Mihajlovic for a photograph from the commemoration of the anniversary of the Novi Sad canopy collapse, published in the online edition of The Guardian.

This year, the “Bogdan Tirnanic” Award for commentary or column was not presented. In its explanation, the jury stated that although the submitted proposals were of high quality, none carried the weight worthy of the name of a journalist such as Bogdan Tirnanic.

The UNS Golden Charter was awarded this year to Slobodan Radicevic.