Bayeux, the first town in France that the Allies liberated in 1944, launched this annual international event in the framework of the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994. Its purpose is to award journalists from around the world prestigious prizes in four media: the written press, radio, television and photography. In addition to the awards ceremony, the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy award for war correspondents offers a week of exchanges, encounters and debates with the public (young and less young) to take the time to understand international news better.
The organizers state, in the program for the 2024 edition, this: “In this very special year, when we have celebrated the 80th Anniversary of the Normandy landings; when half the world’s population of voting age is being called to the polls in elections that may or may not have been held; at a time when two major conflicts are underway, destabilising the global balance and accentuating the attacks on the profession, the town of Bayeux, the Department of Calvados, the Normandy Region and their partners are bringing together 350 international journalists to offer the public a window on the brutal and complex realities of the wars shaking our world.”
On the menu for this unique event, which attracts 40,000 visitors every year, are three evening debates, eight original exhibitions, previews of documentaries and films, countless school events for secondary school pupils, a book fair, a ceremony at the Reporters’ Memorial, an awards evening and round-table discussions. These events, which are open to all and free of charge, are designed to raise awareness of international news among a wide audience, particularly young people, and to continue the vital work of media education.
According to the organizes, “the event will obviously take a close look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war between Russia and Ukraine, which marked the return of war to Europe 30 years after the former Yugoslavia. True to its principles, the program does not forget the less publicised conflicts such as Sudan and the grey areas of the planet such as Iran and Afghanistan. This new edition will pay tribute to the work of some of the biggest names in the profession, such as Rafael Yaghobzadeh and Heidi Levine, winner of the Bayeux Award in 2015, whose photos on the walls of the town are sure to stir people’s consciences. The flagship exhibition, at the Hôtel du Doyen, will transport us to Vietnam and Cambodia half a century ago, discovering the Fall of Saigon and Phnom Penh.”
This year, and reflecting the influence technology has in our world, and on the production of news, the program will also take a bold look at innovative subjects such as Artificial Intelligence, and other storytelling media such as reportage comics and cartography.
Following in the footsteps of British legend Don McCullin, the jury will be chaired by Clarissa Ward, CNN’s multi-placed chief international correspondent and the first Western journalist to enter the Gaza Strip without the Israel Defense Forces. The Anglo-American journalist Clarissa Ward has accepted the invitation from the Prix Bayeux-Calvados-Normandie for War Correspondents: next October the CNN star journalist will don the mantle of President of the international jury for the 31st edition of the event. At the age of 44, it is an “honour” and a “big responsibility” for one of the youngest Presidents in the history of the Prix Bayeux.
Accepting to be president of the jury, Clarissa Ward will have one more thing in common with Christiane Amanpour – they both were born in London and work at CNN -, as Amanpour was president of the jury at the Prix Bayeux in 2018.