Now in its 34th year, CPJ’s annual IPFA and benefit dinner honors courageous journalists from around the world. This year’s event will be held on Thursday, November 21, 2024, in New York City. John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, will be master of ceremonies at the event, which will be chaired by Jessica E. Lessin, founder and CEO of The Information.
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CPJ’s 2024 honorees are:
Shrouq Al Aila (Gaza Strip)
Shrouq Al Aila is a Palestinian journalist, producer, and researcher reporting from the Gaza Strip. Al Aila took charge of Ain Media, an independent production company specializing in professional media services, after her husband – who co-founded the company – was killed in the Israel-Gaza war. She continues to cover the war and its devastating impact on Gaza’s residents despite having been displaced several times in an effort to evade Israeli attacks.
Alsu Kurmasheva (U.S. – Russia)
Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, is a journalist and editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Kurmasheva was detained in Russia in October 2023 and in July was sentenced to 6½ years in prison on charges of spreading “fake” news about the Russian army. She was released by Russia in August 2024 as part of an historic prisoner exchange.
Quimy de León (Guatemala)
Quimy de León is a Guatemalan journalist, medical professional, and historian with over 20 years of professional experience. She is a co-founder of Prensa Comunitaria, a news agency specializing in environmental and human rights issues. Her work with the outlet has led to relentless threats from corporate and governmental forces. In 2017, de León founded Ruda, a feminist digital magazine devoted to sexual and reproductive rights.
Samira Sabou (Niger)
Samira Sabou is one of Niger’s most prominent investigative journalists. She has been arrested, detained and subjected to years of legal harassment because of her reporting on governance issues throughout her career. Sabou, who publishes mainly on her Facebook page, is the president of the Association of Bloggers for Active Citizenship, an organization that advocates for freedom of expression and the rights of women and youth.
Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award Winner
CPJ’s Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award is presented annually to an individual who has shown extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom.
Originally the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award, it was renamed in 2017 to honor Gwen Ifill, the veteran journalist and former CPJ board member who died in late 2016.
Christophe Deloire
A tireless defender of press freedom worldwide, Christophe Deloire was the head of media freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF). In his 12 years at the helm of RSF, Deloire expanded the group’s global footprint and raised its profile with governments.
Under Deloire’s watch, RSF launched the Journalism Trust Initiative, a program to certify media organizations to restore public trust in the news, and the Forum for Democracy, a program aimed at heading off threats to democratic thought and freedoms.
Deloire worked as an investigative reporter and led a prominent French journalism school, Centre de formation des journalistes (CFJ), before becoming director of RSF. Deloire traveled worldwide to lobby governments and defend journalists behind bars or under threat. On June 8, 2024, Deloire died at 53 after a battle with cancer.