Christian Lindner is Keynote Speaker at the M100 Media Award

Potsdam, 05.09.2018 On the occasion of the presentation of this year’s M100 Media Award in Potsdam on September 18, FDP Chairman Christian Lindner will give the main political speech. The winner of the award is the journalist Deniz Yücel, who spent a year in Turkish custody without charge for his critical reporting.

“The freedom of journalists is an indicator of the liberality of a society as a whole. If their work is restricted or they are even imprisoned, then everyone is tied up. Powerful people may not like what journalists write or send. But standing up for them is a duty for all supporters of the open society,” says Christian Lindner on the relevance of freedom of the press.

Ines Pohl, editor-in-chief of Deutsche Welle, will give the laudatory speech. The welcome will be given by Potsdam’s Lord Mayor Jann Jakobs.

“We are very pleased to welcome Christian Lindner to the M100 Sanssouci Colloquium in Potsdam,” said Jakobs. “He has often spoken out in defence of freedom of the press and freedom of expression. So we’re very excited to hear him speak.”

The M100 Media Award is presented each year at the M100 Sanssouci Colloquium, an international media conference, to personalities who work to protect freedom of the press and freedom of expression and to deepen democracy. Previous prize winners include the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, the Turkish dancer and “Standing Man of Taksim Place” Erdem Gündüz, the mayor of Kiev Vitali Klitschko, the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, the Italian author Roberto Saviano and the Russian journalist Natalia Sindeeeva.

The headline of this year’s M100 Sanssouci Colloquium taking place during the day at the Barberini Museum is “Home Alone? – Europe and the Post-American Age”. Some 60 editors-in-chief, historians and politicians from many European and US countries discuss the state of transatlantic relations, the European agenda in the post-American era and the role of the media.

The opening speech in the morning will be given by the political advisor and former US ambassador John Kornblum. Dr. Dietmar Woidke, Prime Minister of Brandenburg will provide the welcoming speech.

Among the participants are Agron Bajrami (Editor-in-Chief, Koha Ditore), Ruth Ben-Ghiat (Historian, New York University), Tamas Bodoky (Editor-in-Chief, Atlatszo.hu), Dr. Alexandra Borchardt (Director Strategic Development, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford), Klaus Brinkbäumer (Editor-in-Chief, Der Spiegel), Stephan-Andreas Casdorff (Editor, Der Tagesspiegel), Liz Corbin (Head of News, BBC World News), Dr. Ondrej Dietrych (Director, Institute of International Relations, Prague), Dr. Tobias Endler (Americanist, University of Heidelberg), Astrid Frohloff (TV presenter and journalist, ARD/RBB), Berthold Kohler (Publisher, FAZ), Tina Kulow (Director Corporate Communications, Facebook Germany), Maria Makeeva (Editor-in-Chief, European Newschannel OstWest), Georg Mascolo (Head of Research Cooperation of NDR, WDR and SZ), Rick Noack (Foreign Affairs Reporter, The Washington Post), Natalie Nougayrède (member of the editorial board and columnist, The Guardian), Ahu Özyurt (journalist and presenter), Marcin Piasecki (editor and head business editor, Rzeczpospolita), Wojciech Prybylski (Editor-in-Chief Visegrad Insight), Patricia Schlesinger (Director, RBB), Jan Techau (Senior Fellow and Director of the Europe Programme, German Marshall Fund of the United States), Dr. Christoph von Marschall (Chief Diplomatic Correspondent, Der Tagesspiegel).

M100 is an initiative of the City of Potsdam and the Potsdam Media International e.V. This year’s event is sponsored by the City of Potsdam, the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the State of Brandenburg and the Federal Foreign Office. We thank the sponsors medienlabor and L’Eau Sanssouci.