The European Parliament Prize for Journalism

2010-01-27

The European Parliament Prize for Journalism shall be awarded to journalists who have made an outstanding contribution to clarify major issues at European level or have promoted a better understanding of the institutions or policies of the European Union.


It will be awarded in the spirit of respect for media freedom and pluralism and in the context of the European Parliament's desire to improve communication between the EU institutions and European citizens.

The European Parliament Prize for Journalism shall be awarded for the third time in October 2010.

Sections 

1. The European Parliament Prize for Journalism shall honour work in four categories: written press, radio, television and internet.

2. There shall be one prize winner in each category.

Eligibility criteria 

1. A distinction shall be made between the criteria applicable to contributions and those applicable to their authors.

a. The contributions eligible for the award of the European Parliament Prize for Journalism shall: 

be articles for the written press or internet categories and reports for the radio or television categories;

deal with major issues at European level or promote a better understanding of the institutions or policies of the European Union;

have been published or disseminated between 1 May 2009 and 31 March 2010;

be in one of the official languages of the European Union;

be in or on a medium of one of the categories listed under Rule 2 § 1, and legally registered in a European Union Member State;

not already have been awarded another prize by the closing date for receipt of applications;

not already have received funding through the EU institutions.

b. Authors may be individuals or teams of up to 5 people at most. The individuals or members of the team must be nationals or residents of a European Union Member State and registered journalists.

Admission procedure 

1. The European Parliament shall post a call for applications on the internet site of its  http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/nearYou/completeList.do?language=EN information office in each European Union Member State  and, if necessary, advertise it.

2. The call for applications for the 2010 edition of the European Parliament Prize for Journalism shall be deemed open on 15 January 2010, and shall be closed on 31 March 2010.

3. The application form will be available on the internet sites of the above mentioned European Parliament information offices. It must be duly completed either by the applicants themselves, in their own names or on behalf of the teams of which they are members, or by an authority representing the medium that employs them, or by a member of the general public recommending a published article or broadcast programme.

4. Only one entry per applicant or per team shall be admitted, but a single medium may submit several entries.

5. There shall be no entry fee, provided the requirements set out in Rule 5 are met.

Presentation of entries 

1. The entry, which should be attached to the form mentioned under Rule 4, must in all cases be presented as follows:

a. For written entries, published on paper or the internet:

format A4, numbered pages;

if the entry is transmitted by registered mail or is hand-delivered, 3 printed copies required (including the original);

in the original language;

name of the newspaper, journal, channel or website in/on which the entry first appeared (as appropriate).

b. For recorded radio or audiovisual entries, including those published on the internet:

if the entry is transmitted by registered mail or is hand-delivered, 3 CDs or DVDs, with broadcast quality files;

in the original language;

synopsis in the original language;

name of the programme in which the entry was first broadcast.

2. All entries must be submitted through the internet site of the Prize or sent by electronic mail, or registered mail, or hand-delivered with acknowledgement of receipt to the address of the  http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/nearYou/completeList.do?language=EN European Parliament information office  in the country of residence of the applicant or of their representative.

Timetable 

The deadlines for the 2010 edition of the European Parliament Prize for Journalism are as follows:

prize announcement: 15 January 2010

receipt of applications: 31 March 2010

selection of entries: 18 May 2010

selection of prize winners: mid September 2010 

prize awarded: October 2010

Decision-taking bodies 

1. European Parliament Prize for Journalism prize winners shall be selected by a sole and single award jury, separate from the shortlist juries, formed under the aegis of the European Parliament information offices, to shortlist entries.

2. The award jury:

a. shall be made up of nine members, comprising three Members of the European Parliament and six representatives of the journalism profession, preferably including representatives of European associations of journalists. The award jury shall be chaired by the European Parliament Vice-President in charge of information and communication policy. The secretariat shall be provided by the European Parliament's Directorate-General for Communication;

b. shall select prize winners from the shortlist drawn up by the shortlist juries. The vote shall be secret. Prize winners shall be selected by an absolute majority vote in the first two rounds, then by a simple majority in the following rounds.

3. The shortlist juries:

a. shall be formed in each European Union Member State under the aegis of the competent http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/nearYou/completeList.do?language=EN European Parliament information office;

b. shall be made up of three to five members of the journalism profession, preferably including representatives of national associations of journalists. The secretariat shall be provided by the http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/nearYou/completeList.do?language=EN European Parliament information office in each Member State;

c. shall select a single entry for each of the categories listed under Rule 2;

d. the selection procedure shall be the same as the one set out in paragraph 2, point b, of the present Rule;

4. the award jury and shortlist juries shall have competence for the four categories listed under Rule 2.

Prize allocation

1. The European Parliament Prize for Journalism Prize is € 20,000, broken down as follows:

written press category: € 5,000

radio category: € 5,000

television category: € 5,000

internet category: € 5,000 

Compliance with the rules

Participation in the European Parliament Prize for Journalism entails complying with these rules. These rules are drafted in the official languages of the European Union.

More information: www.eppj.eu