On 10 November, during the EU Western Balkans Media Conference in Tirana, the winners of the EU investigative journalism award were announced. The jury comprised media experts, some of them from the project consortium and others from the extensive network of the project consortium members, includimg editors, members of academia and distinguished journalists.

The call for EU investigative journalism award was open for awards for investigative stories published during 2021 related to freedom of expression, the rule of law, transparency, abuse of power, fundamental rights, corruption and organised crime.

Individuals or groups of journalists were invited to apply with their stories in any journalism forms (print, online, radio and TV), published or broadcast in the media in each country in official, minority or international languages. The award fund in each of the six Western Balkans countries and Turkey was made up of €5,000 for the first prize, €3,000 for the second and €2,000 for the third prize.