Bellingcat Shortlisted for the 2020 European Press Prize for Innovation

Carlos Gonzales, Bo, Daniel Romein and Timmi Allen have been nominated for the European Press Prize Innovation Award.

The piece ‘Europol’s Child Abuse Image Geolocated in Ukraine: A Forgotten Story Hidden Behind a Landscape’, published by Bellingcat, is on the shortlist for the European Press Prize. During the presentation of this year’s laureates, that will take place on June 11th, the winners of the European Press Prize 2020 will be announced in 4 categories (+ one Special Award). This is the 4th time Bellingcat investigations have been shortlisted for the European Press Prize.

For the 2020 edition of the European Press Prize, more than 700 journalists from all across Europe have sent in their best work. The preparatory committee has selected ‘Europol’s Child Abuse Image Geolocated in Ukraine: A Forgotten Story Hidden Behind a Landscape’ and 23 others for the 2020 shortlist.

The Innovation Award

‘Europol’s Child Abuse Image Geolocated in Ukraine: A Forgotten Story Hidden Behind a Landscape’ has been nominated for the Innovation Award. On the piece, the preparatory committee comments: “Simply superior in its research”.

The other five articles nominated for the 2020 Innovation Award are:

  • Ilvy Njiokiktjien, Henrik Kastenkov, Michiel Hazebroek, Thomas Knijff, Hens Zimmerman, Reinier Martin (self-published) with ‘BORN FREE, Mandela’s Generation of Hope
  • Julius Tröger, Andreas Loos, Christian Bangel, Elena Erdmann, Julian Stahnke, Paul Blickle, Philip Faigle, Sascha Venohr (ZEIT ONLINE) with ‘The Millions Who Left’
  • The team of Decât o Revistă (DoR) with ‘How DoR organized an all-team pop-up newsroom in Transylvania’
  • Jędrzej Malko, Sławomir Blichiewicz, Karolina Olejak, Szymon Rębowski, Lukasz Pawłowski, Stefan Sękowski (Krytyka Polityczna, Krytyka Polityczna, Magazyn Kontakt, Klub Jagielloński, Nowa Konfederacja and Kultura Liberalna) with ‘Projekt Spięcie
  • Hugo Greenhalgh, Nicky Milne (Thomson Reuters Foundation) with ‘Stonewall 50+

In 2019, the Innovation Award was won by Guillermo Abril and Carlos Spottorno, for their piece ‘Palmyra, the other side’ published by Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin and El País semanal.

Preparatory committee

This year’s preparatory committee in charge of selecting the shortlist consists of Denis Staunton, Belinda Goldsmith, Maria Louka, Anna Husarska, Ida Nyegård Espersen, Șebnem Arsu, Bartosz Wieliński, Patrice Schneider and Heikelina Verrijn Stuart.

About the European Press Prize

The European Press Prize celebrates the highest achievements in European journalism.

The prize is made possible by a number of European media foundations who strive to encourage quality journalism in Europe: The Guardian Foundation, Thomson Reuters Foundation, The Politiken Foundation, Foundation Veronica, The Jyllands-Posten Foundation and Democracy and Media Foundation and The Irish Times Trust Limited. The prize partners with the Media Development Investment Fund, Agora Foundation, ANP and De Balie.

The European Press Prize is awarded in 4 categories: Distinguished Reporting, Innovation, Opinion and Investigative Reporting. The judges award a Special Award for excellent journalism to one striking entry which defies categories and disciplines. Studio Europa Maastricht and The European Press Prize have also launched a pilot edition of the European Cartoon Award this year.  Each award is worth €10,000.

Award ceremony and winners

Five winners will be chosen by the European Press Prize’s panel of judges. The panel for this year consists of chairman Sylvie Kauffmann (editorial director Le Monde), Yevgenia Albats (editor-in-chief The New Times), Alexandra Föderl-Schmid (correspondent Süddeutsche Zeitung for Israel and the Palestine territories), Alan Rusbridger (former editor-in-chief of The Guardian) and Juan Luis Sánchez (deputy director eldiaro.es).