A war photographer from Germany, a crime reporter from Bangladesh who was stabbed and beaten, and the founder of a magazine threatened with closure by Iran's government because of its coverage of women's rights all received Courage in Journalism Awards from the International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF).
The foundation's 15th annual awards were presented Tuesday to Anja Niedringhaus, Sumi Khan and Shahla Sherkat at a luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York attended by more than 500 people who support its belief that "no press is truly free unless women share an equal voice." The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Molly Ivins, a syndicated, award-winning political columnist from the United States.
Sumi Khan, 34, is a reporter with Shaptahik 2000 in Dhaka. Khan reports on politics, crime and corruption in one of the most dangerous countries for journalists in the world. Since 2000, nine journalists have been killed in Bangladesh and reporters are routinely harassed and beaten up. In 2004, Khan began receiving threatening phone calls after she published an article about local politicians and religious organisations and their links with attacks on minority groups. The phone calls were followed by an attack against her during which she was stabbed and beaten by three assailants. Khan was injured so severely that she was unable to work for three months. Recently, she received a death threat from the student wing of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami party after her reporting accused the group of gang activities.
Anja Niedringhaus, 39, is a German travelling staff photographer for the Associated Press (AP) and is based in Germany. Niedringhaus has reported on conflicts in the Gaza Strip, Israel, Kuwait, and Turkey. Niedringhaus recently covered Iraq, where she photographed the bombing of the Red Cross headquarters, events at the Abu Ghraib prison, and the lives of Iraqi citizens living under constant threat. During the US-led offensive into Fallujah in November 2004, Niedringhaus was embedded with US Marines. She joined the AP in 2002, after working as a photojournalist for the European Press Agency. While at the EPA, Niedringhaus spent 10 years covering conflict in the Balkans. She was named EPA’s chief photographer in 1997.
Shahla Sherkat, 49, is editorial director of Zanan in Tehran. Sherkat founded the monthly magazine in 1991, after she was dismissed from her position as editorial director at Zan-e Rouz, a government-owned weekly women’s magazine because she wanted to change the way it depicted women. The Iranian government has threatened to close Zanan many times because of the daring way the magazine covers women’s rights and feminism. Zanan faces continuing financial difficulties because it is privately owned and funded. It has also been attacked by fundamentalist gangs and Sherkat has been repeatedly summoned to court to defend the articles she chooses to publish in Zanan. In January 2001, she was fined and sentenced to prison for four months after attending a conference in Berlin where discussions on the future of political change in Iran took place. She was not required to serve the prison sentence, but was forced to pay a fine equivalent to two-month’s salary.
Molly Ivins, 61, is a syndicated, award-winning political columnist in the United States. For more than 35 years, Ivins has reported and written about US government and politics for the New York Times, Texas Observer and Dallas Times-Herald. Ivins has been a columnist with Creators Syndicate since 2001. Her column appears in more than 100 newspapers. She is also the author of six books.
The IWMF created the Courage in Journalism Awards in 1990 to honour women journalists who have shown exceptional courage and bravery in the face of danger. Since 1990, 50 journalists have won the awards. The IWMF was launched in 1990 with a mission to strengthen the role of women in the news media worldwide, based on the belief that no press is truly free unless women share an equal voice. The IWMF network has more than 1,500 women in the media in more than 130 countries worldwide.
