Media Prize
CIVIS – Europe's Media Prize for Integration
For over two decades, CIVIS has been recognizing programme contributions on radio, television and since last year also in the internet which promote the peaceful coexistence of people of the most varied national, ethnic, religious or cultural origins.
Migration, integration and cultural diversity increasingly leave their mark on our everyday life. The media, thereby, have a great responsibility. Because the media not only shows the immigration society – it also forms it. The media determine our image of current developments and can make an important contribution to social integration.
The understanding between people of different cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds can only be successful if the media covers these issues accurately and informatively. That also means that we must address problems openly. Combating racism and discrimination is a pan-European task.
Media Prize
CIVIS was launched to stimulate new perspectives
In their programme output, the broadcasting corporations in Germany and Europe already regularly devote extensive coverage to the issues of integration and cultural diversity. CIVIS was launched to honour these achievements and, at the same time, stimulate new ideas and perspectives by highlighting some exemplary case studies from across Europe.
The CIVIS Media Prize is organised by the Association of the Public Broadcasting Corporations in the Federal Republic of Germany (ARD), represented by Westdeutscher Rundfunk, together with the Freudenberg Foundation.
The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, the Deutsche Welle, the Slovenian Radio and Television, the Deutschlandradio, the Franco- German culture channel ARTE, 3sat, PHOENIX and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) are media partners.
Media Prize
Partners in Germany and Europe
The German Savings Banks Association, the European Parliament, the German Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the WDR mediagroup, the Bavaria Film and Bavaria Television Productions are co-operation partners.
The organisation of the CIVIS Media Prize has been entrusted to the CIVIS Media Foundation, based in Cologne. The prize-giving ceremony, is broadcast as TV gala on the first German television ARD/DasErste and further European tv programmes.
Media Prize
CIVIS Anniversary 2012 - Active for 25 years
CIVIS was founded in 1987 by Westdeutscher Rundfunk, representing the ARD, the Freudenberg Foundation and the Commissioner of the Federal Government for the Integration of Foreign Workers and their Family Members. WDR Director-General Friedrich Nowottny, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Freudenberg Foundation, Hermann Freudenberg, and the Federal Commissioner, Liselotte Funcke, were responsible for its foundation. The successful cooperation of Dr. Josef Eckhardt, (Honorary Executive Director), Christian Petry (Freudenberg Foundation), Dr. Beate Winkler (Director of the EUMC) and Dr. Gualtiero Zambonini (WDR Integration Commissioner) made major contributions to the new radio and television project.
In 2003, the WDR Director-General Fritz Pleitgen concentrated the various CIVIS Prizes into one European Media Prize. Together with Hermann Freudenberg he founded the CIVIS Media Foundation for Integration and Cultural Diversity in Europe. Fritz Pleitgen assumed the Chairmanship in the newly-founded CIVIS Board of Trustees and became successfully involved in the further development of the CIVIS Media Prize, together with the Deputy Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, the President of the Federal Constitutional Court retd., Prof. Dr. Jutta Limbach, and further prominent members of the Board of Trustees.
Media Prize
CIVIS Anniversary 2012 - Active for 25 years
WDR editor Michael Radix became Executive Director of the Foundation, WDR Editor-in-Chief Radio, Helga Kirchner, was Chairwoman of the CIVIS Advisory Board up to 2009. She was followed as Chairwoman of the Advisory Board by Jona Teichmann, Head of Programme Department for Regional Radio Programmes (WDR). Deputy Chairman is Ulf Köhler, Director of the feature editorial group MDR Figaro. Leading European journalists and media experts are members of the CIVIS Programme Advisory Board. Besides the annual prize-giving ceremony of the European CIVIS Media Prize, together with its European partners, CIVIS developed programme conferences in Bonn, Berlin, Essen and Vienna among others.
Media partners are Österreichischer Rundfunk, the Swiss SRG SSR, Deutsche Welle, Slovenian Radio and Television, Deutschlandradio, the German-French culture channel ARTE, 3sat, Phoenix and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU.
The German Savings Banks Association, the European Parliament, the Commissioner of the German Federal Government for Migration, Refugees and Integration, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the WDR mediagroup are cooperation partners.
Media Prize
CIVIS Anniversary 2012 - Active for 25 years
WDR Director-General Monika Piel, as Chairwoman if the CIVIS Board of Trustees as of 2008, extended the spectrum of the CIVIS Media Prize to include the new discussion forum of the "CIVIS Dialogues" (Vienna 2009, Basel 2011). With the newly-founded European CIVIS Online Media Prize and further discussion events ("I click, therefore I am!") in 2010, Monika Piel opened the CIVIS competition for “New Media” - together with the Commissioner of the Federal Government for Migration, Refugees and Integration, Minister-of-State Prof. Dr. Maria Böhmer. Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees since 2012 is the Director-General of Deutschlandradio, Dr. Willi Steul.
The Partner’s meeting decides on programme and projects of the CIVIS Media Foundation. Following Prof. Dr. Norbert Seidel and Lutz Marmor, today its Chairwoman is the Deputy WDR Director-General and Legal Advisor, Eva-Maria Michel. Following Christian Petry, the Deputy Chairwoman is Dr. Pia Gerber the Executive Director of the Freudenberg Foundation.
Media Prize
CIVIS Anniversary 2012 - Active for 25 years
In their highly regarded speeches marking the anniversary "25 Years of CIVIS" at the European Parliament in Brussels, Federal German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel and the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, emphasized the outstanding importance of the CIVIS media project.
CIVIS is today Europe's most important Media Prize for Integration and Cultural Diversity - for radio, television and the Internet.
