Committee to Protect Journalists – Defending Journalists Worldwide.

CPJ announces its four 2024 IPFA awardees

CPJ’s 2024 International Press Freedom Awards honorees; from left to right, Quimy de León, Samira Sabou, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Shrouq Al Aila. (Photo credits: Nelton Rivera, courtesy of awardee, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Ali Jadallah)

The Committee to Protect Journalists has announced the names of the four exceptional journalists it will honor with its 2024 International Press Freedom Awards in New York City on November 21.

“CPJ’s International Press Freedom Awardees symbolize the vital work carried out by reporters everywhere to report facts in the face of fierce attempts to suppress truth,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg.

The journalists are:
Shrouq Al Aila, a Palestinian journalist, producer, and researcher who runs Ain Media production company and reports from the Gaza Strip.
Alsu Kurmasheva, a U.S.-Russian journalist and editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) released from jail in Russia as part of an August prisoner exchange.
Quimy de León, a Guatemalan journalist, medical professional, and historian who co-founded the Prensa Comunitaria news agency.
Samira Sabou, an investigative journalist in Niger who has been arrested, detained and subjected to years of legal harassment because of her reporting on governance issues.

CPJ will also posthumously honor Christophe Deloire, who served as director general of the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), with the 2024 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award.

Journalist jailings reach record high in post-election Venezuela

Relatives of Venezuelans who were detained after the July 28 presidential election call for their release in a September 11, 2024 protest. (Photo: Reuters/Maxwell Briceno)

Since the disputed July 28 Venezuelan election, a record number of journalists have been jailed amid a climate of fear in the country, prompting reporters to exercise extreme caution by erasing bylines and even using AI news anchors to deliver stories so the journalists’ real identities are protected.

Several of the detained journalists were arrested while covering anti-government protests and face charges of terrorism, instigating violence, and hate crimes, according to a report by CPJ’s John Otis. If convicted, they could each face up to 30 years in prison.

In addition, at least 14 journalists have had their passports canceled with no explanation.

The Committee to Protect Journalists promotes press freedom worldwide.

We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.

Journalists Attacked

Myat Thu Tan

MURDERED

Myat Thu Tan, a contributor to the local news website Western News and correspondent for several independent Myanmar news outlets, was shot and killed on January 31, 2024, while in military custody in Mrauk-U in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State.

He was arrested on September 22, 2022, and held in pre-trial detention under a broad provision of the penal code that criminalizes incitement and the dissemination of false news for critical posts he made on his Facebook page. Myat Thu Tan had not been tried or convicted at the time of his death.

The journalist’s body was found buried in a bomb shelter, with the bodies of six other political detainees, and showed signs of torture.

Myanmar’s military junta has cracked down on journalists and media outlets since seizing power in a February 2021 coup.

Learn more about Myat Thu Tan