The European Press Prize is a non-profit foundation based in the Netherlands. It runs a programme of journalism awards of the same name for journalists from 46 countries, the Council of Europe, Belarus and Russia. As part of the programme, a jury awards prizes in five categories each year. These are Distinguished Reporting, Innovation, Investigative Reporting, Migration Journalism and Public Discourse. In addition, the jury also awards a special prize for outstanding journalism that transcends categories and disciplines.
History
The European Press Prize was founded in 2012 by seven European media foundations:
The Guardian Foundation,
Thomson Reuters Foundation,
Jyllands-Posten Foundation,
Politiken Foundation,
Media Development Investment Fund, Vereniging Veronica and Stichting Democratie en Media. In 2015,
The Irish Times Trust Limited joined as a member organisation, and
Agora SA
Agora Spółka Akcyjna (Agora SA) is a Polish media company. Agora and ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' (''The'' ''Electoral Gazette'') were created on the eve of the 1989 Polish legislative election, parliamentary elections in 1989. ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' beca ...
followed two years later. In 2020, the philanthropic organisation Luminate became a member.
The first ceremony was at
De Balie in Amsterdam in 2013, the 2014 awards were given at the
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
headquarters in London, and in 2015 the European Press Prize visited the
JP/Politiken headquarters in Copenhagen. The 2016 awards were presented in Prague with the help of the ''Forum2000'' team. For the fifth anniversary in 2017, the ceremony was held in founding place
De Balie in Amsterdam again. In 2018 it took place in Budapest at the ''Open Archives Society''. In 2019 the prizes were awarded in Warsaw at the headquarters of
Gazeta Wyborcza
(; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish nationwide daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It was launched on 8 May 1989 on the basis of the Polish Round Table Agreement and as a press organ of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), t ...
. As the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
prohibited a live ceremony, the winners of the 2020 and the 2021 edition were announced online.
The organisation is based in Amsterdam.
Jury
Each year, a preparatory committee selects a shortlist, which is published on the European Press Prize website. A panel of judges then selects the winners of the five categories from this list. The jury also decides who will receive the special prize. The winners are usually announced at the Awards Ceremony in May or June.
Currently, the panel of judges is composed of:
* (chair)
Alan Rusbridger
Alan Charles Rusbridger (born 29 December 1953) is a British journalist and editor of ''Prospect (magazine), Prospect'' magazine. He was formerly editor-in-chief of ''The Guardian'' and then principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
Rusbridger ...
, former editor-in-chief of
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
*
Alexandra Föderl-Schmid, deputy editor of the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...
*
Can Dündar, Turkish journalist, documentary filmmaker and book author
* , freelance columnist for
De Volkskrant
''De Volkskrant'' (; ), stylized as de Volkskrant, is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000.
Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium- ...
* , co-founder and CEO of Maldita.es, a Spanish foundation fighting disinformation
From 2013 until 2020:
* (chair)
Sir Harold Evans, editor-at-large of Thomson Reuters and the former editor of the
Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
* Jørgen Ejbol, chairman of the Jyllands-Posten Foundation
Awards
The European Press Prize is given in five categories. A sixth special award chosen by the jury is optional.
Each prize is worth €10,000.
Investigative Reporting Award
This award is given for "discovering and revealing facts, exposing hidden news to the public".
Distinguished Reporting Award
This award honors "exceptional reporting, telling a story in the best possible way". Until 2017, the category was called Distinguished Writing Award. In 2018 the category was renamed Distinguished Reporting Award.
Public Discourse Award
Until 2017, the Commentator Award was given for quality commentary and opinionated journalism. Since 2018, the Opinion Award is given for best commentator or remarkable interpretation.
Innovation Award
This category awards journalists for their inventive or groundbreaking way of storytelling.
Migration Journalism Award
This award is honors each your one "acclaimed example of migration journalism". The award was introduced in 2023 with the support of the Robert Bosch Stiftung.
Special Award
The Special Award is optional for the jury and allows them to single out high quality journalism that they think deserves special recognition. This could be awarded to an individual journalist, news organisation or specific piece of journalism.
European Cartoon Award
In 2019, the European Cartoon Award was founded in cooperation with Studio Europa Maastricht. This new Award aims to promote and encourage European cartoonists, while preserving the endangered form of art and great asset to journalism. The winner of the first edition was the French cartoonist and illustrator Anne Derenne for her cartoon “Jenga – the earth’s sixth mass distinction.”
See also
*
:European Press Prize winners
References
External links
European Press Prize*European Press Priz
Winners and Nominees*European Press Priz
Cartoon Award Nominees{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511141211/https://www.europeanpressprize.com/cartoon-award/shortlist-2020/ , date=11 May 2021
Open Archives Society
European journalism awards
Awards established in 2012