NRCjournalist Carola Houtekamer, together with Jaap van Heusden and Jefta Varwijk, won the De Tegel journalistic prize in the interview category for an article about the memories of an ambulance brother. In the story they investigate ‘retinal pollution’, the grim images of broken bodies and desperate relatives that paramedics see, and who actually cares for them. It appeared in article form NRC as well as in documentary form at 2Doc.
Also read the winning story: Who will take care of the paramedic who just saw a child die?
The Tegel is the most important journalistic prize in the Netherlands and was awarded in eleven categories this year. Forty judges weighed in on a record number of entries. The winners were announced on Monday during a ceremony in the Koninklijke Schouwburg in The Hague, presented by Malou Petter. Some of the Tile winners were revealed prior to the ceremony.
Other awards went to Zainab Hammoud, in the foreign category, for her report on the Camp Speicher massacre in Iraq, where 1,700 Iraqi army recruits were executed by IS eight years ago. Dennis Hilgers won the Storimans-Tegel for his report on the floods that hit Pakistan last fall. The pioneer tile for young talent was awarded to Jasper Been van The Financial Timesfor his production ‘De Groninger Gasbillionards’.
The Youtube program Angry won a Tegel in the research category for the revelations about transgressive behavior at the talent show The Voice of Holland. In the reporting category, a Tegel went to Lyanne Levy and Bas van Sluis of het Newspaper of the North. They won the prize with their articles about the interrogations in the context of the parliamentary inquiry into gas extraction in Groningen.