The International Press Institute has released its annual World Press Freedom Review, which examines the state of the media all over the world. The review, which is divided into specific regions, includes information about press freedom violations and major media developments. Visit IPI's website.

On World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2007, journalists gathered in Colombia to honor other journalists who have given their lives to report the truth. UNESCO's report on the event and the safety of journalists is now available online. Click here to download a PDF of the report.

 

 

Eleanor Clift, co-chair of the IWMF board of directors, will be honored in May with a Matrix Award from the Association for Women in Communications. Clift is an author and a contributing editor at Newsweek. AWC champions the advancement of women across all communications disciplines. Visit AWC-DC's website to read more.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMarch 26, 2008 For more information:Lindsey Wray(202) 496-1992LWray@iwmf.org International Women’s Media Foundation...

Gao Yu, a 1995 recipient of an IWMF Courage in Journalism Award who was unable to accept her award until 2006 due to her imprisonment in China, will be a featured speaker at a press freedom conference in April. Gao, a freelance journalist, will speak about how China controls media. The conference is being held in Paris in light of the media coverage questions surrounding the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing. Visit WAN’s Web site to learn more.

Winners of the 2007 George Polk Awards were announced. Awards went to reporters from newspapers including The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Among the winners was Leila Fadel, the Baghdad bureau chief for McClatchy newspaper company. Six Iraqi women from the McClatchy bureau that Fadel leads won a 2007 IWMF Courage in Journalism Award. Read more in The New York Times.

Two CBS News journalists were kidnapped in Basra and remain missing. The journalists, a British citizen and an Iraqi, were taken from their hotel Feb. 10 by armed men. At least 15 journalists, all Iraqi, are currently held hostage in Iraq, according Reporters Without Borders, which continues to be the world's most dangerous country for the media. Read an article in The Washington Post.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEFebruary 11, 2008 For more information: February 8, 2008 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Supreme Leader of the Islamic Rep...

Barbara Cochran, a member of the IWMF's Advisory Council and president of the Radio-Television News Directors Association and Radio and Television News Directors Foundation, is the 2008 recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award in Broadcasting from the University of Georgia's DiGamma Kappa student society. Cochran will be honored at a Feb. 5 ceremony. Read more on RTNDA’s Web site.

Zanan, a feminist Iranian magazine that was founded by 2005 Courage in Journalism Award winner Shahla Sherkat, has been ordered to close by Iranian censors. Zanan, which has survived previous crackdowns, has been promoting women's rights for the last 16 years. Read more in a Los Angeles Times blog.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJanuary 23, 2008 For more information:Lindsey Wray(202) 496-1992LWray@iwmf.org IWMF Calls for Applications for U....

Frances Lewine, a pinoneering woman journalist who fought against discrimination, died Jan. 19. Lewine, who was most recently an assignment editor and field producer for CNN, was a White House correspondent for the Associated Press during the administrations of six presidents. She was one of seven women who filed a class-action lawsuit against the AP in 1978 that led to policy changes on salaries, assignments, promotions, pensions and hiring. Lewine was 86. Read the article in The Washington Post.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJanuary 14, 2008 For more information:Lindsey Wray(202) 496-1992LWray@iwmf.org IWMF Accepting Applications for El...

The IWMF was featured Jan. 3 on Houston's KPFT radio station. Jane Ransom, the IWMF executive director, was interviewed about the organization and the Courage in Journalism Awards on a weekly program called The Progressive Forum, which deals with issues such as the media, politics and peace and justice. Click here to listen to the KPFT program.