Grimme Prize
June 22, 2013
Europe's financial crisis has been a particularly hard burden for the continent's southern countries. The prospects for young people in particular are under serious threat due to the rapidly deteriorating job market. Youth unemployment in some areas is already at more than 50 percent.
How are these young people dealing with the problem? What plans to they have?
DW's multimedia special 'Plan B' examined the personal initiatives, the courage and the creativity with which young people sought ways to cope with a difficult economic situation and develop their own plans for the future.
'Personal, youthful face' to crisis
On Friday evening (21.06.2013), the Grimme Institute, which focuses on media and communication, awarded 'Plan B' the Grimme Online Prize in the category 'Knowledge and Education'. The multimedia special was praised by the jury for giving the crisis a "personal and youthful face."
"The audience is introduced to confident young people who won't give up and are constructively dealing with unemployment and a lack of money," said the jury. "The diverse, sometimes humorous and loving, multimedia presentation of interviews, articles, the 'Soundtrack of the Crisis' and the 'Postcard to the Future' allows the viewer to emotionally connect to the topic and gives them a deeper understanding of the situation."
DW Director General Erik Bettermann congratulated the 'Plan B' team of interns, calling the multimedia special "a typical DW project: multi-medial, multilingual and multifaceted – a dialogue from young people for a young audience."
The winners could hardly believe it at first, saying their hard work had certainly paid off. They were happy that the award would give their stories and the topic the attention they deserve.
'Plan B' was conceived and executed by 10 DW interns, who traveled through the five European crisis countries of Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland.
Among their travel gear: a portrait of German Chancellor Angela Merkel for their street interviews "Angela Merkel on the Road." In addition to multimedia portraits of young people who have had to re-invent their lives, 'Plan B' includes picture galleries with crisis graffiti, "Statistics with a Bad Taste" and a "Soundtrack of the Crisis" as an audio contribution.
The Grimme Prize has been awarded every year since 2001 and is considered the most prestigious German-language online prize. An expert jury selects winners in four categories. After winning the national finals for the European Charlemagne Youth Prize, the Grimme Award is a new honor for DW.