Prize Award for Stars in 2024 - Reward for writings: Holocaust victims and flyer incident
Journalist Timofey Neshitov received the Stern Prize for his write-up on Holocaust survivor Eva Umlauf in the "Egon Erwin Kisch Prize" category for best reportage. He was acknowledged at a ceremony in Hamburg on Wednesday night. Neshitov's article, titled "The Perfect Witness," was published in "Der Spiegel."
In the "History of the Year" category, the jury awarded a team consisting of Katja Auer, Sebastian Beck, Andreas Glas, Johann Osel, and Klaus Ott, all from "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" for their investigation into the flyer scandal that they exposed prior to the Bavarian election. The controversial flyer contained antisemitic and disrespectful language and had been found by then-Free Voters leader Hubert Aiwanger during his school days. Aiwanger spoke out about a targeted campaign against him and was pressured heavily in the case, while Bavaria's Minister President Markus Soeder (CSU) chose not to dismiss him from his cabinet.
In the local category, the award went to Thumilan Selvakumaran, a journalist for "Haller Tagblatt," an affiliate of "Suedwest Presse." Selvakumaran's story, "Police Officers in Blind Flight," had uncovered a missed murder case in a serial killer complex.
The "Foto Geschichte des Jahres" recognition was given to Johanna-Maria Fritz's report "Grabenkampf" about soldiers in Ukraine, published in "Zeit." The prize for "Investigation" went to Jochen Breyer and Julia Friedrichs for their ZDF report "The Secret World of the Super Rich - the Billionaire Game."
The Stern Prize is sponsored by the "Stern" magazine and is decided by an independent jury. The magazine, which used to be a part of the Gruner + Jahr publishing house, is now under RTL Germany's ownership. The award was traditionally known as the Nannen Prize, but has been renamed to reflect ongoing examinations into "Stern" founder Henri Nannen's past in National Socialism. The findings of this research are yet to be known.
The Stern Prize is a significant journalism award in Germany.
