journalism
Theodor Wolff Prizes in five categories
The winners: Daniel Brössler (lr), Dunja Ramadan, Moritz Aisslinger, Jan Georg Plavec, Simon Koenigsdorff and Julia Ruhnau. photo
© Annette Riedl/dpa
The Theodor Wolff Prize commemorates the longtime editor-in-chief of the “Berliner Tageblatt”. Four journalists and a digital team received awards this year.
With the Theodor Wolff Prize, one of the most important awards in German journalism this year was presented in Berlin on Wednesday. The award, endowed with a total of 30,000 euros, was advertised in five categories. The award for digital publishers and newspaper publishers commemorates the longstanding editor-in-chief of the “Berliner Tageblatt”, Theodor Wolff (1868-1943).
Dunja Ramadan was honored in the Opinion category for her play “The Garden and the Jungle” in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. In her comment, the author criticized what she saw as the arrogance of many people in Germany in their refusal to award the World Cup to Qatar. “It doesn’t happen that often that the Germans are held up in the mirror like this,” the jury was quoted as saying in a statement.
Moritz Aisslinger convinced with his report “At the mercy of the storm” in “Die Zeit” (Hamburg). The author describes the disappearance of 90 container ships and their crews every year without a trace. “Endlevel Hass” by Julia Ruhnau for the “Nürnberger Nachrichten/Nürnberger Zeitung” was honored as “Best Local Play”. It is about the story of a young blogger who, through his excessive appearance as a “dragon lord” on the Internet, attracts the unbridled and ultimately murderous disgust of the Internet community. According to the jury, Ruhnau “superiorly sorted” the frequently used material and forged “a relevant story” from it.
For the “Best local digital project”, Jan Georg Plavec and Simon Koenigsdorff were awarded “Klimazentrale Stuttgart” for the “Stuttgarter Zeitung/Stuttgarter Nachrichten”. It is “a genuinely digital offer that cannot exist in print,” it said. For the theme of the year “The War in Europe – And what the turning point meant” the jury awarded the prize to Daniel Brössler for his play “Terrible New World” in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
As a guest speaker, the journalist and former editor-in-chief of the Turkish newspaper “Cumhuriyet”, Can Dündar, spoke about freedom of the media in autocratic systems. Dündar, who was politically persecuted in his Turkish homeland, lives in exile in Berlin. The fight for free media is unthinkable without the fight for democracy, he said. This is where journalism and activism meet. According to Dündar, activist journalism cannot be condemned if it is about survival for those affected.
Date of award ceremony 2023 Theodor Wolff Prize