European Press Prize

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European Press Prize

The awards for excellence in journalism. The European Press Prize acknowledges and celebrates the significance of good journalistic work.

Journalists can enter their work in 4 categories, each worth €10.000,-

08/06/2026

✨ We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all of the European Press Prize 2026 Runners-up!

Across countries, formats and subjects, these remarkable works of journalism demonstrate the depth and determination that reporting demands. They investigate abuses of power, make space for lives and experiences too often overlooked, examine the forces transforming our societies, and ask questions that matter far beyond the moment of publication.

A European Press Prize Runner-up is a special mention by the Judges – a recognition of work that has stood out for its quality, relevance and impact. Each of these pieces has made an important contribution to public understanding. Each reminds us why quality journalism matters. This is a collection of stories pursued with rigour and courage that expose what has been hidden, challenge indifference, bring complexity to public debate and ensure that significant realities are not allowed to disappear from view.

To all the journalists behind this year’s Runner-up projects: thank you for continuing to report, document and explain, often in circumstances that make this work increasingly difficult. Your commitment to journalism and to the audiences it serves is deeply valued.

We encourage everyone to explore the European Press Prize 2026 Runners-up and read the outstanding projects recognised this year. The subjects are diverse, the approaches are distinctive, and the impact is lasting.

04/06/2026

Our 2026 Nominees 💙

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03/06/2026

It is becoming harder to look at contemporary politics without recognising certain patterns of the normalisation of extreme ideas and growing mistrust in democratic institutions.

✨ The European Press Prize 2026 Public Discourse Award goes to “Not again!” by Kerstin Kohlenberg, published by in Germany. A profound and unsettling piece that asks Germany to take seriously the warnings already visible elsewhere, while there is still time to change course.

Drawing on her years of experience as a correspondent in the United States, examines the rise of Donald Trump alongside the growing appeal of the AfD in Germany. Through three closely observed archetypes of AfD sympathisers she explores the emotions, fears and grievances that can draw people towards a political movement.

The article argues that Germany is facing a pattern already witnessed in the United States, and therefore has an opportunity to respond differently. Kohlenberg’s central warning is that democratic parties cannot defend democracy through facts alone when they fail to address the feelings of insecurity, however small or large, that shape political choices.

The Jury praised it as “a very well-researched piece that really makes you think”, highlighting Kohlenberg’s “marvelous eye for details when describing the characters” and the cross-border relevance of a subject applicable far beyond Germany.

Congratulations to Kerstin Kohlenberg! Democratic societies are struggling to understand the forces changing them, and “Not again!” shows the vital role of public discourse journalism in identifying the warning signs and reminding us that political futures are not predetermined.

03/06/2026

✨ We are honoured to recognise a remarkable cross-border investigation with the European Press Prize 2026 Migration Journalism Award: “Unaccompanied children sleep on the floor in shifts in Greece’s ‘Model Camps’. The EU is aware” by Lydia Emmanouilidou, Corina Petridi, Luděk Stavinoha, Stavros Malichudis, May Bulman, Iliana Papangeli, Galatia Iatraki, Lorenz Naegeli, Osama Abdullah and Lukas Haeuptli, published by , and .kollektiv.

This project confronts the devastating reality of migration policy by looking at the extreme vulnerability of children seeking asylum and the failure of institutions that are legally obliged to protect them, yet repeatedly choose to tolerate conditions that put them in danger. Unaccompanied children in refugee camps on Greece’s islands are among the most protected groups under EU and international law. This investigation documents the distance between that promise and their daily reality. Children are living in extreme overcrowding, sleeping on floors in shifts, with severely limited access to toilets, showers, medical care and psychological support.

In the new EU-funded camp on Samos, presented by the Greek PM as a model facility, a safe zone built for 200 children was accommodating around 500 by the end of 2024. Through hundreds of pages of internal European Commission and EUAA documents obtained via freedom of information requests, alongside visual evidence, testimony from children and accounts from lawyers and whistleblowers inside the camps, the investigation reveals that European institutions knew what was happening.

Congratulations to , , Luděk Stavinoha, , .bulman, , Galatia Iatraki, , Osama Abdullah and Lukas Haeuptli and publications behind this essential investigation. Their work spurned the idea of letting children in Europe’s asylum system be treated as invisible.

03/06/2026

Some investigations demand years of persistence, a refusal to be diverted, and a commitment to survivors whose testimonies were ignored for far too long.

✨ It is our privilege to award the European Press Prize 2026 Investigative Reporting Award to “The Brother D conspiracy — Exposing an international child abuse cover-up that left children in Africa exposed to a predator for decades” by Michael O’Farrell, published by The Irish Mail on Sunday in Ireland.

This investigation is the culmination of a decade of reporting by Michael O’Farrell. It traces how, after the St John of God Order in Dublin discovered in 1993 that Brother Aidan Clohessy had been abusing children with special needs, his crimes were concealed instead of reported to the police. According to the investigation, secret settlements were paid to victims, while Clohessy was sent to Malawi to continue working with children.

For two decades, he remained there. Further complaints from Africa about his abuse towards local children were buried back in Ireland, while he raised millions from international donors, appeared in television documentaries and continued to operate in public view. When he was recalled in 2012, there was no explanation and no investigation into what he had done in Africa. The children harmed there were left without any justice.

Bringing this story to light required extraordinary dedication, years of following evidence and refusing to allow institutional silence to remain the final word. It also required immense bravery from the victims and survivors who made it possible to expose what had been concealed for decades.

The Jury described the piece as “terrific work from a local outlet with huge impact” and praised its “constant laser focus on an important issue”, recognising that this kind of sustained journalism is what can finally bring change.

Congratulations to Michael O’Farrell and ! This Award honours journalism that persists when powerful institutions fail and makes accountability possible after years of complete silence.

03/06/2026

✨ When technology enters public healthcare, innovation cannot be separated from accountability. We are honoured to award the European Press Prize 2026 Innovation Award to “Mole or cancer? The algorithm that gets one in three melanomas wrong and erases patients with dark skin” by Ángela Bernardo, María Álvarez del Vayo, Carmen Torrecillas and Adrián Maqueda, published by Civio in Spain.

Artificial intelligence is entering our lives at extraordinary speed. It is increasingly being used in decisions that affect our rights, safety and even health. But when technology is deployed more quickly than it can be scrutinised, the consequences can be deeply harmful — and, in healthcare, potentially fatal.

The Innovation Award recognises work that challenges the boundaries of journalism: through the journalistic process, the final publication, or the way an investigation is conceived and carried out. .es’ investigation did exactly that, using rigorous methodology to expose the human consequences of an opaque algorithmic system.

The team investigated a cancer-detection tool deployed by a regional public health system in Spain’s Basque Country to help general practitioners distinguish between harmless moles and possible cancers. They found that the algorithm had been trained almost entirely on images of white patients and missed nearly one in three melanomas in the only clinical study that evaluated it. They also revealed that the Spanish government awarded the company behind the tool a €1.6 million contract, despite the algorithm failing to meet the minimum diagnostic performance required in the tender.

Congratulations to Ángela Bernardo, , and . Their investigation demonstrates journalism at its most innovative and necessary through interrogating the systems presented as progress, uncovering the people those systems fail to see, and demanding accountability before hidden flaws become human harm.

03/06/2026

✨ We are immensely proud to announce that the Distinguished Reporting Award of the European Press Prize 2026 goes to “What the wounds are telling us” by Maud Effting and Willem Feenstra, published by in the Netherlands.

This is exceptional journalism carried out under exceptional circumstances. While independent access to Gaza has been made almost impossible, and Feenstra built a rigorous investigation from the accounts and documentation of international medical professionals who had worked inside Gaza’s hospitals and clinics.

Over several months, they spoke with seventeen doctors and one nurse, who shared hundreds of photographs, videos, X-rays, medical notes and personal diary entries. Fifteen of the doctors described treating children aged fifteen and younger with gunshot wounds to the head or chest. By the most conservative count, they had collectively treated 114 such children, the vast majority of whom died.

Through painstaking evidence gathering and the testimony of doctors confronted with unimaginable injuries, the investigation asks a devastating question: what are these wounds telling us about this war?

The Jury described the project as “very impressive work combining data gathering together with deeply human portraits of the doctors”, highlighting the significance of framing them as the “last international eyewitnesses”. They praised it as “a very rigorous project, especially in the context where access is almost impossible.”

Congratulations to Maud Effting and Willem Feenstra on this outstanding achievement. “What the wounds are telling us” demonstrates the essential power of reporting in pursuing evidence where access is obstructed, giving form to what witnesses have seen, and ensuring that the realities of war cannot be ignored.

03/06/2026

⭐ The European Press Prize 2026 Award Ceremony is underway!

We are delighted to begin the evening with Lisbon Live, a live journalism performance by Mensagem de Lisboa, moderated by Catarina Carvalho. Rooted in the city that is hosting us this year, the performance sets the stage for an evening dedicated to outstanding journalism, powerful storytelling and the people behind it.

A fitting start to a celebration of Europe's finest reporting!

03/06/2026

We close our programme with Covering the human toll: three perspectives.

Lightning talks from Nidžara Ahmetašević and Andrew Connelly on Bosnia’s mine-laden migration route, Ana Patrícia Silva on women in Portuguese prisons, and Bastian Berbner, Maud Effting and Willem Feenstra on reporting Gaza from a distance.

Three distinct contexts, one shared challenge of how to bear witness to human suffering with care and rigour.

04/05/2026

“Racing to adapt should not be a strategy as a way to ensure survival.”

At our panel at in Perugia, , Chair of our PrepCom, set the tone for a wider discussion on the future of journalism. In a rapidly shifting landscape, chasing adaptation at all costs risks reinforcing existing inequalities, where dominant players grow stronger and independent voices are left behind.

The real challenge is to keep up, and also to rethink the path forward by prioritising solidarity, collaboration, and a more equitable media ecosystem.

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