The winners of the Tamedia Scholarship Award 2009:
Catherine Boss and Martin Stoll, SonntagsZeitung
Together with free lance reporter Karl Wild, Catherine Boss and Martin Stoll wrote a series of articles that provoked one of the largest political earthquakes in Switzerland in recent years. Their investigation on the Nef case – a top army official being involved in harsh accusations about his private life – caused the resignation of a Swiss federal counsel and defence minister. The jury emphasised the fact that the reporters were in possession of all facts and information, yet not unveiling them at once. By doing so they managed to meet public interest and still protect the private life of the persons involved.
Roland Bingisser, Schweizer Familie
Big problems can yet be discussed in a quiet language. A moving report about illiterate persons in Switzerland was much acclaimed last year. A lifelong and humiliating camouflage is part of the personal destiny of many of those persons. Roland Bingisser reported about those persons, about their daily challenges and their daily tricks not to stand out, in a quiet and yet touching and moving way. By doing so he made a large audience know and understand more about the problems and challenges of persons in the middle of our society.
Daniel Huber Staub, 20 Minuten Online
Internet combines texts, images, moving pictures, sounds and graphics to become one single platform of information. To make sure that users find their way through these unlimited audiovisual impressions, high standard content is needed – high quality graphics and statistics being an important part of it. Daniel Staub developed and established the 20 Minuten Online graphics and statistics design and is responsible for the high standard of this work. Interactive graphics, charts and statistics show i.e. historical back ground information,. or allow to display complex news.
Matthias Bärlocher, Radio 24
The «lone fighter» in the middle of politics: Matthias Bärlocher works as radio reporter in the Swiss capital Berne and brings daily reports about the political life – being broadcasted on Radio 24 and Capital FM, and Radio Grischa and FM 1 as well. He is the only accredited journalist of a private radio station in the Swiss Houses of Parliament. His outstanding achievement is his reporting about the complex political context for a radio audience. He also developed his own distinctive style of reporting: concise and close to the point.
René Birrer, TeleZüri
The summer break on TV stations offers the possibility to report about unusual and overlooked issues which normally are not part of the daily news coverage. In a series of five broadcasts, René Birrer reported about the life and work of alp farmers in Switzerland. The report allowed a large audience an unusual and yet fascinating background view into a world unknown to most of them. At the same time his sensitive report gave a voice to these alp farmers, and to their problems and daily challenges.