Marie Colvin has fearlessly reported from behind the front lines of nearly every violent conflict in the world in the last 15 years. In 2000, she brought readers of The Sunday Times closer to conflicts in Kosovo, East Timor and Chechnya.

In Burundi, independent journalists covering the ongoing six-year civil war risk death threats from both sides of the conflict. Still, freelance journalist Agnes Nindorera broadcasts what she sees, despite escalating threats to her life. She pursues the story of a civil war in which 200,000 people have died, caught in a conflict between Tutsi-dominated Burundian government forces and Hutu rebels.

Zamira Sydykova, editor-in-chief of Res Publica, an independent newspaper founded in Kyrgyzstan in the wake of the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, is a leader in the independent media in Central Asia.

In more than 30 years as a reporter, columnist and editorial writer for the St. Petersburg Times (Florida), Peggy Peterman fought the twin battles of racism and sexism in the newsroom while consistently setting high standards for herself and serving as a role model for others.

Sharifa Akhlas was born and educated in Afghanistan, but now works in exile as a radio and television producer and reporter for the Afghan Media Resource Center (AMRC) based in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Kim Bolan has been a reporter for The Vancouver Sun since 1984. In the past 15 years, she has covered wars in El Salvador, Guatemala and Afghanistan, but Bolan is best known for her coverage of the Sikh community in Vancouver, Canada.

Aferdita Kelmendi began her career working for Radio Pristina, a station controlled by the Yugoslav government. But when communism fell and gave way to civil war in the former Yugoslavia, she saw a need to educate youth in non-violence.

As European bureau chief for The Boston Globe, Elizabeth Neuffer reported from some of the world's most dangerous hot spots. She has been menaced by gun-toting rebels, subjected to death threats, abducted by soldiers, robbed and threatened with rape. In 1994, Neuffer was one of only a few reporters in Sarajevo when a bomb exploded in a marketplace and killed 68 people. She helped pick up the bodies and then wrote her story.

Blanca Rosales launched her journalism career writing a column for Marka magazine on labor rights issues and, in 1996, became editor-in-chief of La Republica, one of Peru's largest daily papers. As the relationship between the press and the government of Alberto Fujimori continues to erode, journalists are regularly threatened. In 1997, Rosales was one of those targeted when she was abducted and held at gunpoint for several hours.

Anna Zarkova is chief of the Criminal News Department for Trud Daily. She has been awarded national prizes for her stories exposing organized crime, p...

Bonnie Angelo has covered a wide range of events in all 50 states and more than 60 countries around the world as a correspondent for Time magazine. After 11 years as a Washington correspondent covering politics at the White House, in 1978 she was appointed London bureau chief and thus became the first woman to head a Time bureau overseas. Eight years later, she was named New York bureau chief for Time and later became its first correspondent-at-large. Angelo's pioneering spirit and determination have made her a well-respected journalist and a role model for other women.

"Do something to help another woman every day." This motto describes the way Nancy Woodhull lived her life as journalist and activist, and as a mother and a friend. When she died of breast cancer in April 1997 at age 52, Woodhull had already risen to great heights within the news media. At the same time, she boldly challenged the industry on a wide range of diversity and equity issues. She made it to the top of the news media without ever compromising her commitment to women's rights.  

Throughout her 20-year career, Maribel Gutierrez has been deeply involved in covering the experiences of rural and Indian communities in Mexico and especially in the state of Guerrero, one of the poorest in Mexico. In 1993, she co-founded El Sur, an independent newspaper covering local news, human and political rights, militarization, corruption and social problems, in a state where almost all press is under government control.

Bina Bektiati began reporting about politics for the independent newsweekly Tempo in 1991. In 1994 the magazine was banned and its license revoked by the Suharto regime. A government-controlled publication replaced Tempo, but Bektiati refused to join. Instead, she challenged the ban in the courts and helped found the Alliance of Independent Journalists, Indonesia's only independent journalists association.

Before becoming a photojournalist, Corinne Dufka spent ten years as a social worker. Her interest in photojournalism began while working in El Salvador for a humanitarian organization providing mental health services to the victims of civil war. She found that photography allowed her to document the human rights abuses experienced by civilians and she began freelancing.