Jury commendations for 2022 RIAS Media Prize winners

The RIAS Berlin Commission’s independent jury has picked five winners from the United States and Germany for its 2022 RIAS Media Prize competition and came to the following conclusions below about the winning entries. The 30th annual award is presented by the German-American exchange program and celebrates the best of transatlantic broadcast journalism.

The jury made up of five distinguished journalists from the United States and Germany selected five winners in TV, Radio and Digital Media categories submitted from across the United States and Germany on March 5, 2022. The German-American jury comprised: Co-chair Michael Gargiulo (WNBC TV, New York), Co-chair Anja Heyde (ZDF/MDR, Berlin/Magdeburg) as well as Helge Fuhst (ARD, Hamburg), Yami Virgin (Fox 29, San Antonio, Texas), Christian Wilp (NTV/RTL, Berlin).

Jury Commendations

Grand Prize – Jan Philipp Burgard, “Leben und Sterben am 11. September – eine Familiengeschichte “(WeltTV), September 4, 2021

“Life and Death on 9/11″ is the moving story of how two German-American families an ocean apart struggle to overcome a terrible loss that binds them while also moving on with their lives with hope in their hearts. A young investment banker from Germany was among those who perished tragically on 9/11. His American fiance was pregnant with their child. Jan Philip Burgard takes viewers on an emotional journey with the banker’s fiance returning to the New York apartment they shared for the first time in 20 years. Their 20-year-old son speaks movingly about growing up without his German father. The banker’s parents in Germany also appear, still deeply pained by the loss. The revealing, yet sensitive portrayal of one family anchored  in America and Germany is an outstanding story and poignant reminder that Germans and other foreigners were among those who died on 9/11

Here is a link to Burgard’s story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYQGRMqMklg

RIAS TV Award – Sigrid Faltin “Ein Hauch von Amerika – die Doku“ (ARD), December 1, 2021

Just when it seemed that just about everything was already known about the post-war history of American Gis in West Germany, Sigrid Faltin and her colleagues have delivered a stirring, fascinating and at times even disturbing look into little-known aspects about life in small West German towns after the United States armed forces arrived — first as occupation forces and then as allies during the Cold War. The documentary uses archival footage and interviews with women who fell in love with and had children with American soldiers to explore their special hardships.

Here is a link to the story: https://www.ardmediathek.de/sendung/ein-hauch-von-amerika/staffel-1/Y3JpZDovL2Rhc2Vyc3RlLmRlL2Vpbi1oYXVjaC12b24tYW1lcmlrYTE/1/

RIAS Radio Award – Thomas Reintjes, Matthias Röckl “Fear of Losing New York – Auf der Suche nach einer verschwundenen Stadt“  (Deutschlandfunk/SWR), March 16, 2021

After Covid-19 shut down the city that never sleeps, left its normally vibrant Broadway theaters dark, forced the myriad of small shops and sent its famously rich variety of restaurants into a fight for survival, journalists Thomas Reintjes and Matthias Röckl went out with a recording device to explore and describe New York in a touching, moving and memorable way. Their story “Fear of Losing New York” is a remarkable piece of radio journalism that uses creative techniques and informal spontaneous discussions to paint a picture of a city that is reeling.

Here is a link to their story: https://www.hoerspielundfeature.de/auf-der-suche-nach-einer-verschwundenen-stadt-fear-of-100.html

RIAS Digital Media Award

Katrin Bennhold, Clare Toeniskoetter, “Day X“ , five-part podcast on The Daily (The New York Times), May 28-June 24, 2021

Making the most its cutting-edge style of podcast journalism and its profound investigative prowess, The Daily has put together a powerful series of stories that shed light on a secretive nationwide network of far-right extremists who were operating under the radar inside Germany’s military and police forces. The series of stories that also served as the basis of newspaper articles in The New York Times is sterling example of outstanding investigative journalism.  

1, Shadow Army?: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/28/podcasts/the-daily/day-x-part-1-shadow-army.html

2, In the Stomach: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/03/podcasts/day-x-franco-a-german-extremism.html

3, Blind Spot 2.0: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/10/podcasts/day-x-germany-neo-nazi-franco-a.html

4, Franco A: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/16/podcasts/franco-a-trial-germany-terrorism.html

5, Defensive Democracy: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/24/podcasts/franco-a-trial-afd-germany.html

RIAS Fellow Award

Vladimir Balzer, “New York ist zurück – eine Stadt befreit sich aus der Pandemie“, Deutschlandfunk, November 8, 2021

In his riveting story about New York City has gradually been coming back to life after the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic, Vladimir Balzer takes Deutschlandfunk listeners on a heart-warming tour of the city that is so hungry for a return to normalcy in the fall of 2021 just before the United States reopened its gates for visitors from the European Union. Adding important voices with illuminating interviews with idled Broadway actors, American journalists stuck working only from home, badly ailing 9/11 heroes, and lonely Germans stranded in Manhattan are included in this short-but-sweet journalistic masterpiece put together during a RIAS fellowship program.

https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/usa-lockert-einreisebeschraenkungen-new-york-ist-zurueck-100.html

Special Jury Prize

Ines Pohl, Deutsche Welle, special commendation for outstanding transatlantic interview with George W. Bush, Deutsche Welle, July 14, 2021

George W. Bush does not give many interviews anymore and as he explained to Deutsche Welle’s Ines Pohl in a rare meeting with a journalist the former President explained why he stays out of politics now – and likes to focus on hobbies such as painting portraits, including one of Angela Merkel. Offering his candid take on a wide range of important issues affecting Germany and the United States, the interview that was part of DW’s documentary on Merkel made international headlines in July 2021 and is an outstanding illustration of how a one-on-one conversation can shed light on current topics as well as historical subjects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-QcTTngCeo

Special Jury Prize