Winners of Kazakhstan’s Ürker and Tumar national media awards announced in Astana
Kazakhstan’s national Ürker and Tumar media awards were presented in Astana, recognizing journalists, editorial teams and media organizations for outstanding achievements in print, digital, radio and television journalism, Qazinform News Agency reports.
The awards ceremony was held at the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation.
This year, the Ürker and Tumar awards were united under the Qazaqstan Media Awards umbrella to mark their 10th anniversary. Following a competitive selection process, winners were chosen in 12 nominations covering various fields of Kazakh journalism, including new media technologies and AI-based projects.
Ürker Award Winners 2026
The Journalist of the Year award went to Zhanar Serdalina of Bestnews.kz.
Other laureates include:
- Best Radio Project: Oituma program, Kazakh Radio.
- Future of Journalism: Best Artificial Intelligence Project: AI-ZHAN, Altainews Media Centre.
- Best Media Project (YouTube/Podcast): Tengri TV, Tengrinews.
- Best Article of the Year: Miramgul Rakhatkyzy of Aqtobe newspaper for the article “Artificial Intelligence: Humanity Enters a New Era.”
- Best Analytical Article: Laura Tussupbekova of Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper, for the article “My DNA Is Our Wealth.”
Tumar Award Winners 2026
The following journalists and media teams received awards in TV nominations:
- Best TV Presenter: Veronika Vishnevskaya, Channel One Eurasia.
- Best Documentary Project: 24KZ for the documentary 4739 about organ transplantation.
- Best Television Report: Qazaqstan TV for Rapid Construction (Qarqyndy Qurylys).
- Best Social Project in the “Law and Order” and “Taza Qazaqstan” categories: Jibek Joly for Truth in Detail project.
- Best Television Series: Astana TV for Auyl Bapkeri.
- Best News and Analytical Program: News program on Channel 7.
The Ürker and Tumar national awards were established in 2017 to support talented journalists and creative teams and to recognize their contribution to the development of Kazakhstan’s media industry.
Earlier, it was reported that the Kazakh President’s TV and Radio Complex and the State Committee of Turkmenistan for Television, Radio Broadcasting and Cinematography signed an agreement on establishing the permanent Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan Media Council.