“The vilification of a free press is one of the first symptoms of overreach from governments who have reason to fear the truth,” said Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International USA. “With rising numbers of journalists’ arrests and assassinations, it is crucial, now more than ever, to protect the truth-tellers, and hold accountable those responsible.
A special award was presented to Jamal Khashoggi, and was accepted via video by his colleague Eli Lopez, senior editor of global opinions at the Washington Post. “We would have wanted Jamal to be here accepting this, but it’s important we recognize his work and the impact that it’s had,” he said. “We invite people all over the world to keep reading his work and push his ideas forward.”
The winners in the nominated categories were as follows:
Student Journalism: Claire Tighe and Lauren Kaori Gurley, Official Reports of Violence Against Women in Puerto Rico Unreliable After Hurricane Maria, Centro de Periodismo Investigativo
http://periodismoinvestigativo.com/2018/05/official-reports-of-violence-against-women-in-puerto-rico-unreliable-after-hurricane-maria/
International news: Jeffrey E. Stern, From Arizona to Yemen: The Journey of an American Bomb, New York Times Magazine https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/11/magazine/war-yemen-american-bomb-strike.html
Domestic news: 16 Shots, WBEZ Chicago/Chicago Tribune https://www.wbez.org/shows/16-shots/55c63c72-d518-4ad9-b5dc-dd0d841d79a7
Judges included author Jessica Valenti; Tracy Wilkinson, correspondent for the Los Angeles Times; Alli Maloney, politics and news features editor for Teen Vogue; Hadar Harris, executive director of the Student Press Law Center; Vibha Venkatesha of AIUSA’s National Youth Collective; Franco Ordonez, national affairs correspondent for McClatchy; Daphne Eviatar, director of security with human rights at AIUSA; Raqiyah Mays, stewardship specialist at AIUSA and journalist; and Geoffrey Mock, AIUSA Middle East country specialist chair.
More information can be found at https://media-awards.amnestyusa.org