Berlin - Germany's DJV journalists' union is awarding Italian author Marco Travaglio its press freedom prize, DJV Chief Michael Konken announced Tuesday.

Konken described Travaglio as a "brave and critical colleague, who had engaged himself against all opposition for press freedom in Italy."

Travaglio, he said, continues to publicly rebuff the attempts of Italian politicians - led by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi - to influence the media and prevent critical news coverage.

Konken hoped the prize would, "encourage journalists in Italy to carry out their monitoring role and not allow themselves to be intimidated."

Travaglio is to be presented with the award, which includes 7,500 euro (9,600 dollars) in prize money, on April 28 in Berlin.

Previous DJV press freedom award winners include Serbian journalist Miroslav Filipovic, who uncovered Serbian war crimes in Kosovo, and Russian journalist Olga Kitova for fighting corruption in Russia. (dpa)