Saskia Belleman awarded Machiavelli Prize 2024
The Machiavelli Prize 2024 has been awarded to Saskia Belleman, court reporter at De Telegraaf. The board of the Machiavelli Foundation announced this today. The prize is awarded annually for a remarkable achievement in the field of public communication.
Belleman receives the prize because ‘she has made the court accessible to a large and broad audience. In doing so, she contributes to transparency and understanding of the judiciary. An indispensable pillar of our much-discussed rule of law,’ the jury report said.
“Through her factual reporting, Belleman has become a role model for a young generation of journalists. Tirelessly, she lets the facts speak for themselves at a time when the pressure on journalists to abandon impartiality is omnipresent,’ the jury report continued.
“By putting femicide on the agenda, Belleman has set police, judiciary and politics in motion. In a polarised playing field, she has managed to unite parties inside and outside parliament on this issue. This represents an important step in tackling this horrific phenomenon,” the jury report states.
The award will be presented by Marja Wagenaar, chair of the Machiavelli Foundation, at Press Centre Nieuwspoort on Wednesday 19 February at 17:00. It is the 36th time the prize will be awarded. The award ceremony is open to everyone who registers via the website of Stichting Machiavelli and can also be followed live via NPO Politiek and Nieuwspoort’s YouTube channel from 17:00 (in Dutch).
Previous award winners include Jaap Velema, Johan Remkes, Gerrit Hiemstra, Marion Koopmans and Diederik Gommers, journalism collective Bellingcat, She Decides, Mayor Eberhard van der Laan, H.R.H. Princess Máxima and national team coach Bert van Marwijk.
Mark Bovens and Anchrit Wille will hold the annual Machiavelli Lecture prior to the award ceremony, entitled: ‘Diplomas as political dividing lines’. Prof Mark Bovens is emeritus professor of Public Administration (Utrecht University). Prof Anchrit Wille is extraordinary professor of Transitions in the public sector at Leiden University.
Machiavelli Foundation is committed to public communication. Public Matters has been the main sponsor of the Machiavelli Foundation since 2010.
"By putting femicide on the agenda, Belleman has set police, judiciary and politics in motion. In a polarised playing field, she has managed to unite parties inside and outside parliament on this issue. This represents an important step in tackling this horrific phenomenon."
Public matters