Stuttgart/Leverkusen, July 5, 2010 – The Association of German Medical Journalists [Verband Deutscher Medizinjournalisten, VDMJ] will present the European Journalists’ Prize, which is sponsored by Bayer HealthCare AG and endowed with EUR 7,500, for the eighth time today.

This year the jury received 53 applications from the print, radio and television sectors, 11 of which came from other European countries. Overall quality was very high and the jury decided to split the prize between two equally outstanding features.

Half the prize goes to the Austrian television journalist Martin Thür for his TV feature “ATV Dokument - Volkssport Doping” [ATV Special Report – Doping in Recreational Sport], which was broadcast on June 22, 2009 on ATV, Austria’s largest private TV channel. Fast-paced, entertaining and lavishly illustrated, Thür’s report guides viewers through the world of doping, which has long since encompassed not just professional athletes but also the amateur sports scene. Thür graphically illustrates the underestimated scale of the problem and the serious health consequences. He describes the meteoric development of the booming black market for relevant substances, which is controlled by a doping mafia along the same lines as drug dealing.

Martin Thür is Austrian and began his career as a journalist with the regional channel P3 in St. Pölten, the capital of the province of Lower Austria. After various stints with other broadcasters, he now works as an editor for the ATV news department in Vienna, a role in which he is also responsible for the production of TV special reports.

The other half of the prize is to be awarded to the German medical journalist Dr. Hellmuth Nordwig for his radio program “Falsche Pillen aus finsteren Kanälen – Ein Blick in die Unterwelt der Medikamentenfälscher” [Fake pills through shady channels – a look into the underworld of drug counterfeiting], which was broadcast on the Bavarian channel Bayern 2 on December 17, 2009. Nordwig examines the problem of drug counterfeiting, which has reached a global scale in the Internet age. In detailed analyses, he describes the scope of the systematic trade in counterfeit medicines, casts light on the underlying criminal interests and addresses the diverse risks to the consumer. With background music and text inserts from the film “The Third Man”, he reminds listeners that the harmful consequences of trade in “watered-down” penicillin had already been described after World War II by Graham Greene in his novel of the same name.

Dr. Hellmuth Nordwig studied chemistry in Munich, where he also received his doctorate. Since a period of work experience in the press office of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, he has worked full-time as a freelance scientific and medical journalist, mainly for ARD radio stations (including Bayerischer Rundfunk, Westdeutscher Rundfunk and Deutschlandfunk). Nordwig lives in Fürstenfeldbruck.

“Both prizewinners have shown that painstaking research provides gripping stories. They have brought less well-known states of affairs out into the open and, in so doing, have fostered the very important journalistic quality of putting matters into context,” stresses Jury Chairman Professor Dr. Annette Lessmöllmann, Professor of Journalism specializing in scientific journalism at the University of Darmstadt.

European Journalists’ Prize:

The announcement of the European Journalists’ Prize is intended to reflect the significance of medical news reporting both within the borders of Germany and beyond. In this age of globalization, and as the countries belonging to Europe move closer together, it is important to keep up with contemporary developments. The Association of German Medical Journalists (VDMJ) and Bayer HealthCare AG hope that this prize will act as a signal. The European Journalists’ Prize is sponsored by Bayer HealthCare AG, Leverkusen, and was awarded by the Association of German Medical Journalists (VDMJ) for the first time in 2003.

About the Association of German Medical Journalists

The Association of German Medical Journalists [Verband Deutscher Medizinjournalisten, VDMJ] is an umbrella organization comprising the following independent member associations
- Arbeitskreis Medizinpublizisten/Klub der Wissenschaftsjournalisten e. V.
- Kollegium der Medizinjournalisten
- Vereinigung der Deutschen Medizinischen Fach- und Standespresse e. V.

The purpose of the VDMJ is to maintain and promote standards in medical journalism. The VDMJ is devoted exclusively and directly to charitable purposes as defined in the regulations of the German Tax Code.

About Bayer HealthCare
The Bayer Group is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of healthcare, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer HealthCare, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the world’s leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry and is based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company combines the global activities of the Animal Health, Bayer Schering Pharma, Consumer Care and Medical Care divisions. Bayer HealthCare’s aim is to discover, manufacture and market products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. Find more information at www.bayerhealthcare.com.