"Freedom of the Press" Foundation
The Freedom of the Press Foundation is a legally independent organization that advocates courageous and free journalism . It is a fiduciary foundation .
history
It was founded on January 31, 1967 and is supported by the Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers . It awards the Guardian Prize of the German daily press every year .
When it was founded, the Economic Cooperative of the Press (WIGO) and the government of the United States of America were the godfathers. The foundation's capital was DM 2,160,000 . It came from the assets of WIGO, which was founded in 1947 on the instructions of the American military government. In the post-war years it acted as a lender for young newspaper publishers and fed itself from Marshall Plan funds and license fees from German newspaper publishers.
The Board of Trustees consists of seven members who must either be newspaper publishers or co-owners of newspaper publishing rights. It is elected every four years by the regional associations in the Federal Association of German Daily Newspaper Publishers.
The foundation awards the Guardian Prize of the German daily press for outstanding journalistic achievements that expose grievances or try to ward off extraneous influences on the press. In 2003 the foundation also awarded a special prize . Since 1969 the prize has been awarded annually in the town hall of Frankfurt am Main , the Römer .