ICFJ Honorees Call on Journalists to Stand Together Amid Global Threats

By: Joyce Barnathan | 11/09/2018

Last night, at the ICFJ Awards Dinner, we highlighted the tremendous impact of intrepid journalists at this ominous moment. The honorees found innovative ways to keep information flowing in these hard times and shed light on important global issues – from corruption to modern-day slavery. Above all, they delivered a consistent message: Journalists need to stand together at a time of unsettling threats and clampdowns on a free press.

  • Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., chairman of The New York Times Company, said journalists and their supporters must stand up for media freedom in the face of widespread attacks around the world. He was honored with the ICFJ Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism for a lifetime commitment to the highest professional standards. Read more or watch his tribute video and remarks.
     
  • Knight Award winner Maria Ressa, founder of the trailblazing news site Rappler, says her news organization is facing a double threat from the Duterte government and from social media. Her news outlet and democracy are both fighting for survival in her native Philippines, she said. Read more or watch her tribute video and remarks.
     
  • The Venezuelan government is “criminalizing journalism,” says our other Knight honoree, Joseph Poliszuk, co-founder and editor of an investigative news site, Armando.info. Despite the intense crackdown, his team is exposing corruption in a country teetering on collapse. Read more or watch his tribute video and remarks.
     
  • Journalists face a “contagion of impunity,” warns CNN international correspondent Nima Elbagir, who received ICFJ’s Excellence in International Reporting Award for her reports on humanitarian crises such as modern-day slavery. Reporters who are privileged to have major platforms for their work must never forget colleagues around the world who do not. Read more or watch her tribute video and remarks.
     
  • Knight Foundation President and CEO Alberto Ibargüen announced a new $5 million, five-year grant to support ICFJ Knight Fellowships. He said, “With journalism under assault, here at home and across the globe, we mean for ICFJ’s Knight Fellows to stand as examples of our values and to empower journalists everywhere to deliver to their communities consistently reliable news and information that will restore trust and allow people everywhere to better manage their own affairs.” Watch his remarks.
     
  • ICFJ launched "It Takes a Journalist," a campaign to highlight the tremendous impact of journalists worldwide at this crucial time. Whatever we are trying to improve in society -- better governance, a cleaner environment, elevating the lives of the poorest -- it takes a journalist to expose the problems and help us find solutions. Read more or watch the video.

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer served as master of ceremonies for the evening. New Yorker and CBS News cartoonist Liza Donnelly provided live coverage of the night’s event. Please check out her terrific drawings, and don't miss our photo gallery.

We want to thank all of you who made a donation to back our programs empowering the truth tellers. Our work is more essential than ever, so please consider making a contribution in the name of quality journalism. We’re so glad you could join us for this special evening.

 

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