2013-01-10
AMSTERDAM - Journalists Adrian Mogoș and Vitalie Călugăreanu have been shortlisted for the European Press Prize. Their story Buy you way into EU Citizenship was supported by Journalismfund.eu.
Adrian and Vitalie were shortlisted in the News Reporting Award category, which rewards a reporter or specialist expert whose work has made a decisive impact. Buy your way into EU Citizenship is an investigation into the shady activities of dealers in Roman nationality, the genuine documents they get their hands on and the fake applicants who buy order those documents with them.
The story has been republished in several European media, including EUobserver. It was financially supported by Journalismfund.eu and edited by BIRN – Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
The ultimate winners of 10,000 euros apiece in the four prize categories will be selected at the end of January at a special jury meeting chaired by Sir Harold Evans, the legendary former editor of the Sunday Times in London, sitting alongside Sylvie Kauffmann of Le Monde, Yevgenia Albats from the New Times in Moscow, Jørgen Ejboel, chairman of JP/Politiken in Copenhagen, and the Italian writer and philosopher, Paolo Flores d'Arcais. A full list of all nominees is on the homepage of the European Press Prize, www.europeanpressprize.com.
Adriaan Stoop, chairman of the European Press Prize Foundation, is delighted by the overwhelmingly positive responses to the new awards, which are designed to encourage and salute journalism of the highest quality across Europe. "This first year, we received entries from 32 different countries out of 47 member states of the Council of Europe. This is a remarkable beginning, especially since the overall quality of the entries is excellent”, Mr Stoop said.
“We received so much brilliant investigative reporting, fine comment and exemplary editing to review. No-one should think of Europe as some sort of journalism backwater on this evidence - and the prizes prove it", he added.
The European Press Prize awards are a joint initiative from media foundations in the Netherlands, Denmark, Britain and the Czech Republic. Awards for the first year will be presented on February 26 at the De Balie debating centre in Amsterdam at a meeting for invitees only. The winning entries will be publicly celebrated at an event in September. Details of this event will be published on the EPP website, www.europeanpressprize.com.
