HONORING JOURNALISTS DEDICATED TO PRESS FREEDOM

Since 1996, CPJ has hosted its annual International Press Freedom Awards and benefit dinner to honor journalists whose stories and work exemplify CPJ’S mission and the many other journalists demanding and exercising their freedom to report the news. The 2022 dinner and ceremonies were held at the John S. and James L. Knight Press Freedom Center in New York City, where CPJ is also headquartered.

THE FIVE 2022 HONOREES ARE:

Abraham Jiménez Enoa, Cuba, reports on stories for the Cuban media community as a freelance journalist, a co-founder of the online journalism magazine El Estornudo and a columnist for The Washington Post and Gatopardo. He was detained and interrogated for five hours in Cuba in 2020, and he and his family were threatened. He fled to Spain in 2021.

Niyaz Abdullah, Iraqi Kurdistan, has written extensively about conditions in the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq until she was threatened with violence for her outstanding coverage on many issues. Her work has appeared on Radio Nawa and various news websites, including Zhyan News Network and Hawlati. She had to relocate to France in 2021 to avoid further harassment and possible arrest.

Sevgil Musaieva, Ukraine, leads a staff of journalists reporting on the war with Russia and other relevant topics as editor-in-chief of Ukrainska Pravda, the country’s primary independent online newspaper. Despite the physical dangers of publishing in a war zone, Russia’s ban of the newspaper and the death threats she and one of her reporters received for a 2022 investigative report, she continues the important coverage of the crisis in her country.

Pham Doan Trang, Vietnam, is currently incarcerated in her country for reporting or spreading news deemed a criminal offense. She was arrested during October 2020 and held in isolation for a year before her December 2021 conviction, resulting in a nine-year sentence. Most of her reporting focused on human rights. She founded Luat Khoa, an independent legal magazine and contributes to The Vietnamese, an independent English-language website.

Galina Timchenko received the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award for her work as editor of Meduza, an independent Russian news website located in Riga, Latvia, and a vital source of information for Russians. Timchenko was joined by many of her colleagues who previously worked at Lenta.ru, a Russian new website when she was fired as editor-in-chief during 2014.