The International Women’s Media Foundation hosted the 35th annual Courage in Journalism Awards at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.
The awards remind news media audiences worldwide of the sacrifices made by women journalists and the odds they face to report the truth. The IWMF stands as the sole global entity dedicated to meeting the comprehensive needs of women and nonbinary journalists. It embodies a bold and inclusive mission, providing support through awards, reporting opportunities, fellowships, grants, safety training, and emergency assistance.
The event was hosted by Linsey Davis, an American broadcast journalist at ABC News, who currently anchors the Sunday edition of World News Tonight and the network’s weekday prime-time streaming program, ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis. The event honored three women who overcame tremendous obstacles to have their stories told.
The first recipient was Lauren Chooljian, an American journalist and podcaster who was sued and harassed after her investigative series, The 13th Step, revealed sexual misconduct in the addiction treatment industry. Lauren is also a senior reporter/producer at NHPR, the NPR affiliate in New Hampshire.
The 13th Step was a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in audio reporting and was featured in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Vogue.
The second recipient was Monica Velásquez Villacís, an investigative journalist and presenter for La Posta, Ecuador’s prominent digital media outlet. She was forced into exile for her work exposing high-level government corruption and drug trafficking. She launched her career in investigative journalism, which propelled her involvement in several high-profile cases related to political corruption and organized crime.
Notable investigations include the Odebrecht Case (a transnational corruption scandal), the Ministry of Death (which examines the hospital crisis in Ecuador), and The Godfather (focused on drug trafficking linked to senior government officials), among various others.
The third and final recipient was Shin Daewe. Shin Daewe is one of Myanmar’s pioneering women documentary filmmakers, covering political, environmental, and social issues in her country. Following prior detentions in 1990 and 1991, Daewe was sentenced to life in prison in 2024 for allegedly “funding and assisting terrorists” — just for possessing an unregistered drone. A military tribunal charged her behind closed doors without access to legal representation. This is the most severe sentence given to a journalist since the junta regained power in February 2021.
Presenters during the program included Deborah Roberts (ABC News), Suzanne Malveaux (CNN), Marites Vitug, Anna Nemtsova, Lydia Cacho, and IWMF Deputy Executive Director Nadine Hoffman.
In addition, IWMF recognized 35 News Industry Leaders.
- Raney Aronson-Rath, FRONTLINE PBS
- Maryam Banikarim, Fortune Live Media
- Samantha Barry, Glamour
- Danielle Belton, HuffPost
- Rebecca Blumenstein, NBC News
- Carrie Budoff Brown, NBC News
- Julia Chan, The 19th
- Edith Chapin, NPR
- Gina Chua, Semafor
- Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews, CBS News
- Matea Gold, The Washington Post
- Mary Hager, CBS News
- Cynthia Hudson, CNN
- Radhika Jones, Vanity Fair
- Rashida Jones, MSNBC
- Sara Just, WETA
- Mitra Kalita, URL Media
- Cindi Leive, The Meteor
- Sara Lomax, URL Media
- Veronica Molina, CNN
- Akoto Ofori-Atta, Capital B
- Lindsay Peoples, The Cut
- Dawn Porter, Trilogy Films
- Adrienne Roark, CBS News
- Swati Sharma, Vox
- Versha Sharma, Teen Vogue
- Goli Sheikholeslami, Politico
- Kerry Smith, ABC News
- Robin Sparkman, ProPublica
- Kathy Spillar, Ms. Magazine
- Elinor Tatum, New York Amsterdam News
- Krissah Thompson, The Washington Post
- Daisy Veerasingham, The Associated Press
- Lauren Williams, Capital B
- Amanda Wills, The Wall Street Journal
- Laura Zelenko, Bloomberg
