Jennifer Athanasiou-Prins is the new Director of the European Press Prize

We are happy to announce that Jennifer Athanasiou-Prins stepped up to the role of Director of the European Press Prize.

Nienke Venema, chair of the Board of the European Press Prize: “Jennifer has been a valuable member of the European Press Prize team for almost five years. Her eminent talent, energy, enthusiasm and devotion to the cause make her a natural successor to Thomas van Neerbos. We as a Board have great confidence in her leadership skills and look forward to working with her.”

Prior to her position as Director, Jennifer Athanasiou-Prins has been our Contracts & Partner Lead for two years, and Head of Operations for three years before that. Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Laws degree with honours as well as a Master of Laws degree in Dutch civil law from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Jennifer specialises in organisational and business development, community building, fundraising and building and maintaining relationships with stakeholders. Given her legal background, she values governance and equity highly.

Jennifer Athanasiou-Prins at iMEdD’s International Journalism Forum 2022 talking about the European Press Prize

A new entry season of the Prize opens, with a new Director

The appointment of Jennifer as Director overlaps with the start of a new season of the Prize, marked by the opening of the entry period on 1 October. Journalists from the Council of Europe, plus Belarus and Russia are encouraged to submit their pieces until December 15.

She explained: “It is an honour to lead an organisation that is committed to encouraging independent quality journalism. In a time where trust in journalism is declining, I believe the European Press Prize can distinguish and set a standard of what quality journalism entails. By celebrating and empowering journalists all over Europe and beyond, we strive to offer them a source of legitimacy in complicated times – and that is a mission that I wholeheartedly support and will prioritise.”

After a ten-year-long directorship of Thomas van Neerbos, the role passes now to Jennifer, to continue in the footsteps of her predecessor and continue strengthening our organisation:

Jennifer said: “I am beyond excited to fulfil the position of Director and honoured by the confidence expressed by the Board in me. Strengthening the European Press Prize further for the future will be at the core of my activities. I will endeavour to do this through a people-centred approach that values cultural sensitivity – and by maintaining the valuable relationships we already have with our current stakeholders as well as establishing new partnerships.”

The Bureau of the Prize wishes Jennifer all the best, and is eager to continue working with her to celebrate and support all the journalists of Europe and beyond.

The voices of our Community from iMEdD’s International Journalism Forum

For the second year, we had the opportunity to be part of iMEdD’s International Journalism Forum, contributing to it with our yearly Community Event and, to close the third day of the Forum, with our ‘EPPisodes: Odyssey Edition‘, a format that merges storytelling and journalism from the Prize Laureates.

During our Community Event, an entire day dedicated to our Laureates, the journalists that make the European Press Prize stronger, and help us stay connected with all the media professionals of Europe and beyond, we ran an open survey, asking one simple question: What is a community, to you?

We want to showcase some of their answers, raw, as they were written, so that they can spark everyone’s imagination, foster conversation on what journalism needs and is, and allow us to identify clear goals and opportunities for growth.

And if you are part of the Prize community but weren’t in Athens with us, or if you are a media professional and want to tell us what you think, leave here your thoughts for us!

A community is:

• A group of people with at least one element of affinity and the desire to gather to share thoughts and ideas related to it as ways to learn, practice, networking, enjoying and feel we are not alone and we belong.
• A clan. A family. Somewhere where you feel safe and appreciated. In short: a clan that celebrates!
• It is the sharing of ideas, visions, concerns, fears, celebrations, miseries.
• A community is a place where you are accepted, beloved and respected for what you are, and where you accept, share and love the others, like in a family. The European Press Prize is that.
• It is a place where I feel safe, inspired and valued. Where I can fail and learn.
• A community is a safe place that helps you feel less alone, a safe place to share your ideas no matter how crazy, without judgements. Also, a community is a group that can (nicely) kick your ass and send you back to work whenever needed.

More about the International Journalism Forum

iMEdD’s International Journalism Forum is an annual journalistic meeting organised by iMEdD (incubator for Media Education and Development), and was held from September 28 to 30 in Athens.

The Forum brought together the global journalism community for sessions of knowledge-sharing, networking and inspiration, providing an opportunity for participants to explore the ways in which innovation and journalism can co-create the industry’s next day. 

Attendees took part in a packed schedule of talks, workshops, open discussions and other events that were designed to facilitate learning and knowledge sharing among journalists.

Selected sessions of #iMEdDIJF23 are available to watch on demand at this link.