The 2019 European Press Prize awards go to an open-source investigation with a spy novel-like plot, a harrowing tale of family separation at the US border, a near academic analysis of transatlanticism in the Trump era, a graphic novel with never-seen-before imagery of the destroyed city of Palmyra and a network of journalists whose mission it is to continue and publish the work of colleagues facing threats, prison, or murder.
The European Press Prize celebrates the highest achievements in European journalism. The prize is awarded in five categories, each worth €10,000.
The Irish Times Trust is one of the media foundations which supports the annual awards. Columnist Fintan O’Toole, a previous winner, was shortlisted in the opinion category for ‘Trial runs for fascism are in full flow’, a piece on Donald Trump, Brexit and the rise of the far right.
The
winners:
Distinguished reporting category: Fifty-six days of separation, by Katrin Kuntz, Marian Blasberg, Christoph Scheuermann (Der Spiegel, Germany).
Runner-up: Viktor Orban's reckless football obsession, by Dan Nolan, David Goldblatt (the Guardian, UK).
Innovation category: Palmyra, the other side, by Guillermo Abril, Carlos Spottorno (El Pais Semanal , Spain and Suddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Germany).
Runner-up: Elections clouds cleared, by Efe Kerem Sozeri (P24, Turkey).
Investigative reporting category: Unmasking the Salisbury poisoning suspects: A four-part investigation, by Christo Grozev, Roman Dobrokhotov, Daniel Romein (Bellingcat, UK).
Runner-up: Money laundering at Danske Bank, by Eva Jung, Simon Bendtsen, Michael Lund (Berlingske, Denmark, and many since then).
Opinion category: The end of Atlanticism: has Trump killed the ideology that won the cold war?, by Madeleine Schwartz (The Guardian, UK).
Runner-up: Let's continue talking about murder, not Fico's media tyranny, by Beata Balogova (SME, Slovakia).
Special award: Forbidden Stories, by the organisation behind Forbidden Stories + partners.
The award ceremony took place at Gazeta Wyborcza in Warsaw in celebration of its 30-year anniversary.
The winners were chosen by the panel of judges, which consisted of chairman Sir Harold Evans (Editor-at-Large Reuters), Sylvie Kauffmann (Editorial Director Le Monde), Jorgen Ejbol (Vice Chairman Jyllands-Posten Foundation), Yevgenia Albats (Editor-in-chief the New Times) and Alexandra Foderl-Schmid (Correspondent Suddeutsche Zeitung).
The prize is made possible by the Irish Times Trust Limited, the Guardian Foundation, Thomson Reuters Foundation, the Politiken Foundation, Foundation Veronica, the Jyllands-Posten Foundation, and Democracy and Media Foundation. The prize also partners with MDIF, Agora Foundation, ANP and De Balie.