CPJ to present 2023 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award to Alberto Ibargüen, president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

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CPJ announced Thursday that it will honor Alberto Ibargüen, president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, with the 2023 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award. The award is presented by CPJ’s board of directors in recognition of extraordinary and sustained commitment to press freedom.

“Alberto Ibargüen has been a visionary leader in journalism,” said Kathleen Carroll, chair of CPJ’s board. “His innovative approach to philanthropy has strengthened press freedom and promoted news literacy across the United States, and the CPJ board is honored to recognize his tireless commitment to defending independent media.”

The Gwen Ifill award, along with four other International Press Freedom Awards honoring courageous journalists around the world, will be presented at CPJ’s annual awards ceremony on Thursday, November 16, 2023, in New York City. This year, the dinner will be chaired by Meredith Kopit Levien, president and chief executive officer of The New York Times Company.

For more information on attending or sponsoring CPJ’s International Press Freedom Awards, please call Buckley Hall Events at (+1) 914-579-1000 or CPJ’s Development Office at (+1) 212- 300-9021, or email [email protected].

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Global press freedom updates

• Tunisian court increases prison sentence for journalist Khalifa Guesmi from 1 to 5 years
• Colombian journalist Luis Gabriel Pereira shot and killed in town of Ciénaga de Oro
• Mexican President López Obrador repeatedly criticizes news outlets and press freedom group over spyware coverage
• Lesotho journalist Ralikonelo Joki killed after radio show
• Ghanaian journalist Abubakari Sadiq Gariba attacked, threatened by politician and aide
• Journalist Gobeze Sisay facing terrorism investigation in Ethiopia after arrest in Djibouti
• Journalists arrested and attacked, media offices set ablaze amid Pakistan protests
• Turkish journalist Muhammed Yava? assaulted over political coverage in run-up to election
• UK police arrest journalist Rich Felgate while covering coronation protest
• Kazakh journalist Viktor Sutyagin’s car destroyed in fire

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Spotlight

As Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wraps up his first year in office, Filipino journalists, editors, and activists told CPJ there has been a discernible change in tone toward the press under his presidency. Marcos Jr. has so far has demurred from the overt antagonism toward the media seen and felt under his populist, tough-talking predecessor, report CPJ’s Shawn W. Crispin and Beh Lih Yi after a recent visit to the country.

However, those who spoke to CPJ say that change in form has not yet been accompanied by substantive actions to undo the damage wrought to press freedom under the Duterte administration or advance legal reforms to prevent a renewed government assault against independent journalists and media groups.

The ongoing court cases against independent news outlet Rappler and its Nobel-winning co-founder Maria Ressa are high-profile cases in point. And three Filipino journalists—Percival Mabasa, Renato Blanco, and Federico Gempesaw—have been murdered in connection with their work in the year since Marcos Jr. took office.

Read more in the full feature article here.

The independent Guatemalan newspaper elPeriódico announced that it would cease online publication on Monday, May 15.

This development “is the result of the President Alejandro Giammattei administration’s judicial and financial harassment of the outlet’s founder, José Rubén Zamora, and its journalists for their critical reporting on corruption,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director.

Zamora, who has been in pre-trial detention since July 29, 2022, went to trial on May 2, on money laundering charges. Zamora and eight elPeriódico journalists and columnists are also under investigation for obstruction of justice based on their coverage of the legal proceedings. In April, a judge ordered the arrest of three lawyers defending Zamora.

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What we are reading

• Journalism’s essential value —?A.G. Sulzberger, Columbia Journalism Review
• How Russian journalists navigate life in Latvian exile — Benjamin Bathke,?Transitions
• Georgia: Media freedom in decline —?Elena Zondler, Ekaterine Basilaia, Alexander Matschke, and Evelin Meier, Deutsche Welle
• A newspaper’s closing deals a blow to a nation’s democracy —?Jody García and Elda Cantú, The New York Times

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So far in 2023…

At least eight journalists and media workers have been killed in relation to their work. Explore our database of attacks on the press and apply filters to examine trends.

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