Aktion Medienfreiheit Criticizes Rejection of the Zurich Journalism Prize
The jury of the Zurich Journalism Award has refused to revoke the 2007 Zurich Journalism Award from Charlotte Jacquemart and Daniel Hug. In a statement, the Media Freedom Campaign has criticized this decision.
The jury of the Zurich Journalism Prize has decided not to award Charlotte Jacquemart and Daniel Hug the 2007 Zurich Journalism Prize. This was awarded to them for an article campaign on the merger of Swissfirst with Bellevue Bank (see Return of the Zurich Journalism Prize 2007 demanded).
The media freedom campaign, which had called for the award to be revoked, was informed of the decision without any explanation, according to a press release. In an interview with Persoenlich.com, jury president Fredy Gsteiger justified the decision by saying that the overall performance of the research, which had drawn attention to certain abuses and problems, had been honored. It had still not been proven who was right in this matter.
According to the media freedom campaign, this is demonstrably untrue. Numerous investigations have shown that the allegations of bribery payments to pension fund managers and the accusation of damage to pension funds are false. A journalism prize was thus awarded to a piece of work that pilloried an entrepreneur without evidence and contributed to the demise of a successful company. It was appalling that the jury did not use a single word of regret. For Aktion Medienfreiheit, this understanding of journalism is reprehensible.
The jury's actions undermine the credibility of the institution of Zurich journalism in the long term and discredit all previous award winners, the statement continues. Aktion Medienfreiheit considers the president of the jury of the Zurich Journalism Prize, Fredy Gsteiger, and Christoph Born, member of the foundation board, to be no longer tenable.
The media freedom campaign, which had called for the award to be revoked, was informed of the decision without any explanation, according to a press release. In an interview with Persoenlich.com, jury president Fredy Gsteiger justified the decision by saying that the overall performance of the research, which had drawn attention to certain abuses and problems, had been honored. It had still not been proven who was right in this matter.
According to the media freedom campaign, this is demonstrably untrue. Numerous investigations have shown that the allegations of bribery payments to pension fund managers and the accusation of damage to pension funds are false. A journalism prize was thus awarded to a piece of work that pilloried an entrepreneur without evidence and contributed to the demise of a successful company. It was appalling that the jury did not use a single word of regret. For Aktion Medienfreiheit, this understanding of journalism is reprehensible.
The jury's actions undermine the credibility of the institution of Zurich journalism in the long term and discredit all previous award winners, the statement continues. Aktion Medienfreiheit considers the president of the jury of the Zurich Journalism Prize, Fredy Gsteiger, and Christoph Born, member of the foundation board, to be no longer tenable.
