About our new Public Discourse Award

The European Press Prize director, Thomas van Neerbos, reflects on the new Public Discourse Award, its meaning and purpose, within the Prize mission to celebrate journalism.

We are proud of the brave journalists not just reporting about what is happening, but dare reflecting on it. Our Public Discourse Award – formerly known as the Opinion Award and before that as the Commentator Award – now clearly aims to celebrate that reflection. This way, the category distinctly does what it always has done: show clear thinking, instigate debate and share ideas.

Our former descriptions of ‘opinion’ and ‘commentator’ – ranging from 3,000 word essays to 100 word editorials – were perhaps a bit too broad to receive entries our Preparatory Committee and Panel of Judges could properly compare. It is difficult to assess the quality of a piece by a columnist on something a local politician said eight months ago, and almost impossible to compare a timeless piece on identity with a rebuttal of an election result.

“This category awards work that is urgent long after its publication, work that can instigate public debate and discourse and has value for all people reading it.”

Therefore, instead of casting a wider and wider net, we now want to be more specific: with the Public Discourse Award, we choose to aim for those works our judging bodies can adequately compare and assess, works that transcend dates and regions, works that won this category year after year anyway.

This category awards work that is urgent long after its publication, work that can instigate public debate and discourse and has value for all people reading it. Changing the name and requirements of this category will help our judging bodies select the best pieces out there, will help us share these pieces, and will help the authors behind these pieces create the public debate they aimed for, on a European level.

iMEdD joins the European Press Prize as a new member

Incubator for Media Education and Development (iMEdD) became a funding member for the European Press Prize. iMEdD is a non profit organisation, founded in 2018 with the exclusive donation of Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). Its mission is to support and promote the transparency, credibility and independence in journalism on the grounds of securing meritocracy and excellence in the field.

“We are very happy to introduce iMEdD as our newest European Press Prize member. The values of our organisations are very much aligned, since iMEdD’s mission is to support and promote transparency, credibility and independence in journalism on the grounds of securing meritocracy and excellence in the field. We, of course, wholeheartedly support this mission, and are keen on working with this ‘hands on’ member. A true partner that will support our mission, not just with funds and expertise, but with projects and events that we will create and host together.”

– Thomas van Neerbos, Director of the European Press Prize

iMEdD decided to join and contribute on every level, while the ever-growing group of European Press Prize laureates forms a community committed to promoting the highest journalistic standards, serving the public and, by definition strengthening democracy across the continent.

“There is a need of a strong journalistic community in order for all of us to protect and support the required conditions for journalists to investigate and release their stories. The European Press Prize not only promotes the important stories but also supports European journalists by offering them awareness and safety. At iMEdD, we believe that through a strong community of journalists all of us could try to regain the public trust and this is the reason we support the European Press Prize.”

– Anna-Kynthia Bousdoukou, iMEdD Managing Director, SNF DIALOGUES Executive Director, Journalist

“We as an organisation are very happy with a Greece-based member joining the European Press Prize. The knowledge and insights from a member that is based in Southern Europe, and yet has an international spectrum, are very valuable to us since we would like our organisation to be a true representation of the European journalism field. We look forward to working together with iMEdD on creating events and content that showcase the diversity and quality of European journalism.”

– Jennifer Athanasiou-Prins, Contracts & Partner Lead European Press Prize