Nina Jecker becomes President of the Board of Trustees of the Zurich Journalism Prize
The Board of Trustees of the Zurich Journalism Prize today unanimously elected Nina Jecker as the foundation’s new president. She succeeds Hannes Britschgi, who served for twelve years as jury president and then as president of the foundation and will step down on January 31, 2026.
Nina Jecker, born in 1981, is Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Basler Zeitung. In this role, she is responsible for strategic development, new journalistic formats, collaborations and technological innovations, among other things. She previously held various management and editorial positions at Basler Zeitung, Tages-Anzeiger and 20 Minuten. Jecker has broad experience in journalistic leadership, digital transformation and social communication. She studied journalism and communication at the School of Applied Linguistics in Zurich and has undergone continuous further training in leadership, transformation and AI topics. Commenting on her election, Nina Jecker says: "It is important that our industry confidently promotes and celebrates good journalism even in difficult times - this is what the ZJP stands for today and should continue to do so in the future."
The Board of Trustees would like to thank outgoing President Hannes Britschgi for his many years of dedicated service. Over the past twelve years, the Zurich Journalism Prize has been opened up to the whole of German-speaking Switzerland, the jury has been rejuvenated and funding has been secured in the long term through the sponsorship of the major publishing houses. In addition, the foundation's governance has been sharpened and its public image modernized with a new website. Hannes Britschgi has shaped the prize with great expertise, foresight and passion.
The Zurich Journalism Prize is one of the most important awards for outstanding journalism in Switzerland. Excellent contributions from print and online media have been honored since 1981. The main prizes are endowed with CHF 10,000 each, the newcomer prize with CHF 5,000. The foundation is sponsored by the media companies CH Media, NZZ, Ringier and Tamedia, with the support of other well-known partners.
The next award ceremony will take place on May 12, 2026 in Zurich. Entries for the 2026 competition are open to all German-language texts published in Switzerland in 2025. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2026.
