Politique Internationale — Year after year, the Albert Londres Prize has established itself as an institution. But that doesn’t mean we can’t take a look back at its history...
Annick Cojean — The Albert Londres Prize was founded by Florise Londres in 1932, just after the great journalist’s death in a fire on the liner that was bringing him back from a long assignment in China. Albert Londres cherished his only daughter, to whom he wrote and sent postcards from all over the world. Knowing her father’s passion for his profession, and admiring his absolute commitment to what was almost a reason for living, she surrounded herself with her father’s close colleagues and renowned reporters to launch a prize embodying the honour and grandeur of journalism. Joseph Kessel, Lucien Bodard, Robert Guillain, Andrée Viollis and Roland Dorgelès were notable among the members of the jury, as were later Henri Amouroux, Josette Alia and Yves Courrière. There are two very simple conditions for entering the Albert Londres Prize. The first is to be French-speaking. Candidates from Belgium, Switzerland, Quebec and Africa have been shortlisted several times. In 2021, the prize was awarded to Caroline Hayek, a journalist with the Lebanese newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour; in 2023, to Wilson Fache, a Belgian freelance journalist. Secondly, you have to be under forty. The prize is not intended to crown a career, but rather to identify and encourage a promising reporter on the rise. For a long time, the Albert Londres Prize only celebrated the written press. In 1985, Henri de Turenne opened it up to the audiovisual sector. Then I campaigned for books of reportage to also be honoured. Since 2017, we have awarded three prizes.
P. I. — Who makes up the jury? And what are the selection criteria?
A. C. — One of the reasons for the Prize’s longevity is the stability of its jury of around twenty members. The majority of the jurors are permanent, all winners of the Albert Londres Prize, elected by their peers and united, I believe, by common values. The other part is ‘rotating’: three members of the association’s board of directors sit on the jury for the duration of their term of office; the year’s winners also join the jury for the following year. This ensures a mix of generations, a dynamic and fresh approach to discussions, and a stable appreciation of ‘what an Albert Londres work is’. Over time, we have come to form a small circle of friends, and that’s just what we need, because the menu is copious, with around 70 entries each year for the written press, around fifty for the audiovisual media and around twenty books. You have to see and read everything. We do it very rigorously. It’s a huge amount of work for a small, voluntary organisation.
What are the selection criteria? First and foremost, but this, almost goes without saying, the rigour, ethics and accuracy of the information. That’s the basis. Then there’s the originality of the angle …