Daphne Caruana Galizia Award Ceremony For Journalism Will Be Handed Out Tomorrow At Noon
The Daphne Caruana Galizia award for journalism will be handed out tomorrow at noon in honour of the assassinated Maltese investigative journalist who used her career to expose corruption and defend democracy.
The Prize will be awarded annually on the basis of outstanding journalism that promotes or defends the core values and principles of the European Union like human dignity, equality, rule of law, human rights, freedom and democracy.
The award called for journalists or teams of such professionals to submit in-depth stories that have been published or broadcast by a media outlet based in one of the 27 EU member states.
More than 200 journalists have applied for this prestigious award.
The aim of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize is to recognise and appreciate the “essential role that journalists play in preserving our democracies and serve as a reminder to citizens of the importance of a free press,” said Parliament Vice-President Heidi Hautala.
“This Prize is designed to help journalists in the vital and often dangerous work they do and show that the European Parliament supports investigative journalists,” she continued.
Caruana Galizia was assassinated in October 2017 and the date of the award ceremony is of no coincidence – it will act as a symbolic reminder of her tragic death.
Meanwhile, the winner will be chosen by an independent jury which does not have any links to politicians and they will be awarded a €20,000 prize along with a memento token.
Nationalist MEP David Casa spearheaded the establishment of this prize through his role with the European Parliament’s Bureau’s Working Group on Information and Communication Policy.
In fact, he will be attending the ceremony that will take place in the Press Room of the EU Parliament in Brussels, as will the acclaimed journalist’s sons Matthew and Andrew Caruana Galizia.
Caruana Galizia’s assassination sparked an urge for more sound and effective regulations on the protection of journalists and this prize should remind everyone that this is still lacking; governments and unions need to try harder at defending the right to free press otherwise journalists will never feel safe and the public will always remain in the dark of the corruption that consumes them.
This article is part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. This article reflects only the author’s view. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
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