Rupert Murdoch, Wendi Deng Murdoch, James Gianopulos, Ann Gianopulos and Kenneth M. Doran Will Co-Chair International Women’s Media Foundation

For immediate release
August 12, 2010

Bank of America returns as National Presenting Sponsor

Washington, D.C. – The International Women’s Media Foundation today announced co-chairs of its 20th Anniversary Courage in Journalism Awards: Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and CEO of News Corporation and Wendi Deng Murdoch, in New York, and James N. Gianopulos, Co-Chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, Ann Gianopulos, and Kenneth M. Doran, Chairman and Managing Partner of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, in Los Angeles.
The IWMF also announced that Bank of America will be National Presenting Sponsor of the awards for the fifth consecutive year.

“We are so grateful to our co-chairs and to Bank of America for their continuing support,” said Judy Woodruff, IWMF Courage in Journalism Awards chair. “By joining us to honor courageous women journalists, they are ensuring that freedom of the press prevails in news coverage around the world.”

Winners of the 2010 IWMF Courage in Journalism Awards are:

Claudia Duque, an investigative journalist and correspondent for Radio Nizkor in Colombia. Duque tackles some of the most difficult and dangerous stories in Colombia, including child trafficking, illegal adoption, infiltration of paramilitary groups into Colombian state institutions and human rights violations. Both she and her daughter have received death threats because of her work.

Tsering Woeser, a Beijing-based Tibetan freelance writer, blogger for the site Invisible Tibet and contributor to Radio Free Asia. She is under constant scrutiny from the Chinese government and her work is published only by media outside mainland China. The New York Times has called her “one of China’s best known bloggers.”

Vicky Ntetema, a freelance Tanzanian reporter who contributes to the BBC World Service. Ntetema uncovered one of her country’s horrible secrets when she began to investigate the brutal killings of albinos and their families. She has received many threats against her life and now travels in hijab and with a security guard. According to the BBC, some 170 witchdoctors have been arrested for the killings.

Alma Guillermoprieto, a Mexican journalist whose articles have illuminated Latin America for her readers, will receive the IWMF Lifetime Achievement Award.

Awards will be presented at ceremonies in New York on October 19 and in Los Angeles on October 21.

Founded in 1990 and now celebrating its 20th Anniversary, 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.