Speech by Prince Constantijn at World Press Photo 2025, Amsterdam
A famous quote attributed to US Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger:
You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts...
Really?
What is the truth? Who owns it? I naively believed that it was the state’s duty to provide and guarantee it and science and journalism to validate it and seek it out.
A Sri Lankan civil rights activist and historian challenged me on this assumption and pointed at the politics of owning the historic narrative. In her project to expose the truth about Sri Lankan civil war she gathered and curated as many perspectives as possible from all sides to weave a tapestry of truths to avoid capture by any political or other interest, in particular the State.
Notwithstanding the best efforts of journalists and academics, there is no 100% objective truth. Biases are unavoidable and any news report can be framed and challenged. Wars may even be fought about who controls the narrative.
If any authority can be challenged and each group can capture and own their version of the truth, then we need to invest more in the integrity of the system of truth, with more rigor, more transparency, and enabling more perspectives.
How does WPP relate to this? Well, we are a part and contributor to that system.
And World Press Photo doesn’t want to be a mere follower, but an active and principled participant in these developments investing in the truth by offering a platform to diverse perspectives from across the globe, by accepting fallibility, by avoiding capture by political interests, by standing by photo journalists and guarding the integrity of the organisation and the jury process.
Over 70 years this institution evolved. And it isn’t hard to see how it has also become more political, and how it is challenged to retain this integrity and relevance.
On the latter point of relevance... The introduction of digital photography, the proliferation of mobile recording devices, and now AI, has put WPP at the center of many active debates about the profession of photo journalism and the role of photography and visual storytelling.
What does the prize want to reward? What does it mean in the tsunami of digital content and proliferation of digital media outlets and channels? How to position ourselves in a sector that is in permanent change, in which time to produce and consume quality contents is drastically reduced? At a time when photo journalists are increasingly vulnerable and targeted, available budgets decreased, free media censored, and...
I wish WPP the courage to stay true to its principles, that it remains flexible enough to move with the times but firm and brave enough to resist compromising on values to deliver its mission. A mission that is more important than ever. As the infrastructure of truth is the pilar on which our free and democratic society depends.