Justyna Kopińska Wins European Press Prize
Justyna Kopińska, a journalist for Gazeta Wyborcza and Duży Format, and author of the book Polska Odwraca Oczy, has received the prestigious European Press Prize, also known as the European Pulitzer. The reporter received The Distinguished Writing Award for her article The Fear-Sick Ward, published in Duży Format on 22nd July 2015.
The jury praised the author for her ‘mastery in the use of words’ and the universal character of The Fear-Sick Ward, which is ‘a ready-made movie script’. The reportage describes a regime of cruel punishments at a psychiatric ward for youths in Starogard Gdański, carried out by its former medical director Anna M. The harassment, first reported by the staff and patients of the ward, has been confirmed in numerous investigations.
After five years of investigations by prosecutors, Anna M. was still working as a psychiatrist and expert witness in the very same district in which she had been facing charges for harassing her wards. It was only after the report in Duży Format that the prosecution indicted Anna M.. In December 2015, she finally stood trial.
The European Press Prize has been awarded since 2012 by seven European media foundations, among them The Guardian Foundation and the Reuters Foundation. This year's jury included Juan Luis Cebrian, the founder of Spanish daily El Pais, Sylvie Kauffman, former editor-in-chief of Le Monde, and Sir Harold Evans of The Sunday Times, one of Britain’s most famous editors. The competition included more than five hundred articles from all over Europe. In her category, Kopińska competed with Paul Raymond of The Guardian and Jonathan Stock of Der Spiegel, among others.
The reportage has been published in the book Polska Odwraca Oczy (Poland Turns Away Her Eyes), which premiered in March 2016. A translation of the article can be read on the EPP's website.
Kopińska’s reportages have been awarded multiple times, including the Polish Amnesty International Pen of Hope Media Award. In 2015, she was honoured with the Polish Press Agency’s Ryszard Kapuściński Award, the Grand Press Award, the Teresa Torańska Newsweek Award, as well as a Radio ZET’s Andrzej Woyciechowski Distinction.
Source: PAP, Biblioteka Analiz, compiled by JRK, translated by OK
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