The International Women's Media Foundation is seeking nominations for the 2011 Courage in Journalism and Lifetime Achievement awards.
For more than two decades, the Courage in Journalism Awards have honored the courage of women journalists who have demonstrated extraordinary strength of character in pursuing their profession under difficult or dangerous circumstances, such as government oppression, kidnapping, threats against family and friends and other intimidating obstacles. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a woman journalist who has a pioneering spirit and whose determination has paved the way for future generations of women in the media.
Previous Courage in Journalism Award winners include Iryna Khalip, Novaya Gazeta, Belarus; Farida Nekzad, Pajhwok Afghan News, Afghanistan; Jila Baniyaghoob, Kanoon Zanan Irani (Iranian Women's Center), Iran; Lydia Cacho, CIMAC news agency and Dia Siete, Mexico; Jill Carroll, The Christian Science Monitor, United States; May Chidiac, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, Lebanon; Anna Politkovskaya (d. 2006), Novaya Gazeta, Russia, and Claudia Duque, Radio Nizkor, Colombia.
Previous Lifetime Achievement Award winners include Alma Guillermoprieto, independent journalist, Mexico; Edith Lederer, Associated Press, United States; Peta Thornycroft, independent journalist, Zimbabwe; Elena Poniatowska, journalist and author, Mexico, and Barbara Walters, ABC News, United States.
Nominations for the 2011 awards will be accepted by the IWMF until March 4, 2011.
Candidates for the Courage in Journalism Awards may be full-time, part-time or freelance women reporters, writers, editors, photographers or producers currently working in any country. Lifetime Achievement Award candidates may be either working or retired journalists. All nominations must be in English, and all nomination forms for both the Courage in Journalism Awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award must be completed by a professional associate.
The IWMF Courage in Journalism and Lifetime Achievement awards carry a cash prize. Awardees will travel to New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., for approximately two weeks in October for awards ceremonies and other events, as well as press interviews and speaking engagements.
To recommend a journalist for the Courage in Journalism or Lifetime Achievement awards, please visit http://bit.ly/ePCHPi.
Founded in 1990, the International Women's Media Foundation is a vibrant global network dedicated to strengthening the role of women in the news media worldwide as a means to further freedom of the press. The IWMF network includes women and men in the media in more than 130 countries worldwide.
For more information, visit www.iwmf.org.