“Almost half the world’s population lives in countries where there is no press freedom… places where simply calling yourself a journalist can be life-threatening. Year after year, we find ourselves using the same words to describe what these women endure simply for doing their jobs: threatened, jailed, exiled, kidnapped, raped, shot, killed,” said Cynthia McFadden during her opening remarks.
This year’s Courage In Journalism Award honorees were Najiba Ayubi, media activist and Director of The Killid Group, Afghanistan; Nour Kelze, teacher turned photojournalist during the Syrian uprising (Syrian civil war); and Bopha Phorn, a Reporter for The Cambodian Daily. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Edna Machirori of Zimbabwe, the first black editor to receive the award. And an Inaugural Leadership Award was given to Anne Finucane, Bank of America Global Strategy and Marketing Officer.
George Stephanopoulos, ABC News; Norah O’Donnell, CBS News; Cindi Leive, Editor-in-Chief of Glamour; and Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff, PBS Newshour presented the awards at this year’s New York ceremony held at Cipriani 42nd Street. Nearly 500 prominent media industry professionals were in attendance including Ann Curry, NBC News.
A second west coast ceremony, co-hosted by Cindi Leive and Olivia Wilde is scheduled for October 29th at the Beverly Hills Hilton, Los Angeles, CA.
The IWMF is Washington, DC based organization founded in 1990 by a group of women journalists. Since its inception the organization has awarded 78 journalists with the Courage In Journalism Award and 22 journalists with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
