Gabriel Grüner Grant
With this award, Zeitenspiegel commemorates its longtime friend and colleague, the Stern reporter Gabriel Grüner, as well as Stern photographer Volker Krämer and interpreter Senol Alit, all murdered on June 13, 1999, on the Dulje pass in Kosovo.
Gabriel Grüner und Volker Krämer reported from the world’s most dangerous regions – Afghanistan, Algeria, Sudan, and repeatedly from the Balkans. For them, the question “Why?” held the key to resolving any situation. They never compromised in their quest for the truth. Their companion Senol Alit was more than a translator; he got “his” reporters into the locations where they could meet the people who made their impressive, authentic, well-founded reporting possible.
Beyond his reporting, Gabriel Grüner constantly helped out colleagues whose working conditions were less optimal or who were passionate about breaking into journalism. He gave regular seminars at the University of Innsbruck, putting his array of connections to work getting novice colleagues photo exhibitions and book contracts.
With that spirit in mind, Zeitenspiegel wishes to encourage the production of feature stories on socially relevant themes. The Gabriel Grüner Grant annually awards the most promising proposal from a writer-photographer team a grant of six thousand euros toward research and production costs.
Applications, suggestions, and work samples from author-photographer teams will be accepted until January 31, 2009, with jury meetings and a decision in March. The subsidized feature should be completed by the end of November, 2009.
The jury in 2007 consisted of:
- Beatrix Gerstberger (chair), Brigitte magazine editor
- Wolfgang Behnken, art director
- Christiane Gehner, Der Spiegel
- Heiko Gebhardt, Ringier Verlag
- Peter Grüner, social worker
- Christian Jungblut, reporter
- Thomas Kern, photographer
- Ingrid Kolb, writer
- Gilles Peress, photographer, Magnum agency
- Robert Lebeck, photographer
- Rainer Nübel, reporter
- Stefanie Rosenkranz, Stern writer, 1998 Hansel Mieth Prize winner
- Rüdiger Schrader, chief photo editor, Focus
- Alexander Smoltczyk, Der Spiegel reporter
- Margot Klingsporn, Focus agency