The German Development Media Awards were inaugurated in 1975 by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The annual awards were originally designed to honor German journalists reporting on development issues and quickly gained a reputation for recognizing exceptional reporting.

Over the past 36 years, many acclaimed German journalists have received the award, including foreign correspondent and Africa expert, Bartholomäus Grill; Christian Wernicke, a Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper correspondent; and Ansgar Skriver, a former radio reporter and producer for the German public broadcaster, WDR.

This year, the award criteria have been expanded to allow journalists from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, as well as Germany, to apply. This change underscores the important role that journalists in emerging countries can play in shaping development.

From now on the awards will focus on aspects of Human Rights and Development in part to draw attention to the significant position of human rights in BMZ's development approach.

Germany's international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle is administering the award in cooperation with the BMZ.