NZZ journalist receives Bonny Freedom Prize
The Bonny Foundation’s 2024 Freedom Award has been presented to journalist Dr. Katharina Fontana. The award ceremony took place on Thursday at the Kursaal Bern as part of the “Impulsaperos” event organized by Kellerhals Carrard, in front of more than 650 invited guests from the worlds of politics, business, and culture.
This year's CHF 100,000 prize goes to the renowned NZZ journalist Dr. Katharina Fontana.
In his laudatory speech, Beat Brechbühl, Vice President of the Foundation, described her as a courageous, edgy and down-to-earth idealist of freedom:
"In a Kant year, it is no coincidence that we are awarding the Freedom Prize to Dr. Katharina Fontana, because the triad of Kant's teachings has become rare in today's journalism: Sapere aude ("Have the courage to use your own intellect") has a hard time in the ratings-driven battle for attention. The categorical imperative has been replaced by woke opinion journalism. And the epistemological synthesis - "Thoughts without content are empty, views without concepts are blind" - threatens to sink into a uniform mush...."
Stylistically elegant with a decidedly pointed pen
Katharina Fontana has been back at the NZZ as Senior Editor since 2021 - not a sign of age, but a distinction and obviously a free pass for fundamental topics and a steep pass for depth. She writes about many things and does so with stylistic elegance and a decidedly sharp pen. Above all, however, she argues with cool reason where others cultivate emotional indignation.
This unruliness, this going against the grain, this independence from fashion and zeitgeist impresses the Board of Trustees just as much as the fact that her inner compass is consistently oriented towards freedom, personal responsibility and the Kantian virtues of discipline, diligence and modesty...
The Kant Year and this Fontana Prize should be a wake-up call for common sense, according to the press release. For common sense as a foundation. For proportionality as a landmark. For freedom as a vantage point.
About the Bonny Foundation for Freedom
The politically neutral foundation awards an annual prize to a person or organization that has rendered outstanding services to the preservation of freedom. The Prize for Freedom, which has been awarded annually since 2013, is endowed with prize money of CHF 100,000. Past winners include Monika Bütler, Jérémie Bongiovanni, Nicolas Jutzet and Diego Taboada from Liber-thé, former Federal Councillor Kaspar Villiger, Franziska Tschudi Sauber, Marco Solari, Peter Gomez, Suzette Sandoz, Silvio Borner, Andreas Thiel/Moreno Bernas-coni, Geri Schwarz and Beat Kappeler. The Bern-based foundation supports projects that promote the liberal social order and the free market economy. For example, it co-initiated and supported the "5vor12" deregulation prize and projects such as LARA, Youngpreneurs in High Schools and Reform Ideas for Switzerland in 2030, as well as numerous other civil society activities and publications. The members of the Board of Trustees are: Jean-Pierre Bonny (Chairman), Dr. Beat Brechbühl (Vice Chairman), Gerold Bührer, Etienne Jornod and Dr.h.c. Beat Kappeler.
