From Publico.es: European Press Prize, the European journalism that brings hope
In 2012, before the rise of disinformation, a group of journalists decided to create an independent European award to celebrate journalistic excellence. What started 13 years ago as an informal party celebrating the best journalistic content in Europe has now become the ‘grand prize’ of European journalism.
This piece by our Preparatory Committee member Lucila Rodríguez-Alarcón appeared on Publico.es. Click here to read the original article.
The European Press Prize Award Ceremony 2024, at CAMP, in Prague
Last week, the 2024 European Press Prize was awarded, with a ceremony that takes place in a different city each year. The celebration is made up of various activities, most of them dedicated to creating spaces for meeting and exchange, involving all the journalists whose work has reached the final stage – five per category for six categories. All members of the prize are also invited — the Board, the Preparatory Committee, (Funding) Partners, and the Panel of Judges.
For two days, the Award allows for hugs, care, recognition, sweetness and complicity between a group of professionals who often arrive exhausted at the event.
Because practising quality independent journalism these days is exhausting, to say the least. Most of the work selected this year was signed by freelancers and small media, sometimes competing alone, but in many cases coming together in unlikely consortiums covering several European countries.
In a hostile environment, the bravest and most precarious part of the profession sharpens its wits and, far from giving up, joins forces to keep fighting to bring to light information that should open up major media outlets, or close them down.
Each year, prizes are awarded for the best Investigative Reporting, the most Distinguished Reporting, Innovation in journalistic products and the the best Public Discourse work. There is also a Special Award, and for the last two years, there has been a category dedicated to the best migration story, the Migration Journalism Award.
This year, the five finalist stories of the Migration Journalism category were great. The 2024 winner tackles the externalisation of European borders in Senegal. It is a long and comprehensive story published last year by Dakar-based Romanian journalist Andrei Popoviciu. Andrei was part of the team that recently brought out the Lighthouse Reports’ investigation into the abandonment of migrants in the desert. But Popoviciu was on his own, drawing on his own resources to produce this report. This award not only recognises the excellence of his work, but also allows him, thanks to the prize money, to continue working and researching in the region.
“Stories that remind me that there are more things that unite us than separate us.”
Among the other four works, all of which are must-reads, I am fascinated by the one by Ioana Călinescu and Petruț Călinescu, entitled “Pride and Concrete”.
This beautifully crafted reportage tells a decades-long story about the hopes, ambitions and sufferings of a whole community of Romanian migrants who use their hard-earned money in Western Europe to build luxury houses in their home villages. With these houses, which they may never get to finish or use, these people aim to recreate the ‘European dream’, which is not as much talked about as the American dream, but that in countries like Romania is very present among migrant communities.
This year’s Special Award has a powerful story as well. It is an investigation dedicated to identifying mass graves and unmarked graves of migrants who died trying to reach Europe. It is a wake-up call about the crisis of mass graves proliferating on Europe’s borders, outside of war, on an unprecedented scale. The Border Graves Investigation team consists of eight freelance journalists working on Europe’s southern and eastern borders. “The Border Graves Investigation”, as it is called, was published in more than 40 articles in 22 media outlets in 9 countries and 8 languages.
The Preparatory Committee is composed of twenty-one professional journalists. Each of us read about a hundred articles this year, and I read more than 200.
After several months of reading and choosing, we agreed on these five articles per category, from which the Panel of Judges selected Winners and Runners-up. It is a huge job that we do pro bono because we believe that journalism is an indispensable tool to ensure the democratic well-being of our societies.
And I greatly enjoy going through stories that remind me that there are more things that unite us than separate us, for better or for worse.
A day after the European elections, I can’t help but think that the far-right may be seemingly making inroads in the EU, but alongside it, there is unique and courageous journalism emerging with incredible strength, ready to tell the stories that need to be heard.
This is what I stand by. It can. It must be done. We will get there.
The Winners and Runners-up of the European Press Prize 2024
On the eve of the European elections, European Press Prize Winners investigate the EU’s migration funding, the lack of accountability of oil companies, and deficiencies in elderly care.
The Nominees of the European Press Prize 2024
In the year of the European elections, European Press Prize 2024 Winners and Runners-up expose influential lobby groups meddling in EU legislation negotiations, confront EU authorities on migration issues and reflect on the hypocrisy of right wing ruling. Jury selects projects that are clear examples of holding power to account and that expose the many facets of European policies and their effect on the public.
The European Press Prize proudly presents Winners and Runners-up in the five categories of the European Press Prize, as well as a Special Award recipient. The journey starts with close to 800 applications, evaluated first by the Preparatory Committee consisting of 21 journalists from all over Europe. The Shortlist of the European Press Prize is then passed on to the Panel of Judges, composed of Alan Rusbridger (Chair), Can Dündar, Clara Jiménez Cruz, Paul Radu and Natalia Antelava. The Judges make the last decision, identifying Winners and Runners-up for the five Categories, and deciding on the Special Award category.
Alan Rusbridger, Chair of the Panel of Judges of the European Press Prize: “This is what hope looks like. We have become so used to a narrative of gloom about the future of the news business that it’s easy to despair. But no one reading the entries to the European Press Prize could be anything but elated. Here are brilliant journalists finding things out; behaving with bravery and ingenuity; shining a bright light on the powerful and the corrupt. This is journalism at its best – and the judges felt privileged to be involved. Democracies depend on great journalism. We can be reassured it is still flourishing.”
The Innovation Award is won by Lapdogs of War: A Guide to Russia’s Wartime Oligarchs. The piece is an investigation into the role of Russian oligarchs in the war against Ukraine. It exposes how the richest Russians earned billions of dollars with defence contracts, producing, amongst others, the weapons used to kill civilians in Ukrainian cities.
The Investigative Reporting Award goes to Iraq Without Water: The Cost of Oil to Italy. In this investigation, the authors expose the detrimental effects, in Iraq, of unregulated oil extraction and water draining for extraction purposes. They also investigate the lack of regulations and accountability for European oil companies when they scale up their investments outside the EU.
The Migration Journalism Award is won by How Europe Outsourced Border Enforcement to Africa, an inquiry into the European Union’s migration funding. The author visits the border between Senegal and Mauritania to analyse the so-called EU externalisation policies and Senegalese police forces using surveillance equipment as part of multi-million euro, taxpayer funded projects.
The Public Discourse Award goes to We Have Betrayed a Generation. Violence against elderly people has been steadily on the rise in Slovenia. This piece recounts stories and testimonies of family members of the elderly who were subjected to such violence, relating it to the broader European issue of an ageing population, and the many deficiencies of the elderly care system.
Aside from the Winners, the Panel of Judges also accorded a special mention to Runners-Up in all five Award Categories. See the full list of all Winners and Runners-up at the end of this press release.
The Special Award 2024
The Special Award 2024 goes to The Border Graves Investigation – a cross-border investigation between four media outlets that uncovered the existence of more than a thousand unmarked graves of migrants scattered around several European countries. This investigation illustrates that, while the EU passed a resolution that recognises the need for a coordinated database to collect details of deceased migrants’ bodies, the issue remains a legislative void.
After a unanimous recommendation of the Preparatory Committee, the Panel of Judges was in complete agreement with this project displaying the best of what the European Press Prize celebrates regarding how journalism is packaged and distributed: collaboration, creativity, courage, and context.
Back in Prague, with MDIF as a local partner and CAMP as Award Ceremony venue
For its 2024 Award Ceremony, the European Press Prize travels to Prague – the 2016 Awards were handed out in the Czech capital as well. This time, the European Press Prize partnered up with MDIF – Media Investment Development Fund, which has one of its local representative offices in Prague.
The European Press Prize Award Ceremony, at CAMP
Majka Nemcova, MDIF’s Chief Operating Officer, as well as Board member of the European Press Prize: “Recognising quality journalism has become ever more important in a world of disinformation and declining trust in media. With press freedom deteriorating and being chipped away in many parts of this region, I am particularly pleased that this year’s ceremony is in Prague to celebrate the best journalism pieces from across Europe and to remind us of the essential role of independent, trustworthy media for democratic societies, contributing to governance, accountability, and respect for human rights.”
The venue for the 2024 Award Ceremony is CAMP – Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning. CAMP aims to improve the public debate on the development of Prague, their goal being to serve as an open platform, a ‘base camp’ for anyone interested in Prague’s joint planning and functioning.
“Journalism is vital for a thriving democracy. It empowers people to be informed and to make responsible decisions, rather than acting out of ignorance or misinformation. As the director of an inclusive institution dedicated to fostering dialogue about urban development among residents, politicians, and journalists, I am delighted that our Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning can host such a significant event,” says Ondřej Boháč, director of The Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR Prague), where CAMP is based.
2024 WINNERS AND RUNNERS-UP
DISTINGUISHED REPORTING AWARD
WINNER
Kazakhstan-Xinjiang, the Border of Tears, by Léa Polverini, Robin Tutenges, published by Slate.fr (France)
RUNNER-UP
We Still Live: What Is Life Like in Russian-Occupied Mariupol? by Hessel von Piekartz, Erik Verwiel, Titus Knegtel, Joris Heijkant, published by De Volkskrant (the Netherlands)
RUNNER-UP
Where the World Splits Apart, by Henning Sussebach, published by Die Zeit (Germany)
INNOVATION AWARD
In collaboration with the European Data Journalism Network, the 2024 Innovation Award focuses on work that uses Data Journalism in innovative ways, either in the journalistic process or in the final publication. Of course, as is true each year: all innovative projects were welcomed in this category.
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 (Russia)
RUNNER-UP
The Sound of Bullets: The Killing of Colombian Journalist Abelardo Liz, by Carlos Gonzales, Natalia Arena Chaves, Tania Tapia Jáuregui, Diego Forero, published by Bellingcat (International), Cerosetenta (Colombia)
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING AWARD
WINNER
Iraq Without Water: The Cost of Oil to Italy, by Sara Manisera, Daniela Sala, published by Irpi Media (Italy), The Guardian (United Kingdom), Alternatives Economiques (France), Geographical Magazine (United Kingdom)
RUNNER-UP
The EU Fight Against Child Pornography Stokes Fears of Widespread Online Surveillance, by Apostolis Fotiadis, Ludek Stavinoha, Giacomo Zandonini, published by Le Monde (France), Balkan Insight (Serbia), El Diario (Spain), Solomon (Greece), Die Zeit (Germany), De Groene Amsterdammer (the Netherlands), Netzpolitik (Germany), IrpiMedia (Italy), Domani (Italy)
MIGRATION JOURNALISM AWARD
WINNER
How Europe Outsourced Border Enforcement to Africa, by Andrei Popoviciu, published by In These Times (international), Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting (United States)
RUNNER-UP
The Pylos Shipwreck, by Stavros Malichudis, Iliana Papangeli, Corina Petridi, Stefanos Levidis, Christina Varvia, Georgia Skartadou, Andreas Makas, Ebrahem Farooqui, Dimitra Andritsou, Peter Polack, Eyal Weizman, Jasper Humpert, Miriam Rainer, Salma Barakat, Zac Ioannidis, Elizabeth Breiner, Armin Ghassim, Sulaiman Tadmory, Timo Robben, Sebastian Heidelberger, Giorgos Christides, Katy Fallon, Lydia Emmanouilidou, Julian Busch, published by Forensis, STRG_F: ARD/Funk (Germany), The Guardian (United Kingdom), Solomon (Greece)
PUBLIC DISCOURSE AWARD
WINNER
We Have Betrayed a Generation, by Nataša Markovič, published by Preiskovalno.si (Slovenia), Media 24 (Slovenia)
RUNNER-UP
Migrants From “Culturally Distant Countries” Are Already Here, in Their Hundreds of Thousands. They Were Invited by the PiS Government, by Bartosz Józefiak, published by OKO.Press (Poland)
SPECIAL AWARD
WINNER
The Border Graves Investigation, by Tina Xu, Gabriele Cruciata, Eoghan Gilmartin, Danai Maragoudaki, Barbara Matejčić, Leah Pattem, Gabriela Ramírez, Daphne Tolis, Rachel Oldroyd, Felicity Lawrence, Ashifa Kassam, Lorenzo Tondo, Manisha Ganguly, Pamela Duncan, Ben Heubl, Kristiana Ludwig, published by Unbias the News (international), The Guardian (United Kingdom), Solomon (Greece), Süddeutsche Zeitung (Germany)