The Honor of Being Nominated

Nominees were announced at a press conference Photo: Magnus Bergström

It's not just about winning, it's about being in the running. So says Stefan Mehr, non-voting executive member of the jury and long-time organizer of the Swedish Grand Journalism Prize. Mehr, who has been working with the award for the past 15 years, says that interest in the nominees - the finalists in each of three categories given out - has increased this year.

"It used to be that if your newspaper, magazine, radio channel, etc. wasn't nominated, you didn't write about it," says Mehr. "But now I see that the press feels like it's something they mustn't miss."

Mehr says the reason is that just being nominated has become a big deal. "It's an exciting thing for those of us who have been working with it to see how the prestige of being nominated has grown over the years," he says. "There were more journalists than ever at the press conference announcing the nominees, and some of the nominees themselves have said to me that the real prize is being nominated."

This year, the jury boiled down 200 entries to nine final nominees, which were announced on Nov. 1. "I really want to honor the jury members, making a difficult choice and truly being gatekeepers who are guarding the integrity of the journalism profession."