AUSTRIA

Franz-Joseph Huainigg is a specialist in German and Media Studies. As an author of numerous books and articles and as a cabaret artist he attempts to familiarize people with the subject of disabilities by using humour. Since November 2002 Franz-Joseph Huainnig has been the official spokesperson for the interests of disabled persons in the Austrian national parliament. 

"When you travel you always have great stories to tell afterwards – especially if you are traveling in an electric wheelchair with a lung respirator. Neither the manufacturers of artificial ventilators nor the airline companies are prepared for passengers with respirators. Persons with disabilities should contribute to life’s diversity and no longer rank as “invisible citizens”. Personal reports of affected persons in the media deliver unique insights into everyday life and question prejudices and stereotypes."

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BELGIUM

Pascale Gruber-Ejnes has been a journalist for Le Vif/L’Express since 1987. She has been writing for more than ten years on social issues. 

"Some years ago a television advert showed a man making a vulgar remark while eating with friends. When the camera moved away, it became clear that the man was sitting in a wheelchair. The message was: disabled people are like everybody else and they can be idiots like everyone else. Seeing disabled people as they are and thereby changing our viewpoint and understanding that their lives are like ours, is an important subject in my view. As a medical journalist I used to write about sexuality and sometimes about being disabled. Thanks to an information campaign I was able to bring both topics together to show the similarities behind the differences."

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BULGARIA

Originally from Bulgaria, Mladen Petrov has been living in Poland for six years, where he recently graduated from the University of Warsaw (major in international relations). Before joining the team of the Warsaw Business Journal, Mladen Petrov was working for the Polish edition of Newsweek. He is also a freelance writer for Bulgarian magazines and newspapers such as Edno, Kultura, Kapital and Dnevnik Daily, which published the article he chose to submit.

"My story addresses the difficult past (and present?) of the Polish Jewry from a slightly different point of view than usual. “Sendler’s list” presents Irena Sendler, a 97-year-old Polish woman, who was involved in the risky operation of saving Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. The fact that Irena Sendler and a few other persons are responsible for saving the lives of almost 2 500 children remained unknown until recently due to the post-war anti- Semitic policy in Poland and the modesty of Irena herself. I decided to write about Irena Sendler in an attempt to bring her closer to the Bulgarian readers."

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CHYPRE

After receiving his BA in Theology, Panayiotis Kaparis (41), graduated in Journalism, Public Relations and Advertisement from the Europa College in Nicosia. During his career, Panayiotis Kaparis has worked as Chief Editor at Logos Television and Radio Nicosia and as Chief Editor in the Economics department of the newspaper Politis before he became Editor/ Reporter for the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation in Nicosia. He is also still a columnist for Politis today.

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CZECH REPUBLIC

Jitka Vlková was born in Southern Bohemia in 1980. After studying at the University of Economics in Prague in the Faculty of International Relations, she started writing for the Czech weekly Týden (translated as „The Week“). She has beenwith the magazine for three years. In the beginning she specialized in portraits of business people from all over the world. She also likes to write about complex themes that somehow concern business – like the pink money article.

"Homosexuality in Czech society is at times still considered as something strange or even unacceptable. I knew that the situation is different in Western Europe and North America. I wanted to find out how far Czech business had progressed in this aspect and if the Czech attitude to homosexuality is in fact changing. I decided to take part in the competition because I’m convinced that the topic of my article matches the motto: „For diversity, against discrimination.“. After the article was published several readers expressed their surprise that many well known companies like SAS (Scandinavian Airlines), IKEA or car factories (Toyota, Volvo and other) are openly directing advertising campaigns at gay."

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DENMARK

Olav Hergel was born in 1956 and holds both a law and a journalism degree. He is a high profile journalist at the newspaper Politiken. His articles focus on uncovering and depicting social injustice – over the past few years he has primarily addressed the situation of refugees and immigrants in Denmark. He has received many awards –recently the most prestigious journalism prize in Denmark, the Cavling Prize, which he was honoured with in 2007. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed novel “The Refugee”.

"I wrote the article almost by chance. I was going to portray Saxo Bank, and I was told the story of the bank director Zaid A. Al-Maijah in London. His story interested me due to its context. Zaid A. Al-Maijah is a model citizen and would like to live in Denmark – yet this is not an option for him. It makes you wonder how many potential bank directors are driving you back home in their cab late at night after an evening out. I took part in the competition because I consider the issue of “them” versus “us” the most important issue of our time."

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ESTONIA

Grethe Rõõm (31) was still a student at the University of Tartu when she started working for the Võrumaa Teataja county newspaper in 2000. She has written about many different subjects, from news to features about people. Grethe Rõõm has been working as a journalist at the largest Estonian women’s magazine, Eesti Naine, since 2005. She also works as an editor in the Tartu Studio of ETV.

"I like people. There is a story behind each and every one of them, be they young or old, men or women, and these stories are always worth sharing with others. My job is to find these stories and write them down. If someone reads them and feels that they are not alone in their worries and joys, that there are other people like them, then I have done my job well. I wrote the story “Life is an opportunity” to show readers that it is possible to manage in life no matter how different you are. You just have to believe in yourself."

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FINLAND

Päivi Ängeslevä (39) is a graduate of the University of Tampere (MSc., Social Sciences, with a specialisation in journalism). She has been working as a journalist since 1988. At the moment she is working as a freelancer, and she writes primarily for Development (officially Kehitys-Utveckling in Finnish and Swedish) the magazine published by the Finnish Foreign Ministry and Suomen Kuvalehti (Finland Pictorial), the leading Finnish weekly.

"This article was very important to me personally, because the story of the young woman Jenni (the name is fictional) – and the whole desperate family process surrounding her – was both very touching and shocking, in particular due to the discrimination expressed by her mother and officials. The story was originally generated by an opinion piece written by Jenni herself, published in the same newspaper as the winning article, Helsingin Sanomat. The key issue in the article was that Jenni was separated from her younger sister, whom she had been looking after for years. The story continues today: Jenni’s youngest sister is now beginning her school years at the age of seven and living in an orphanage, very much against her sister’s will."

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FRANCE

Adeline Trégouët (40) has been a well-known reporter at Courrier Cadres since 2006. She began her career working for the arts section of the magazine l’Express. A graduate of the Academy Prisma Presse, she has also worked at Management and Capital. She also launched the daily newspaper for youth, L’Actu and her own magazine, Thematik. Marie-Madeleine Péretié (50) has been editor-in-chief at Courrier Cadres since 2004. Prior to this position, she was general secretary of the editorial department of Management and a highly regarded reporter at Newbiz.

"I feel very honoured that our article was selected by the French jury. I hope that it will also attract the attention of the European Jury. Together with Marie-Madeleine Péretié, we wanted to go further than the “simple” denunciation of discrimination in companies by informing ourselves about the barriers in French society. We wanted to demonstrate that we all are potentially discriminated/discriminating, but that things are moving forward and that solutions do exist."

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GERMANY

Edith Kresta has been writing on the issues of intercultural issues and travelling at the taz newspaper for many years. In addition, she published the brochure ‘Man lebt zweimal – binationale Ehen und Partnerschaften in Berlin’ (One lives twice – binational matrimonies and partnerships in Berlin) published by the Commissioner for Foreigners in Berlin.

"I am repeatedly astonished that adolescents of migrant backgrounds who are labelled as aggressive and criminal are in actual fact vulnerable, soft and helpless once you get in touch with them directly, outside of their peer-group. If you look closely and allow yourself to become involved, many of the fears and prejudices about life in a multicultural community will disappear on their own."

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GREECE

Dimitris Givisis writes for the Epohi, a unique newspaper. Epohi was founded by voluntary contributions in autumn 1988 and is still today a not-for-profit publication. Dimitris Givisis primarily addresses subjects related to minorities and people or groups living in the social margin, and tries to give a voice to those people who are otherwise not heard.

"This specific interview derives from the fact that in some parts of Greece (Western Thrace), the Islamic Law of Sharia still exists within the Muslim community. Women in this region often become objects of multiple social discrimination and prohibitions. In a period in which every multicultural society is seeking an identity, Muslim women in Greece face the restrictions imposed by their religion and the patriarchal norms of a closed society on a daily basis. The Muslim minority of Western Thrace has often been caught in the middle of nationalism and tension between Greece and Turkey, without having managed so far to obtain the minimum standards of human rights."

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HUNGARY

Scipiades Erzsébet has been working as a journalist for about 20 years. She has received many awards, including the prestigious Hungarian Pulitzer Memory Award. This year, she was honoured with the Cavalier Cross of the Hungarian Republic Merit. She is currently working for Népszava, a social democratic newspaper founded in 1873.

"One year ago, in a small Hungarian village, a teacher ran over a gipsy girl with his car. The girl wasn’t hurt yet the car was suddenly surrounded by angry children and adults. Unfortunately, the teacher was beaten to death. All of Hungarian society was shocked. I was very curious about what had happened there since the incident, so I visited the village. I had to face the fact that the people living there did not recive any help to recover from the terrible episode. I am currently dealing with the case of the gipsy students who were gratuitously pronounced mentally disabled; they are suing their school with the help of a member of the European Parliament and an NGO."

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IRELAND

Ruadhán Mac Cormaic is Migration Correspondent of The Irish Times in Dublin, and has written for the paper since 2005. Previously he worked for the European Parliament, RTÉ Television, the Sunday Tribune and Trinity News, of which he was editor in 2000/2001. He was the winner of the Douglas Gageby Irish Times Fellowship 2007. From Dublin, he studied at Trinity College Dublin, the University of Strasbourg and Cambridge University.

"This piece was researched between Ireland and Romania and published in May 2007 as part of a 4-month series on migration and the social re-shaping of Ireland. Its aim was twofold: first, to relate the experiences of victims of trafficking and, second, to examine the effectiveness of Irish law in punishing those behind the trade and protecting their victims. At the time of writing, Ireland was the only EU state not to have a law against human trafficking. And because of this, there is no way to gauge the extent of the problem."

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ITALY

Emanuela Zuccalà (35) is a journalist for Io Donna, one of the most important female magazines in Italy, sold on Saturday with the newspaper Corriere della Sera. She’s involved in social topics, both through investigations in Italy and international reporting, with a special focus on women and children. She has also written books on Italian jails, Aids in Cambodia and childhood in Malawi.

"The story of Joy, the Nigerian girl, preyed on and driven to prostitution, seemed to me a paradigm of all the women like her. Women we see in the streets, but whose painful pasts remain unknown to us. What circumstances did she escape from and what was she dreaming to find in Europe? I spent time with Joy for months, catching a glimpse of her world of pain and shattered illusions."

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LATVIA

Already in secondary school Ilze Vainovska was described as being committed to justice. She is less interested in political parties’ disagreements and more focused on topics which influence human lives. Within the framework of combating discrimination she defends people who have one life but thousands of possibilities and rights.

"I participated in the Journalist Award 2007 competition because I feel that it’s very important to prevent discrimination and express solidarity during this fight."

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LITHUANIA

Giedre Maksimaityte graduated from Vilnius University. For 18 years she worked for the Lithuanian National Radio on information issues and also on the programme „Mes, moterys“ (“We, women”). Recently, she was appointed deputy chief political editor of the internet news portal www.alfa.lt.

"I am a professional journalist with a special interest in politics and social issues. My main focus is on equal opportunities – that is why it was my priority throughout this year, and it took me a long time to decide which of my articles I should submit to the Journalist Award. Usually we think of equal opportunities when we talk about women and men, but I looked at the subject from a wider angle, writing about different grounds of discrimination."

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LUXEMBOURG

Rui Henriques was born in Luxembourg. He is currently working as a freelance journalist. He began his career working for Republicain Lorrain and in 2001 he was involved in the launch of the first French language newspaper in Luxembourg, Le Quotidien.

"The information passed almost unnoticed. Last summer, a deputy was surprised about the silence of the direction of the Schrassig prison after the suicide of Kim, a young prisoner of 23 years. This situation has touched me: doesn’t the prison have the duty to protect its prisoners? By knowing the facts, why didn't anybody react? What drove a boy of 23 years to commit suicide a few months before his release? So many questions to which I would like to find an answer. A few days later, a second inmate was found dead in his cell. The authorities have remained equally discrete on this story. It merely confirmed what we already knew: something is wrong in the prison of Schrassig."

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MALTA

Since 1994, Victor Vella has been working as a journalist with the Union Press’ daily l-orizzont and the weekly it-Torca. Vella reports on various topics, including illegal immigration. This topic is of particular interest given the fact that around 1,500 illegal immigrants arrived on Maltese shores this year.

"For the last few months I have been interested in the living conditions of the immigrants living in open centres in Malta. The latter lives in poor sanitary conditions, without regular medical attention, and with no future prospects for a better life. Illegal immigrants are also subject to exploitation in employment. I hope that the campaign “For Diversity. Against Discrimination.”, will bring to light the living and working conditions of the illegal immigrants in Malta and therefore improve them in the near future."

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THE NETHERLANDS

Frank van Hoorn (30) has been editor of the weekly magazine Elsevier for the past five years. He writes about various topics and frequently addresses the issue of (supposed) discrimination. Last year for instance he wrote an article on an employment project for underprivileged young people from the Dutch Antilles at Rotterdam Airport.

"Last year several judgements from the Commission of Equal Treatment caused commotion in the Netherlands. In particular, the judgement that a school in Utrecht could not force a female Muslim teacher to shake hands resulted in astonishment and anger among many people. These reactions motivated me to write the article ‘Hoeders van de gelijkheid’. I wanted to give the Commission the chance show its side of the story and moreover I sought to provide the general public with insight into the way the Commission works. In addition it was my intention to steer the topic away from the usual emotionally intense debate."

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POLAND

Anna Szulc has been working as journalist for 16 years. Throughout her career she has written articles for the Gazeta Krakowska and Życie Warszawy daily newspapers and Polityka, a weekly newspaper. She is also a staff member of the Przekrój weekly. She is co-author of two books about outstanding members of Cracow society (“Station Cracow” and “Cracow Wizards”, Prószyński s-ka) and also a scriptwriter.

"I decided to write about the Polish Roma since I am deeply aware of the fact that no other ethnic group in Poland is treated so badly. We are not aware or simply do not want to know about people living close to us in dreadful conditions of extreme poverty, isolation, humiliation. This is the reason why I submitted my article for the Journalist Award competition. It is very rewarding to be granted such an honour but it is far more important to speak loudly about this issue to the widest possible audience. There may be a chance to change the condition of those who suffer."

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PORTUGAL

Maria do Céu Neves Joaquim das Neves (Céu Neves) has been a journalist for Diário de Notícias, a national daily newspaper since April 1991. During this time she won several internal prizes for her writing. In 2001, she was warded the Norberto Lopes prize by Casa da Imprensa, for her series of articles “Quality of Life in Cities.”

"My article “Portugese contribute to a new kind of slavery in Europe” is about the recent wave of Portuguese emigration to the Netherlands and follows several studies that I have done on migration, which is one of my areas of expertise. The only way to fully comprehend this situation was by travelling to The Netherlands as an immigrant myself, just like any temporary worker. The participation in the “For Diversity. Against Discrimination.” Journalist Award means more to me than simply being recognised for my research of which I’m most proud. It is also an alert to EU member states, in particular to Portugal and the Netherlands, about the poor conditions in which immigrants work; conditions they are forced to accept because of lack of alternatives in their country of origin."

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ROMANIA

Slivia Nichita Vrinceanu (31) studied at the Faculty of Psychology, at Titu Maiorescu University in Bucharest. She currently works as chief editor of the daily newspaper Ziarul de Vrancea – Nord Est Distribution SRL Focsani and also as a correspondent for the national daily newspaper Evenimentul Zilei – Ringier Media Trust. Throughout her career, Slivia Nichita Vrinceanu has been honoured with numerous awards.

"I decided to participate in the “For diversity. Against discrimination.” 2007 Journalist Award because I believe journalists must get involved to bring about change and make people aware of realities that must be faced. I wanted to shed light on a community drama that has been forgotten, on people that seem to be forgotten by the very system that got them infected with the HIV virus. They are stranded in a world of their own, in a lawless place, where water, medical assistance, or education does not reach them."

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SLOVAKIA

Daniela Hivešová – Šilanová was born in Bratislava. She completed her studies at FiF Commenius University in Bratislava, in the field of esthetics and Slovak language. She is active as editor (publishing house Smena, company magazine ZPA), editor-in-chief of the magazine Romano nevo ľil, director (student theatre SLOVO, D 13, VERSUS), dramaturge (Podtatranské theatre Spišská Nová Ves, Theatre ROMATHAN, Košice) and pedagogue (Art high school in Košice – field of study acting). In addition she is the author of poetry collections for children as well as for adults, fairytale books and theatre plays.

"The topic arose from my professional focus which lies with the Roma issue and how people perceive it. As I write in the article, I do not identify with the lens through which people view the Roma today. Nor do I agree with presenting the Roma issue as an unsolvable problem which will prove to be a financial burden for the rest of society."

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SLOVENIA

Nika Vistoropski (29) is a journalist on the staff of Ona’s magazine which is a supplement of Delo and Slovenske novice dailies. What she likes most in her profession is to listen, to learn and to draw information from her interviews. She enjoys the moments when the people she talks to tell her their stories, and then she tries her best to share them with her readers in the same enlightening and encouraging form. She believes that in today’s world, when we seem to drift away from each other, the words “I trust you” are of utmost value.

"I entered this competition completely by chance and winning was an utter surprise. Why do I write on the issue of discrimination? Because it is my duty as a human being to do so, today more than ever. Although we are drowning in all kinds of slogans, they often seem to mock reality rather than reflect it. Every individual is a part of the whole in his or her own way, and absolutely nobody has a right to to judge anyone else."

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SPAIN

Silvia Melero (31) studied Journalism at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid and specialized in international information in developing countries. Since the age of 16, she has been working for radio stations, newspapers, TV channels and press agencies, primarily on social affairs. She loves travelling, writing, reading and enjoys life with her family and friends. She admires people who work every day toward the creation of a better world.

"When I saw the announcement of the 2007 European Journalist Award I thought it was a very good chance to present the protagonist of my article. We usually talk about disability in a negative way and tend to portray disabled persons as passive beings. However, their abilities exceed their disabilities and they have so much to offer. Taking part in this competition is a way of strengthening people living with disabilities. Diversity is not something beyond ourselves. Diversity is in our minds, in our hearts, in the people all around us and in nature. Therefore diversity must be present in the media, which should show “real life”, full of the colours, shades and differences that enrich it. The magazine where I published my article has been defending diversity, justice and plurality for 90 years."

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SWEDEN

Anna-Marie Sörberg has been a freelance journalist for almost 20 years. She began her career as a radio journalist for Swedish Radio (an independent public service radio broadcaster). Today she focuses on writing and editing articles for magazines such as ZON, Kom Ut and Re:public Service and studying the norms of sexuality and gender. The article ”HIVman sentenced to death” is part of a book project which illustrates Swedish court cases convicting ”HIV-men” and ”HIVwomen” for infecting others with the HIV virus.

"Anti-discrimination measures are implemented on many different levels. I consider our attitude toward HIV a prime example of how our society still thinks along the lines of ”us” versus ”them”. HIV is a problem which crosses national boundaries yet we handle it on the basis of national attitudes formed by limited experiences. The attention given to this issue by the European Union’s campaign ”For Diversity. Against Discrimination.” is an ideal platform not only to shed light on the lack of transparency surrounding HIV in Swedish politics but also to illustrate its consequences."

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UNITED KINGDOM

William Briggs is a freelance journalist who focuses on human rights issues both at home in the UK and abroad. He has written for The Guardian, New Statesman, The Sunday Times, The Herald, Scotland On Sunday, The Scotsman, Sunday Herald, Irish Examiner and The Big Issue, among many other publications.

"I fully support the EC’s anti-discrimination campaign and believe the media has a vital role in highlighting racism and xenophobia and promoting tolerance and respect for other cultures. While Scotland has an enviable record in welcoming refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants from all over the world, a tiny minority of people seem to feel the Roma are an easy prey for their prejudices. These attitudes are wholly unacceptable in any modern society and the article sought to highlight the problems some Roma people have faced since arriving in the UK from Slovakia seeking employment."

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AUSTRIA

Maria Sterkl is an accomplished economist (international business) and has been a journalist since 2000. She currently works as a business editor for derStandard.at, where she coordinates, derStandard.at/Integration, an online platform for integration together with Heidi Weinhäupl. Maria Sterkl also works as a freelancer for the Salzburger Nachrichten.

"The women who are portrayed in my article are discriminated on multiple grounds: as immigrants, as elderly people, as women. Their chronic illnesses and their poverty are consequences of decades of working under precarious conditions. Through regular exchanges with other women they experience solidarity and support. The necessary framework is provided by social workers and the Fonds Soziales Wien. The project is both an archetype and a cenotaph – a network that would not be needed if the social structures weren’t discriminatory to begin with".

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BELGIUM

Tom Naegels is a Flemish journalist and writer. He worked as a journalist for the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws between 1999 and 2003. Since 2003 he has been a columnist and reporter for De Standaard. He lives and works in Antwerp.

"This report is the first part of a four-part story, written on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Flemish-Dutch magazine Ons Erfdeel.
The Netherlands is still a model for other countries, only now for a radically different reason. The West has been searching its soul since the attack on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001 and Europe has been going through a period of critical reflection regarding its own cultures and traditions. This report considers how people from a different background deal with this new philosophy. Its conclusions are not entirely negative: in spite of the harsh and sometimes offensive tone, the Netherlands deals far more constructively with its foreign inhabitants than does Flanders."

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BELGIUM

Bart Dirks is Dutch and has been the Brussels correspondent for the Dutch daily newspaper De Volkskrant since 2003, reporting mainly on the European Union and Belgium. In 2007 he wrote various articles for the Flemish-Dutch cultural magazine Ons Erfdeel.

"Discrimination and integration are both awkward and current topics. I made use of the example of the city of Mechelen, halfway between Antwerp and Brussels, to describe as clearly as possible in concrete terms how young Belgian Moroccans try to integrate into society, by looking into the activities at a youth club and an indoor football club. Fortunately there are plenty of opportunities, as well as a great deal of problems, and I felt it important to show both sides of the story."

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