Review of EU media awards puts future of prize in doubt

Date: 06/11/1997

By Kate Holman

THE future of a European Commission award scheme designed to promote "innovative" approaches to the portrayal of men and women in television programmes is in doubt.

This year's Prix Niki awards were presented last weekend, for the fifth and possibly the last time, to television programmes from France, the UK and the Netherlands.

The biennial prize, which was launched in 1988 in response to a proposal from the European Parliament, aims to boost EU productions which "focus attention on women's efforts to play an equal and active part in society".

But a question mark now hangs over its future. "We assume there will be another one, but there is absolutely no guarantee," said one of the organisers.

The Niki Prize and its accompanying conference for broadcasters is supported by the Commission's Directorates-General for information (DGX) and social affairs (DGV), with a joint budget of around 310,000 ecu.

But Paula Laissy, the newly-appointed head of the women's information unit in DGX, said that after the 1997 award ceremony in Thessaloníki, which was broadcast live on Greek television, the Commission would be re-evaluating the prize as part of a general review of funding strategy.

"We will be making an overall decision about all the different prizes - there are dozens of them," she explained. "Some cleaning up must be done. One idea would be to have one really prestigious prize with several different categories. We want to make those we keep more well-known and more important."

New research carried out for the Commission found EU audiences critical of 'traditional' images of women on TV, and ready to see more female participation, especially in news and current affairs output.

Question mark lies over the future of the EU's Prix Niki awards to promote innovative approaches to the portrayal of men and women in television programmes.