Three receive Courage in Journalism awards from women’s media group
The event: The International Women’s Media Foundation 25th Courage in Journalism Awards at the Beverly Hilton honored three female journalists “who have shown extraordinary strength of character and integrity while reporting the news under dangerous or difficult circumstances.”
The tributes: The honorees at the event on Tuesday were Solange Lusiku Nsimire, editor in chief of Le Souverain newspaper in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Arwa Damon, an international correspondent for CNN; and Brankica Stankovic of Serbia, a television reporter and investigative journalist. All three women have risked their lives to report on revolutions, demonstrations, corrupt politicians and crime. Damon reports from some of the most dangerous areas of the Middle East, dealing with crossfire, shelling and bombing, while Nsimire has been threatened and her family home has been attacked and Stankovic lives under 24-hour protection. Also honored with a tribute was the late Anja Niedringhaus, an Associated Press photographer who was killed earlier this year in Afghanistan. The IWMF, which gave Niedringhaus a Courage in Journalism Award in 2005, announced the inception of the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award earlier this year. It will be given to a woman photojournalist who “follows in her footsteps.”
The scene: The audience — including many women journalists — listened attentively as event cohosts Olivia Wilde and Cindi Leive, editor in chief of Glamour, and presenters Kate Hudson, Rashida Jones, Lisa Ling and Aaron Sorkin detailed the hardships endured in the name of reporting.
The crowd: Other attendees included Amy Brenneman, Hannah Simone, Paula Abdul, Katherine Schwarzenegger, Holland Roden and dinner cochairs Willow Bay, director of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism, and Sharon Waxman, chief executive and founder of the Wrap.
Quote of note: “It’s obviously an honor because of who has come before me. But to a certain degree it’s even more of an honor and even more humbling because of whom I’m being awarded alongside with. I go into these danger zones as a choice,” Damon said in an interview. “When I’m done with an assignment I’m relatively safe back home …. They continue to face that danger all the time. “
