Oslobođenje


Oslobođenje is a daily newspaper in Bosnia and Herzegovina based in the capital city Sarajevo. Founded on 30 August 1943, in the midst of World War II, on a patch of territory liberated by Partisans, in what was otherwise German-occupied country, paper gained recognition over the years for its high journalistic standards and is recipient of numerous domestic honors and international awards in a branch.

History and profile

Oslobođenje was founded on 30 August 1943 in Donja Trnova near Ugljevik, as an anti-Nazi newspaper. During the Bosnian war and the Siege of Sarajevo, the Oslobođenje staff operated out of a makeshift newsroom in a bomb shelter after its 10-story office building had been destroyed. The war left five staff members dead and 25 wounded.
In 1993, it was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The editors of Oslobođenje, Kemal Kurspahić and Gordana Knezević, were named International Editors of the Year for 1993 by the World Press Review in New York, for their "bravery, tenacity, and dedication to the principles of journalism." Duo also received the Courage in Journalism Award in 1992 from the International Women's Media Foundation in Washington, D.C.. Kurspahić was also recipient of the Nieman Fellowship for Journalism at Harvard University in 1994, among other honors. Immediately after the war ended in 1995, editor-in-chief Mehmed Halilović accepted the University of Missouri Honor Medal from the School of Journalism in Columbia, Missouri for continuous publication of the daily newspaper throughout the 1992–95 siege of Sarajevo. During the war, its staff, consisting of Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs, and Bosnian Croats, managed to print the paper every day, with one exception.
In 2006, the company was bought by way of the Sarajevo Stock Exchange by two leading city industries: the Sarajevo Tobacco Factory and the Sarajevska Pivara.
The paper is close to the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Awards and recognition