"Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media" 2025 awarded to Ihsane El Kadi and Professor Michael Haller.
Leipzig, 8 October 2025. This evening, the "Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media" was awarded to Algerian journalist Ihsane El Kadi . The prize has been awarded by Media Foundation of Sparkasse Leipzig since 2001 and honours media professionals and institutions whose work serves freedom of the press and freedom of expression with great personal commitment. It is endowed with 10,000 euros. With an honorary award for Hamburg journalism researcher Professor Michael Haller, the Foundation also honored a lifetime achievement with the "Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media" for the first time. The award ceremony was attended by numerous guests from politics, business, media, and society.
Ihsane El Kadi is one of the most well-known Algerian journalists critical of the government. He was unable to accept his award in person because the Algerian regime denied him permission to leave the country. In a video message sent in advance, El Kadi expressed his gratitude for the "Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media." At the same time, he called on media professionals in Western societies to continue reporting independently, based on facts, and uncontaminated by opinions: "When we speak with our fellow citizens, when we want to advance the principle of an independent press and freedom of the press, we always look for role models. And for many years we have been talking about role models of independent media. Media that, in most cases, are located in your country, in the West. We still need these role models," said El Kadi. Leipzig's Lord Mayor, Burkhard Jung, Chairman of the Foundation Council of Media Foundation , stated earlier during the ceremony that Ihsane El Kadi, as the laureate, is an example of a number of threatened media professionals in Algeria. Only recently, he personally joined a demonstration of solidarity for the writer Boualem Sansal, who was sentenced to five years in prison in his home country.
Dr Dirk Fuhrig, a journalist at Deutschlandfunk public broadcaster, emphasized how threatened freedom of the press and freedom of expression are currently, especially in Algeria: "It is fundamentally very difficult, if not impossible, to report independently as a journalist in Algeria." Local journalists are being vilified with disinformation campaigns on social media: "Political influencers are constantly spreading false reports abroad, too. One can assume that there is a sophisticated system of state-sponsored disinformation."
Alongside Ihsane El Kadi, Professor Michael Haller was honoured with the "Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media". With this honorary award, presented for the first time in the Prize’s 25-year history, the Foundation recognized the life's work of Haller, who held the professorship for General and Specialized Journalism at the Institute for Communication and Media Studies at Leipzig University from 1993 to 2010 and who in 2003 co-founded the Institute for Practical Journalism Research (now: European Institute for Journalism and Communication Research EIJC) in cooperation with the Media Foundation of Sparkasse Leipzig and by support of the Sparkassen-Versicherung Sachsen.
"Michael Haller conveys the importance of quality journalism for democratic societies with unflagging energy and intellectual acumen, currently primarily with projects on information and media literacy such as the successful 'Fit for News' program," explained Dr Harald Langenfeld, Chairman of the Board of Sparkasse Leipzig and Media Foundation, at the award ceremony. "Media education is a key, and we see that those who understand how news is created and how disinformation works are less easily deceived. We must view media literacy as a key skill today - not only for everyday private life, but also for social interaction and a functioning democracy," Langenfeld warned. Stephan Seeger, Managing Director of Media Foundation, had already announced the jury's decision in favor of Professor Michael Haller in August: "Michael Haller's name stands like no other for quality journalism, for the exemplary combination of theory and practice in journalistic higher education, for journalistic responsibility and journalistic ethics."
Michael Haller personally accepted the award in Leipzig: "The idea of an informed, democratically functioning society is behind the Media Foundation of Sparkasse Leipzig and its 'Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media,'" Haller explained in his acceptance speech: "Over the past 25 years, the Foundation has promoted and strengthened journalism fighting for freedom and democracy by honouring outstanding individuals. For this, I am grateful, and for this, it has my unconditional recognition."