The media award for civil society awarded The journalists can change stereotypes   A1 Television is the winner of this year’s civil society award, which has been awarded via voting, in a process where all legally registered civil society organizations and foundations in Macedonia were given the opportunity to express their opinions. The voting took place between 12 September and 10 October 2006 within the Project for strengthening the civil society implemented on the initiative of the Macedonian Institute for Media. It is a three-year project financed by USAID and implemented by a consortium lead by the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) with participation of the Macedonian Institute for Media (MIM), the Institutional Development Centre (IDC) and the European Centre for Non-Profit Law (ECNpL). The project’s mission is to increase the civil participation in the decision-making process on political and social level by expanding and deepening the civil society’s influence. In that direction, the USAID Director, Teresa Albor said at the awarding ceremony that the journalists are those who can change the stereotypes. This year’s award was presented to the A1 TV by the project director Stephanie Rast fro ISC. She explained that is was a three-year project with a total budget of 5 million dollars the objective of which is to make the civil society more powerful. This award is given in Macedonia for the first time. Other media who were acknowledged for their contribution in the civil society development were MTV, Sitel and Utrinski Vesnik.   T.D.