The European Parliament's III Annual Prize for Excellence in Journalism was awarded on 13 October by President Jerzy Buzek to Polish, Swedish, Hungarian and British journalists in four categories: written press, radio, TV and the Internet. The four winners were selected by the jury from a list of 76 national finalists.

In the pre-selection for the European Parliament Journalism Prize, juries of journalists in each Member State selected 76 national winners: 25 in the written press category, 19 for radio, 21 in the television category and 11 for internet. Further to this selection, the award jury in Brussels, composed of three MEPs and six journalists, selected one final Europen winner for each category.

III Journalism Prize Awards

Written Press Award

Witold Szabłowski of the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza won the written press award for his article "Today two bodies will wash ashore". The article depicts the problem of illegal immigration to the European Union.  The jury described the article as "informative, lively and authentic". As one jury member put it, praising the quality of writing in the report, reading this article is like reading "a work of literature".

Radio Award

Kajsa Norell and Nuri Kino of Sveriges Radio Ekot (Sweden) won the radio award for an investigative report on EU financial support to Turkey. As their report shows, EU funding does not make it all the way to local farmers in Turkey. The programme, made in the Turkish countryside and in Ankara, was described by the jury as "an excellent investigation" characterised by "perfect timing and length".

TV Award

Zsolt Németh of MTV Hungary won the TV award category for his "Euforia" programme, which presents the history of the European Union in an understandable and entertaining way to younger people and those unfamiliar with EU affairs. The jury praised the programme's quality and also its imagination, something often missing from TV projects on the EU. Above all, the programme manages to be "attractive, funny and educational at the same time".

Internet Award

James Clive-Matthews of the UK won the Internet award for his blog article "EUtopia - What percentage of laws come from the EU?". The author has done "extraordinary research work" and the article is not only "informative and interesting" but also very "understandable and convincing" and written "with a sense of humour", according to the jury. Mr Clive-Matthews, who is "one of the few bloggers covering the EU seriously", has carried out a serious statistical and comparative study but his article can also "be read with a lot of pleasure".

The European Parliament Journalism Prize aims to promote critical and impartial journalism. Although a difficult task, explaining Europe, its policies and decisions to the public is vital for the Union and, as President Buzek highlighted, should be supported by institutions.

The award ceremony was followed by a panel discussion titled "Journalists - an endangered species?" Almost all national winners from the EU Member States attended the event. Fifty young journalists participating in a workshop hosted by the European Parliament were also present.