Zurich Journalism Prize 2018 presents twelve awards

The seven-member jury of the Zurich Journalism Prize, chaired by Hannes Britschgi, has awarded this year's prize for overall achievement to Peter Studer. The 83-year-old journalist reported on the Watergate scandal as a US correspondent, was editor of the Swiss parliament, editor-in-chief of the "Tages-Anzeiger" and Swiss television and president of the Press Council, where he played a formative role. Studer spoke out regularly and with commitment on issues of media ethics and media law. He defended journalism "out of the deepest liberal conviction against all its hostilities", writes Britschgi in his laudatory speech.

In the article "The last course", "NZZ Folio" author Barbara Klingenbacher talks about her attempt not only to eat an animal, but also to kill it beforehand. Her reportage makes the contradiction tangible that we ignore at meat counters and in restaurants, according to the laudation. For the "Basler Zeitung", Christian Keller not only reconstructed the chemical accident in Schweizerhalle that occurred over 30 years ago, but also attempted to uncover the cause of the fire, which has not yet been proven. He meticulously interviewed witnesses, collected evidence and put it together to form a possible puzzle, writes the laudator. The eight journalists from Tamedia's Research Desk were honored for their extensive series of articles on the Paradise Papers: Oliver Zihlmann, Catherine Boss, Christian Brönnimann, Alexandre Haederli, Julie Jeannet, Marie Parvex, Mario Stäuble and Hannes von Wyl. The series "is not only well researched, it is also brilliantly presented and light-footedly told", according to the laudation.

The jury awarded the Newcomer Prize for the first time. William Stern received it for his portrait of a 74-year-old man from Lucerne, published by "Watson", who single-handedly collected almost 10,000 signatures for the initiative to ban the burqa. According to the jury, he had succeeded in creating a fine, lively and entertaining portrait, the likes of which you don't often get to read.

The award ceremony, which took place on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, at Kaufleuten Zurich, was attended by numerous prominent figures from business, politics and the media. The keynote speech was given by Jochen Wegner, Editor-in-Chief of Time Onlinewhich dealt with journalism for the 21st century.

The Zurich Journalism Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for journalism in Switzerland, has been awarded since 1981. Each of the four prizes is endowed with CHF 10,000. Outstanding and groundbreaking work and complete works are honored, regardless of the media channel through which they were distributed. The award is made possible thanks to contributions and donations from companies, institutions and publishers. The Foundation would like to thank JTI, Google, Clinic Utoquai and Ikea in particular for their support.

This year, the scope of the Zurich Journalism Prize has been extended. Journalistic work from the whole of German-speaking Switzerland can now be submitted. The Foundation's decision to abandon the focus on Zurich attracted a great deal of attention. The number of entries has doubled. 350 entries were submitted, 250 for the Zurich Journalism Prize and 100 for the Newcomer Prize.