Yesterday evening, the Bureau of the European Parliament has decided to create a prize for investigative journalism named after the murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. In its resolution of 15 November 2017, the European Parliament had for the first time called for a Daphne Prize for investigative journalism. However, the proposal had been delayed and blocked by Parliament’s Bureau for two years now.
Sven Giegold, spokesman for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen in the European Parliament and co-initiator of the prize idea, explains:
„The cruel murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia has demonstrated that freedom of the press cannot be taken for granted in Europe. The prize is intended to strengthen investigative journalism and press freedom in Europe as a whole. There are problems with freedom of the press not only in Malta but also in Hungary and Poland. The importance of investigative journalism has been demonstrated by the many revelations of tax scandals in recent years. Without cross-border investigative journalism, it would hardly have been possible to uncover the Panama Papers or LuxLeaks. Today, politics and business are increasingly organised on a global scale, and journalism has to follow. A European democracy needs strong European journalism. We want to contribute to this with this prize. Daphne Caruana Galizia is a worthy namesake because she was the only journalist in Malta to report so persistently and consistently on corruption and money laundering in Malta. Many of her reports later proved to be bitterly true. She also invites us to look at the ethical and professional standards in journalism.“
Decision proposal for the Bureau of the European Parliament:
https://sven-giegold.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Daphne-Prize_EP-Bureau.pdf