Union Press journalist wins local EP prize

Union Press journalist Victor Vella of Union Press is the national winner of the European Parliament Journalism Prize.

Mr Vella's story, entitled Jamie Diskuss Fi Strasbourg (Jamie Discussed In Strasbourg) and published in l-orizzont on April 23, was judged by an independent panel as the best journalistic work submitted locally for this year's European Parliament Prize for Journalists.

The story will be one of 27 nominations that have been shortlisted from among entries submitted by written press journalists in each member state and which will be judged to determine a European winner.

The European Parliament Prize for Journalists will be awarded at the European Parliament in Brussels next October.

The local panel, made up of veteran journalists Lino Bugeja, Joe Mercieca and Charles Mizzi, deemed Mr Vella's story as the one which best promoted a better understanding of European Union policies and institutions.

According to the panel, it revealed a human side to the European Parliament beyond the austere world of legislative documents it is often associated with.

The journalist told the story of Jamie Zammit, a Maltese nine-year-old boy suffering from a rare health condition who cannot find a bone marrow donor, and whose case was brought up during the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg in April.

Through the Maltese case, Mr Vella highlighted the suggestion made by the European Parliament Environment, Public Health and Food Security Committee for the creation of a European Donor Card system given the lack of donors across the EU and the high number of patients hoping to find a compatible organ donor.