Francesco Battistini

Francesco Battistini was selected for the 2020 European Press Prize shortlist with ‘100 Days in Europe.’

Francesco Battistini started in Italy as a reporter, reporting on politics, crime news, white and judicial reports. He has worked for Corriere della Sera since 1994. Previously, he worked at “Il Giornale” and “La Voce,” alongside with the prominent and authoritative editor Indro Montanelli.  In 1997, he was the first Italian journalist to cross the Mediterranean by boat with a group of migrants; for that, he received the oldest Italian journalism award, Il Premiolino. He has had a long career as a war and terrorism correspondent in Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, the West Bank & Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine, Syria, and Libya. He worked as temporary bureau chief in New York, London, and Berlin, and has covered international events such as G8 summits, US and European elections, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and the tsunami in Indonesia. As a Middle East and North Africa correspondent, he was based for many years in Jerusalem and Tunis. Battistini received a special acknowledgment as a result of his imprisonment in Baghdad during the 2003 Gulf War. He was recognized by the Italian President of the Republic for his reportages in Cuba. He is the coauthor of an essay about ISIS. He currently lives in Milan.        

Isabelle Wermke

Isabelle Wermke was selected for the 2020 European Press Prize shortlist for ‘Roland Berger’s self-deception: The star consultant, his Nazi father and the guilt of German industry.’

Isabelle Wermke, born on August 19, 1991 in Neuss, Germany, studied political science at the University of Passau. Her main focus was on governance and international relations, political sociology and social analysis, European and international economic policy, international law, and global ethics. Wermke gained her first media experience while conducting research and working for the animal protection organization ‘Animal Equality’ alongside Hans Georg Kroll, a lawyer specialized in criminal law. From August to October 2019, Wermke did an internship in the Investigative Department of the Handelsblatt in Düsseldorf. There, she plans to start a traineeship at the Georg von Holtzbrinck School of Journalism from 2021 onwards.