Nominations have opened for a new award, celebrating the best of European cross-border investigative journalism award since January 2019. The winners will receive prizes of €5,000 each, and be invited to an awards ceremony in Spring 2021.

 

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom is launching the award to celebrate the journalists who work across borders, in other EU member states and candidate countries, and whose innovative storytelling engages audiences in Europe and beyond.

 

Nominations for the inaugural award are open until Monday 9 November 2020. Applications can be submitted online through the IJ4EU website.

 

Commenting, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) Managing Director, Dr. Lutz Kinkel said:

“All over Europe we see brilliant investigative journalists, but we also see how fragile their existence is. Cross-border investigative journalism is costly and a constant annoyance for the powerful. That is why there is a lot of pressure on this kind of reporter. We want to reward the brave and selfless journalists who nevertheless stick to their investigations, no matter what, and create an impact for the societies they report on. We, the readers, need them. And democracy needs them too.”

Journalists are welcome to nominate their own investigations, as long as they were published via a credible medium (including print, broadcast, online, documentary film, and multimedia).

 

The general eligibility is as follows:

  • The project must have been published between 1 January 2019 and 30 September 2020.
  • The project must have been carried out by teams of at least two journalists in EU member states and/or candidate countries (with at least one journalist or news organisation based in an EU member state).
  • The project must be relevant to audiences in at least two EU member states and/or candidate countries (with at least one EU member state audience).
  • The project may be in any language. However, for projects not published in English, nominations must include an English translation, or summary, of the core findings of the investigation.
  • Nominations must include any significant challenge to the honesty, accuracy or fairness of the investigation; such as published letters, corrections or retractions, as well as any responses by the media outlet.

 

A team of independent researchers will start to evaluate applications from Monday 9 November 2020. At the beginning of 2021 an independent award jury, selected by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, will review a shortlist of nominations and select three cross-border investigations as the three winners of the IJ4EU Impact Award. Each award will be worth €5,000. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony during the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom’s Uncovered conference in Spring 2021.

 

Part of the IJ4EU (Investigative Journalism for Europe) project, the award is managed by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom and supported by the International Press Institute and the European Journalism Centre.

IJ4EU Impact Award logo

Read news by categories:

Related news

Statement

Serbia: 10 organisations ask Ministers for European Affairs to draw a red line on media freedom

EU Member States must show political leadership and join calls for the suspension of EU funds to Serbia to prevent the spiral of violence against journalists from escalating into deadly attacks, 10 media and press freedom organisations said on Friday in a series of letters sent to a group of Ministers for European Affairs across Europe.

READ MORE
Support

PROVAIDE

PROVAIDE untersucht, wie Journalist:innen Desinformation durch bessere Analyse von Herkunft, Verbreitung und koordinierten Narrativen zuverlässiger erkennen können.

READ MORE
Statement

As deadline passes, MFRR renews call for urgent transposition of EU Anti SLAPP Directive

Today, 7 May 2026, marks the deadline for EU Member States to transpose the EU Anti-SLAPP Directive, also known as Daphne’s law. As we mark this landmark, however, the European Anti-SLAPP Monitor shows a fragmented and uneven picture for transposition across Europe, as the deadline is being missed by nearly all Member States.

READ MORE
Statement

Georgia: An escalating media freedom crisis

Since the contested parliamentary elections in October 2024, Georgia has experienced one of the most rapid and serious deteriorations of press freedom ever seen in an EU member state or candidate country, Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners warn today.

READ MORE
Statement

World Press Freedom Day: Six years of monitoring reveals emerging threats against media freedom in Europe

For World Press Freedom Day 2026, MFRR publishes six years of Mapping Media Freedom data, revealing 6,092 media freedom violations affecting more than 10,200 journalists and media entities across Europe.

READ MORE
Statement

Statement on the persecution of journalists in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine

ECPMF joins human rights organisations in calling for urgent action against the systematic persecution, unlawful detention and silencing of journalists in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

READ MORE
Tags :