Two years after Antonio and Bartosz’s tragic passing in Strasbourg, a prize in their name was awarded - for the second year - to two of Europe’s most promising young journalists.
Just like the host of the event Daniel Mouque said, and so agreed European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira - who was present on stage, the Megalizzi – Niedzielski award ceremony had begotten mixed feelings. On one hand, the event held in Brussels’ Square last Tuesday was supposed to be an enjoable ceremony rewarding tireless young journalists, but on the other, it reminded everyone of the horrifying events of December 2018, when two young reporters - Antonio Megalizzi and Bartosz Niedzielski - died in the terrorist attack conducted in Strasbourg.
Commissioner Elisa Ferreira on stage with the two winners © EU/UE
Yet, both Mouque and Commissioner Ferreira agreed that the best way to act now is to commemorate the lives of the late journalists by embracing the values they cherished. With this in mind, six of the award’s finalists – all partecipants of the Youth4Regions (EU Regions’ Week program for young reporters) - were present on stage. Their names are worth remembering: Vilde Skorpen Wikan, Marta Silvia Viganò, Anastasia Lopez, Christina Dimova, Dino Subašić, and Francisco Sezinando. They came respectively from Norway, Italy, Austria, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Portugal. Their physical presence on the venue was exceptional, as it happened during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As only two of them could receive the award, the Commissioner announced that Anastasia Lopez from Austria and Francisco Sezinando from Portugal were the winners of the 2020 Megalizzi-Niedzielski prize, both having done an amazing job on their path as journalists so far.
"To all the finalists, may the wind take you to exciting places, and may you, all of you, be true journalists, true Europeans, and true friends" - Commissioner Ferreira added.
Both of the winners had the opportunity on stage to share their opinions, feelings, and answer some questions.
"I try to be the spokesperson for diversity, minorities, women's’ issues, [I try to] just be there and tell their story" - Lopez said from stage. "For me it’s not simply about speaking about other people, not just writing about them, but truly giving them the space to express themselves".
"I think that we [the Portugese] live in a bubble. What I’m trying to do is to say to the people, that we should not live in a bubble, and we have to see the future, other countries abroad and Europe as well" - Sezinando said.
It seems that the Commitee of Regions had already thought of the way to break this bubble. Not long after Francisco Sezinando expressed his thoughts, Commissioner Elisa Ferreira announced the start of the new program which will focus on the reporting of Cohesion Policy. The Commissioner informed that the Commitee of Regions had managed to allocate 5 million euros as grants for projects narrating the works of the CoR itself. The applications for the grants can be submitted up until 12 January 2021.
The program is directed to universities, media outlets and any news' reality who would like to take action and report about the activities of the Commitee of Regions. Every participant will of course have to follow the path of journalistic virtue, that was so important to late Antonio Megalizzi and Bartek Niedzielski.
"I will try my best to be a journalist that represents diversity, that takes part in discussions, that gives space to people to speak their true problems out" - winner Anastasia Lopez commented off-stage. "There is the journalist who simply does the job, and that is something people need, and then there is the journalist who crosses boundaries, tries to get information not everyone wants to be published."
Late journalists were known as true professionals fighting for the voice of people, who aren’t heard enough and a true inspiration for younger colleagues.
"The award is a good recognition of Bartek’s and Antonio’s work. It raises awareness that European journalism needs to provide more news, more reports about the EU. That is the way you can promote what the European Union does" - Francisco Sezinando said after the ceremony. Both of the winners had a chance to meet the relatives of the patrons of the award and both said the conversations were very emotional.
The other four finalists congratulated the winners and also dwelled on their mission as journalists.
The six finalists of the Megalizzi – Niedzielski award © EU/UE
"I dream of a world where we are all united and equal" - Dino Subašić said from Slovenia. "I believe many journalists dream the same dreams and that is why it’s important to share the message of things happening in Brussels, which are happening for our Regions and our Cities. I believe Bartek and Antonio were living the same way, had the same dreams and I would like to tell them that the journalism spirit they lived is not dead, and they are encouraging us to follow this path".
Other finalist, Marta Viganò also expressed how awed she was with the work of the award laureates. "I would like to congratulate the winners, I think they’ve done a marvellous job and raised really good points, especially giving the voice to minorities and the voiceless which is in my opinion the whole point of journalism. Of course every journalist has a persona but by the end of the day we should remind ourselves we’re the means for people to understand what is going on in the world."
by Łukasz Pośpiech (Polony)
