The winners of the first True Story Award were announced on Saturday, August 31 during the Reportagen Festival Bern in the capital of Switzerland. The jury, made up of eight experts from eight countries, presented the first global journalism award to three journalists for their exceptional and courageous reporting.

Winner of the grand prize and CHF 30,000 is journalist Shura Burtin from Russia for Monitor 1 – a profile of the Chechen human rights activist Oyub Titiyev who was imprisoned on fabricated charges. The report was first published in Russian in Meduza in September 2018. Burtin was commended for his excellent narrative, in-depth and courageous reporting and the unexpected way he drew attention to a forgotten war.

Read the full story here: https://truestoryaward.org/press-release. And if you know of a compelling long-form journalism piece in any language, consider submitting it to the next True Story Award: submissions open Nov. 1 2019.