Free Press Awards 2017

The Newcomer of the Year – Hans Verploeg Award recognises talented new journalists who show extraordinary dedication to journalism as a means to hold those in power accountable and to serve as a watchdog in the public interest. They manage to share stories that would otherwise be left untold. The winner of the Newcomer of the Year Award will receive a media scholarship as well as an expenses-paid visit to the Netherlands. In 2016, Nigerian journalist 'Fisayo Soyombo won the Newcomer of the Year Award.

The Most Resilient Journalist Award honours journalists who risk everything to bring us the news, media pioneers who pave the way for equality and justice and those who persevere under the most difficult circumstances. Nominees have often faced imprisonment, violence, and censorship for doing their job. The winner of the Most Resilient Journalist Award will receive EUR 15,000 as well as an expenses-paid visit to the Netherlands. In 2016, winner of the Most Resilient Journalist Award was Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir.