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Prize winner Nico Fried
Photo: Jürgen Heinrich / imago images
The media prize parliament of the German Bundestag 2021 goes to Nico Fried and Boris Herrmann from the parliamentary editorial office of the »Süddeutsche Zeitung«.
The two journalists were honored for their contribution "Die da".
It is a report about the budget week of the Bundestag, which appeared in 2019.
With the award, the Bundestag honors outstanding journalistic work which, according to the call for proposals, is intended to "stimulate dealing with questions of parliamentarism and contribute to a deeper understanding of parliamentary processes, working methods and topics".
The Bundestag has been awarding the media prize since 1993, initially as the "Politics Media Prize" and since 2019 as the "Parliament Media Prize".
Recently, however, the price has been under special observation.
This has to do with the jury, which the President of the Bundestag appoints on the proposal of the Scientific Service.
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Jury member Rainer Meyer (archive photo)
Photo: Erwin Elsner / picture alliance
In particular, the juror Rainer Meyer, who previously blogged for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung under the pseudonym Don Alphonso and has been a columnist for the Welt since 2018, aroused opposition.
Again and again he is accused of agitating against women and left-wing positions on the internet.
The Green Bundestag Vice-President Claudia Roth criticized Meyer's appointment already in 2019.
In 2020, the MP Marco Bülow sent an open letter to the President of Parliament Schäuble after journalists had told him that they “do not want to submit their contributions because the media award has lost its independent reputation”.
In a detailed article at the beginning of February, Die Zeit investigated the question of whether the blogger Don Alphonso was responsible for “that people he writes about are subsequently threatened by rights?” The “taz” asked the jury chairwoman Claudia Nothelle from the Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, formerly at the RBB, how it was problematic for her to sit on a jury with Rainer Meyer.
Nothelle replied that she at least stood for "journalism that does not incite, insult and is not inhuman."
It can be seen in this context that "SZ" author Nico Fried announced in a tweet that he and his colleague Boris Herrmann would be happy to accept the award, "also out of respect for the Bundestag and its Presidium."
However, they would donate the prize money, the media prize is endowed with 5000 euros - to the organization Hate Aid.
Hate Aid claims to offer those affected by digital violence free advice and litigation costs.
People who experience hatred and agitation online, who are insulted, defamed or threatened, could contact the advice center.
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