The Winners of the European Press Prize 2024 now translated in five major languages

Journalism can be a powerful tool to connect people. It is by sharing stories that distances are bridged, and Europe can feel more united.

This is why, thanks to the partnership with the startup kompreno, all the Winners of the European Press Prize 2024 are now available in five major European languages: English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

Our News Table at our Community Event in Berlin, 2021

The collaboration with the German startup kompreno started earlier this year. They supplied the European Press Prize with English-language translations for the Preparatory Committee and the Panel of Judges. Ultimately, three of the five Award-winning contributions in the main categories were translated by kompreno.

The great power of translations

We often state that Europe is the sum of its stories. Such stories don’t always come from Europe’s centres of power. Sometimes, small facts that happen in the continent’s periphery can prove to be very important for readers living far away from the story’s source.

But in a Europe made up of so many different languages, stories might get stuck, unable to travel outside the language borders of their state. This is why translations are crucial – not only translations into English, but also into other languages.

Moreover, journalism is increasingly developing into a cross-border and collaborative endeavour. Journalists team up with their colleagues, often creating international teams or consortiums to tackle important issues. It is only natural, then, that articles will be translated and republished, distributed to different audiences, and sometimes picked up for follow-up pieces by yet another team of journalists.

Jochen Adler, co-founder of kompreno: “Language barriers deprive us of so many unique opportunities to recognize and realise progress and innovation. The world currently faces many urgent challenges – shifts in geopolitics have brought insecurity, the climate crisis demands new energy, we need new concepts for urban and rural mobility, and the struggle to keep balance in social justice and civil society. Our continent will benefit immensely if we take up ideas from other cultures, working together to apply them more forcefully, globally. Translations are the way.”

The Winning pieces translated by kompreno

Here are the Winning pieces of the European Press Prize 2024. Clicking on the links, you will be able to read each of them translated into five languages.

Kazakhstan-Xinjiang, the Border of Tears: For the survivors of the Xinjiang concentration camps, leaving the camps is rarely a liberation; rather, it is often the start of a new ordeal. Now, they must learn to live again and navigate a life where their traumas are not recognised.

Lapdogs of War: A Guide to Russia’s Wartime Oligarchs: Proekt’s research has shown that the richest Russians – the so-called oligarchs – have received billions of dollars in defence contracts, producing, among other things, the weapons used to kill civilians in Ukrainian cities. But even knowing this, the oligarchs prefer to remain silent.

Iraq Without Water: The Cost of Oil to Italy: Oil fields in Iraq extract crude oil using water diverted from rivers. Their profits have multiplied since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. But the city of Basra has no water or electricity.

How Europe Outsourced Border Enforcement to Africa: The European Union is militarizing Africa’s internal borders to curb migration, with little regard for human rights.

We Have Betrayed a Generation: This year, as never before, we have seen an alarming increase in media reports of acts of violence against the elderly, but nothing is being done. It’s as if nothing shocks us anyone anymore.