Court reporter Saskia Belleman has the 36e Won Machiavelli Prize. The foundation named after the Italian political philosopher made this statement on Wednesday known. The Telegraphjournalist is pleased with the honor and mentions the prize a “beautiful start to 2025”.
The prize has been awarded every year since 1989 to a Dutch person who has made a remarkable achievement in the field of public communication.
Means of action
Belleman was previously news chief at The Telegraphshe said last year de Volkskrantbut because the then editor-in-chief Sjuul Paradijs used the newspaper “a little too much” as a means of action in her opinion, she proposed in 2010 to become the new court reporter. In that role she is a regular guest on talk shows.
The jury awards the prize to Belleman because “she has made the court accessible to a large audience” and thus contributes to “transparency and understanding of the judiciary […]”.
According to the foundation, 65-year-old Belleman has become a “role model” for a young generation of journalists through her “factual reporting”. “She tirelessly lets the facts speak at a time when the pressure on journalists to abandon impartiality is omnipresent,” the jury report states. In conversation with the magazine Nouveau she announced in 2023 that court cases were “extra juicy” writing down is not her style.
Femicide
The jury also praises her eight-part podcast She’s minein which she put femicide on the agenda. “In a polarized playing field, she has managed to unite parties inside and outside parliament on this theme. This represents an important step in tackling this horrible phenomenon.”
Belleman will receive the bronze statue on February 19. Football coach Bert van Marwijk, Queen Máxima and virologist Marion Koopmans, among others, preceded the court reporter.