Newspaper & Mailroom

The Henri Nannen Award 2011 for services to press freedom has been awarded to the editorial department of the French newspaper “Le Canard enchainé”

Thursday 21. April 2011 - The Henri Nannen Award 2011 for special dedication to freedom of the press has been awarded to the French newspaper "Le Canard enchainé." The name of the weekly newspaper established in 1915, which can be translated as "the duck in chains," is an expression of protest against government censorship.

The newspaper is an investigative and satirical weekly with a circulation of around 700,000. An editorial team of 15 works at the head office in Paris, led by editors-in-chief Claude Angeli and Érik Emptaz.
Since it was founded the “Canard” has resolutely pursued the line of fully independent reporting committed only to the truth and the reader. The newspaper forgoes advertising revenue of any kind and has always resisted all advances from financial and commercial groups as well as political parties. In the course of its history it has helped to uncover numerous scandals in France with its investigative reports. For example, the French foreign minister Michele Alliot-Marie recently was forced to resign after “Canard enchainé” proved the level of his personal involvement with the Tunisian regime.
stern editor-in-chief Andreas Petzold says: “Canard’s motto translates to ‘The freedom of the press only wears out when you don’t use it.\’ The editorial team is committed to this principle and mercilessly exposes political scandals and corruption in a country in which freedom of the press is guaranteed by the constitution, but where reality is sometimes a different story. Our colleagues deserve recognition and respect for this, which we would like to express by awarding them the Henri Nannen Award for Press Freedom.”
The Henri Nannen Award is presented for the seventh time this year. In addition to the Outstanding Commitment To Press Freedom and the Journalistic Lifetime Achievement award, it honors the best journalistic works that appeared in the German print and online media the previous year. Journalists submitted 791 works from 196 print and online publications for the “2011 Henris” (in the categories of Investigative, Reportage, Documentary, Humor, and Photojournalism. and the Special Prize for outstanding journalism). The Award is endowed by Gruner + Jahr and stern with total prize money of 35,000 euros.
The Awards will be presented at a ceremony hosted by Katrin Bauerfeind and Carsten van Ryssen at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg on May 6, 2011.