The first Müşerref Hekimoğlu Press Award goes to Devrim Sevimay from Milliyet newspaper. The prize is endowed by the Communication Research Association (ILAD).

İLAD assigns the award for the first time this year and intends to annually award a "female journalist that contributes to a free communication environment with an unbiased journalistic approach". The prize was especially designed for Müşerref Hemimoğlu by the ceramics artist Sıtkı Olçar as a phoenix symbolically revived from the ashes in reference to the Anka ('Phoenix') News Agency founded by Hekimoğlu.

Journalist Sevimay will receive the award during a prize giving ceremony at the Communications Faculty of Marmara University (Istanbul) on Monday (22 November). Speeches will be delivered by İLAD President Hıfzı Topuz and Prof. Nermin Abadan Unat as colleagues and close friends of Müşerref Hekimoğlu.

Subsequent to the prize giving ceremony, İLAD organized a panel discussion entitled "The media between the referendum and the elections", referring to the period of time between the referendum on the constitutional reform package in September this year and the general elections in June next year. The panel will be attended by Füsun Özbilgen, Devrim Sevimay, Dr Atilla Özsever, economist Mustafa Sönmez and Erol Çankaya.

Müşerref Hekimoğlu

Müşerref Hekimoğlu was born in Istanbul in 1921. Hekimoğlu started her journalistic career at Hayat Magazine in Istanbul in 1948. She wrote columns for the Yeni Sabah, Akşam and Cumhuriyet newspaper. Together with her husband, Kuvvet Başarır, she founded the Öncü newspaper in Ankara. She was one of the founders of the ANKA News Agency established in 1972. In 1977, she took over the Chair of the Steering Board from MP Altan Öymen. She became Honorary President of ANKA in 2004.

Hekimoğlu was the author of several novels and translated many books from German to Turkish. She died on 10 October 2004 aged 83. (BİA/EÖ/VK)