Kazakhstan has named its best journalist, best TV presenter and the first winning project using artificial intelligence. The Tumar and Urker awards were presented at a joint ceremony during Astana Media Week 2026, the website infohub.kz reports.
This year the two national awards were brought together for the first time under the Qazaqstan Media Awards brand. More than 600 journalists submitted entries across 12 categories. Winners were chosen by an independent jury made up of journalists, media industry representatives and sector experts.
Veronika Vishnevskaya of Channel One Eurasia was named best TV presenter. The award for best documentary project went to "4739" by the 24KZ channel, while the prize for best television piece went to "Qarqyndy qurylys" on the Qazaqstan channel.
The best social project award went to "Pravda v detalyakh" (The Truth in Detail) on Jibek Joly, and the best TV series prize to "Auyl bapkeri" on Astana TV. In the best news and analysis programme category, the winner was "Novosti" on Channel 7.
Zhanar Serdalina received the Best Journalist of the Year award. The best radio project was "Oituma" on Qazaq Radio, and the best media project went to Tengrinews and Tengri TV.
The material of the year was Miramgul Rakhatkyzy's article "Artificial Intelligence: Humanity Has Entered a New Era" in the newspaper Aqtobe. Laura Tusupbekova of Kazakhstanskaya Pravda was honoured for best analytical material as the author of the piece "My DNA Is Our Wealth".
For the first time, the awards also recognised the best project in the field of artificial intelligence. In the new category "The Future of Journalism", the Altainews Media Centre won with its project "AI-ZHAN".
Special prizes marking the 30th anniversary went to the Presidential Television and Radio Complex and Informburo.
Minister of Culture and Information Arman Kyrykbaev said at the ceremony that professional journalism and dedicated specialists will remain in demand despite the development of technology and AI.
"I am confident that state policy on the media sphere will remain unchanged in the future as well," he said, speaking about support for the industry.
The Tumar and Urker awards were established in 2017. The first recognises achievements in domestic television, the second in print, radio and online journalism.