A good friend, a brilliant journalist who championed human rights and humanitarian issues, and a wonderful media trainer – that’s how Media Diversity Institute (MDI) will remember Veronique Mistiaen who sadly passed away on 23 August.
MDI had the privilege of working with Veronique for more than six years when she graciously shared her expertise, passion and dedication to the media with journalists, journalism academics and journalism students around the world. As a trainer, she was inspirational and a joy to work with.
“Veronique came to MDI as a journalism trainer, a highly professional one. She quickly became a MDI advisor and my personal friend. We enjoyed working and partying together, going to small French theatres around London, discussing journalism, literature, theatre, and life. And we laughed so much. Her understanding of human nature and her compassion are something I’ve cherished and admired. I will miss her dearly,” said Milica Pesic, MDI Executive Director.
Veronique was an award-winning journalist who was published widely, including in The Guardian, The Economist, Newsweek, Al Jazeera, The Times, The Telegraph, BBC News, National Geographic, NPR, Financial Times’ This is Africa, Thomson Reuters Foundation, New Internationalist, Positive News, Le Monde, Chicago Tribune, and San Francisco Chronicle.
Her passion was to write about human rights, social and humanitarian issues, global development and the environment. From 2017-2020, Veronique was a Director of Positive News, a Constructive Journalism magazine, reporting on progress and possibility and exploring solutions to society’s problems. As she said herself, her focus was “telling stories of survival, resistance, environmental activism and economic empowerment. And I like to explore solutions rather than merely exposing problems”.
She brought that passion to her training with journalists and Citizen journalists. She wanted to help them get their voices heard by telling their own stories and reporting on issues they cared about.
Veronique was also a lecturer in journalism at the University of Hertfordshire and taught news and features writing at Arcadia University’s College of Global Studies.
She was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, won 1st place for environmental reporting by the California Newspaper Publishers Association, won 2014 and 2020 European Journalism Centre grants for Innovation in Development Reporting, and was long-listed for a 2016 One World Media Award.
Veronique was an inspiration to so many and her loss will be felt widely. We send our condolences to Veronique’s family, friends and colleagues in this difficult time.
- The MDI team
