Gruner + Jahr | Hamburg, 04/27/2017

Turkish Journalist Banu Güven Wins Nannen Prize

As part of the presentation of the 2017 Nannen Prize  , the senior editors of the G+J magazine "Stern" are awarding the special prize for outstanding journalistic achievement to the Turkish journalist and TV presenter Banu Güven.

Güven (47) is from Istanbul, where she began working as a reporter for the TV channel NTV in 1997. The channel sacked Güven in 2011 after she conducted an interview with the writer and human rights activist Vedat Türkali and was planning another interview with the Kurdish politician Leyla Zana. Since 2014, Güven has worked as a news presenter for the Kurdish TV channel IMC. In September 2016, the channel was closed by the police because of its alleged ties to terrorist organizations. As a result, Güven and another 130 employees lost their jobs.

"Banu Güven is receiving the 2017 special prize for her commitment to freedom of the press in Turkey," says "Stern" Editor-in-Chief Christian Krug. "Ms. Güven lost her job as a TV presenter when the government closed her channel. With remarkable courage, she has since continued her work, among other things via a podcast on Facebook. Banu Güven will not be silenced, despite all the threats and intimidation. We honor her as a representative of all the Turkish journalists who are also refusing to give up even when faced with the most difficult conditions."

The Nannen Prize is presented in six categories: Reportage (Egon Erwin Kisch Prize), Reportage Photography, Staged Photography, Investigative, Documentary and Web Projects. The awards ceremony takes place at the Curio-Haus in Hamburg. The main jury decided the winners of the prestigious prize in the respective category on the eve of the awards ceremony.