Dear friends, dear interested,
From today (Wed, 23/6/21), submissions are open for the first Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism. Until 1 September 2021, outstanding pieces of in-depth journalism can be submitted by the authors themselves or anyone else here: https://daphnejournalismprize.eu/
The prize of €20.000 will be awarded annually by an independent jury. As it says in the rules, it “aims to recognise outstanding in-depth journalism work on topics that are relevant for the European Union (EU) as a whole or some of its Member States, and contribute to the promotion of principles and values of the EU, as enshrined in the European Charter of Human Rights.”
This high-level prize was created following an initiative by Green MEP Eva Joly and myself in the aftermath of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination for her investigations into corruption at the highest levels of Maltese politics and society. On our initiative the Parliament called first in November 2017 for the creation of the Prize. But, it was only the relentless work of the Finnish Green MEP Heidi Hautala and Maltese MEP David Casa (EPP) to finally get the Prize started.
At yesterday’s Prize launch, Matthew Caruana Galizia, one of Daphne’s sons and himself a journalist, gave a powerful statement on why this Prize is so important to him. When her enemies in the Maltese underworld and politics piled all they had on Daphne to suppress her investigations against their cooperation, his mother feared that no other journalist would again do that work because of these vile attacks. With the Prize, Matthew felt she was proven wrong. Investigative journalists are not left alone, but have strong allies in the European Parliament and beyond. This touched me personally and showed to me what we can achieve when pushing for the right thing politically. You can watch his statement here: (please retweet if you like): https://twitter.com/sven_giegold/status/1407663713864327174?s=21
and the whole launch event here.
As Parliament and European society as a whole, we have the responsibility to protect and support journalists in their work. This prize contributes to that aim and I am so happy that it really started today.
Please consider applying yourself or submit pieces by others that deserve this prize.
With European greetings,
Sven Giegold
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Resolution adopted in May 2018, calling on EU countries to ensure adequate public funding and to promote a pluralist, independent and free media, and establishing the Prize.
More information on the Prize here.