Watch: Roberta Metsola Launches Third Edition Of €20,000 Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism
The European Parliament has just launched its call for articles to be submitted for the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism – which could earn a hard-working investigative journalist €20,000 in prize money.
“The reality is that journalists investigating uncomfortable truths are being targeted for doing their job,” said EP President Roberta Metsola.
“Everything was done to silence Daphne – but she will never be forgotten. Every year, the Prize bearing Daphne’s name honours her memory.”
Practitioners of investigative journalism don’t do it for the money. They don’t tend to do it for the acclaim either. Despite this prize being launched, at the end of many long investigations, there often isn’t very much of either.
Regardless, their work is essential for its function in uncovering deeply uncomfortable realities about the ways in which regimes claiming to be democratic – and the small groups of individuals leading them – actually function.
Daphne did this work – and paid the ultimate price for it.
In her undying memory – and for the third consecutive year – teams and individual journalists based in any of the EU’s 27 member states are invited to submit their best work.
They are invited to do so by a foundation aiming to support and highlight the importance of professional journalism in safeguarding freedom, equality, and democracy.
“This is a powerful reminder of the European Parliament’s commitment to safeguard press freedom and the safety of journalists,” Metsola said.
In the Maltese context, given this year’s backslide into even more restricted press freedom – this prize will hopefully incentivise journalists to pursue stories regardless of those standing in the way.
The winning article will be selected by an independent jury composed of press and civil society representatives from across the 27 EU states – as well as delegates from the European Associations of Journalism.
The awards ceremony will take place each year around 16th October – commemorating the day Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated.
Journalists are invited to submit their best work online by midday on 31st July 2023.
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