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The European Press Prize is awarded in five different categories. Each award is for 10,000 euros, to be spent wherever possible on a personal project that may, in turn, enrich the practice of journalism. The judges are also empowered to award a special prize for particular excellence. The nominated works will be published on the website of the European Press Prize.

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING AWARD – For discovering and revealing facts, exposing hidden news to the public.

 

Investigative reporting is one of journalism’s core duties. It means journalists – either alone or in teams – discovering and revealing facts that would otherwise remain hidden: stories of corruption or neglect in business, secret deals in politics and hidden crimes of war, from an international scale to that of one hospital or one person. Some winners have shown personal bravery in the face of power that wishes to silence them. Equally, international networks of data investigation have exposed some mighty scandals. Investigative journalism serves the public interest. It tells voters in democracies what they need to know. It is one definition of the purpose of journalism itself.

This year’s winner: Iraq Without Water: The Cost of Oil to Italy by Sara Manisera and Daniela Sala, published by Irpi Media.

DISTINGUISHED REPORTING AWARD – For exceptional reporting, telling a story in the best possible way.

The worlds of investigation and brilliant description or narrative blend into each other. Great journalism can reveal and describe in a single article. But this is the category – in news, features, business and sport – where fine reportage and feature writing belong. Telling the story in the best possible way. It may be the work of a foreign correspondent chronicling war, terrorism or disaster. It may equally be perceptive reporting of events, trends or changes in politics, society or culture at home, explaining them to another. Or it may just capture events with an eloquence, originality, perception or power that live in the memory.

This year’s winner: Kazakhstan-Xinjiang, the Border of Tears, by Léa Polverini and Robin Tutenges, published by Slate.fr .

PUBLIC DISCOURSE AWARD – For a remarkable textual interpretation of the world we live in. (Formerly known as the Opinion Award)

This category is a celebration of reflection; awarding work that goes beyond the immediate job of reporting and analysing the news. It recognises the capacity of journalism to instigate debate, affect our thoughts and enrich the public discourse. Pieces entered in this category may range from thoughts about the state of the universe, identity, gender and our relationship to the natural world, to analyses of international political or economical developments. Entries in this category can be written by columnists and commentators, but also by historians, cultural activists, philosophers and artists – anyone who is trying to interpret society from their own perspective. The work can take any journalistic form in exploring the way we live today. The judges will look particularly for cogency, originality and arguments that have an impact on public life. They will ask the question: how does this work engage with the idea that there is a public – a public that needs to be stimulated and formed – and how does this piece fit into the public discourse?

This year’s winner: We Have Betrayed a Generation by Nataša Markovič, published by Preiskovalno.si, Media 24.

INNOVATION AWARD – For challenging the boundaries of journalism.

This category, shifting focus from year to year as new trends in journalism develop, salutes reporting, analysis and technical developments that break new ground – both online and offline. Recent Innovation Awards have honoured cross-border collaborations in data journalism, as well as new and clever ways of packaging. However, the Innovation category is open to any work that is innovative, either in the journalistic process, the final publication, or the way a specific project is conceived and run. Entries should detail what’s innovative – what sets it apart from other existing projects, but also in the media space the project is from – and how it enlarges the profession’s horizons. So if it’s a new model, a new concept, a new form, this is the category to try.

This year’s winner: Lapdogs of War: A Guide to Russia’s Wartime Oligarchs, by Vitaly Soldatskikh, Ekaterina Reznikova, Roman Badanin, Katya Arenina, Boris Dubakh, published by Proekt.

MIGRATION JOURNALISM AWARD – For an acclaimed example of migration journalism.

Over the years, migration – in all its forms – has been a recurring theme in our submissions and shortlists. That is why, following the advice of our Preparatory Committee – and with the support of the Robert Bosch Stiftung – Migration Journalism has become a category of its own since 2023. We believe that journalism and migration are deeply intertwined, and that migration journalism affects not only the scope and quality of the information received by the public, but also the way societies perceive and relate to migration.

Migratory movements are part of our daily lives and societies and are omnipresent in Europe and European journalism. The Migration Journalism category welcomes all submissions that deal with the phenomenon of migration in a broad sense, especially those that demonstrate the importance of such journalism for societies, and those that reveal unexpected facets of the topic. Our Migration Journalism Award recognises the work that not only highlights an individual’s story but also provides a social, economic and cultural context. It also celebrates journalism that contributes to raising awareness and informing about the situation of migrants’ and their rights and contributions to society, helping to counter xenophobia, racism and discrimination.

The Migration Journalism submissions for the 2023 edition ranged from analysis of government policies and their impact, to personal stories and journeys of migration or displacement, to capturing the essence of a migrant community.

This year’s winner: How Europe Outsourced Border Enforcement to Africa by Andrei Popoviciu, published by In These Times, Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting.

SPECIAL AWARD – The judges award a special prize for excellent journalism to one striking entry which defies categories and disciplines.

Each year European Press Prize judges have the power to single out some area of special excellence in European journalism. Sometimes – as in 2015 – the judges may recognise particular achievements in international data journalism. Sometimes – as in 2016 – they recognised the weight and brilliance of much of the reporting of Europe’s migrant crisis. But, equally, they may choose to salute an individual journalist, a news team or an editor for memorable service to quality journalism. This decision is for the judges alone. No entry forms are required. But individual journalists are totally free to write to the European Press Prize director’s office suggesting suitable award recipients, and the judges will, of course, take such recommendations into account.

This year’s winner: 1000 Lives, 0 Names: The Border Graves Investigation — How the EU is Failing Migrants’ Last Rights, by Tina Xu, Gabriele Cruciata, Eoghan Gilmartin, Danai Maragoudaki, Barbara Matejčić, Leah Pattem, Gabriela Ramirez, Daphne Tolis, Kristiana Ludwig, Ben Heubl, Rachel Oldroyd, Felicity Lawrence, Ashifa Kassam, Lorenzo Tondo, Manisha Ganguly, Pamela Duncan, published by The Guardian, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Unbias the News, Solomon, BalkanInsight, El Diario, l’Espresso, Telegram, Lithuanian Radio Television, Efsyn.gr, Documento, Lesvosnews, Kathimerini, News247, Avgi, Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera, Jutarnji List, Tportal, Index, Novi List.

NB: The Preparatory Committee and Panel of Judges retain the right to move submitted articles to any category they see fit.