Frequently Asked Questions

How many awards are there?

Which countries’ journalists are eligible to compete?

Are the prizes for work in print or online?

What do I have to send in, and where?

What’s the timetable for the first awards?

Why so long?

Who is on this preparatory committee?

When will that full panel sit?

What is its composition?

And the results?

How many awards are there?

Four – worth 10,000 euros each.

1. The Editing Award – For the editor who the judges believe has contributed most to public debate and public understanding;

2. The Commentator Award – For the feature writer, columnist or commentator who has done most to illuminate vital issues for his readers;

3. The News Reporting Award – For the reporter or special commentator whose work has made a decisive impact;

4. The Innovation Award – For the outstanding innovation of the year – in print or via digital: anything that makes a significant contribute  to journalism’s future.

Which countries’ journalists are eligible to compete?

Any of the 47 countries which make up the Council of Europe are fine – though this isn’t a Council of Europe contest, or an EU one. We’ve just taken the widest possible practical definition of Europe.

Are the prizes for work in print or online?

Either – though we want entrants to work for, or have their work published by, a professional news source. We can’t do individual blogs at this stage.

What do I have to send in, and where?
Entries can be sent in using the Entry Form on this website, which requires to add samples of the entry and other documents to be added as a zip-file. The address to send material by post is:
European Press Prize
P.O. Box 1884
1000 BW Amsterdam
The Netherlands

If you’re competing for the editor’s prize, we want three copies of the publication you edit, plus a letter of endorsement from your publisher or from one independent professional assessor. But the most important thing is an accompanying 500-word statement in English saying how you’ve tapped into public debate and helped understanding of crucial issues.

It’s much the same with the innovation prize: three examples of the innovation concerned, 500 words in English describing the achievement, plus a letter of endorsement from you editor, editor-in-chief, publisher, or independent assessor.

If you’re competing for the two writing awards, then we need good examples of your work – an article or a sampling of articles from a series. But please don’t swamp us with tens of thousands of words. Every entry must be accompanied by a 250-word preface, in English, explaining the theme of your article or articles and how they fit the criteria the judges are looking for.

What’s the timetable for the first awards?

Our first year covers writing and editing between October 1 2011 and October 1 2012. You’re welcome to submit entries to us from July 1st on if you’re sure about their quality. The deadline for entries is Friday, October 26, 23.59 hrs, 2012.

In November, a preparatory committee of judges will start sifting through entries – ordering translations, consulting observers from journalism university departments, foreign-based correspondents and trusted observers in order to reduce the number of entries to no more than six in each category. They’ll publish short lists on the awards website.

Why so long?

Because we can’t be sure, first time round, how many entries we’ll need to translate. We want a big response – but we also need to give ourselves time to do a good job.

Who is on this preparatory committee?

The chairman will be Peter Preston, director of the Guardian Foundation, who edited the Guardian in London  for 20 years. He’ll work with Uffe Soerensen from Denmark, Patrice Schneider from the Media Loan Development Fund, Heikelina Verrijn Stuart, an eminent journalist and lawyer from The Netherlands and Timothy Large, Editor-in-Chief of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Their aim will be to find a selection of the highest quality entries to pass on to the main judging panel.

When will that full panel sit?

At a prearranged time during January and early February 2013.

What is its composition? 

Sir Harold Evans, the iconic former editor of the Sunday Times in London, now editor-at-large for Thomson-Reuters, will be chairman in the first year. Sylvie Kaufman, former editor of Le Monde and Joergen Ejboel, former editor of Jyllands-Posten, will join him on the panel.  Other judges – all from different parts of Europe and selected by the awards foundation board – will be announced soon.

And the results?

They’ll be announced in the winners’ countries of origin at the end of January. All four winners will be invited to a presentation ceremony at the De Balie centre in Amsterdam in February 26 2012 to receive their prizes as well as attend a day’s conference of participating foundations.