Peruvian journalist Mabel Cáceres will receive the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), which has been awarding women journalists who stand out for their “extraordinary bravery” since 1990.
“These courageous journalists have faced seemingly insurmountable security threats and personal challenges in reporting on global issues and often, their impact on women,” said Elisa Lees Munoz, executive director of the IWMF, according to a statement from the organization. “It is an honor to celebrate their commitment to press freedom and their service to other women in their industry with our annual Courage Awards.”
IWMF noted that Cáceres “overcame Peru’s restrictive media climate to create an independent investigative magazine, El Búho [The Owl]” after her regional newscast was suspended.
“For more than 20 years, her reporting on the exploitation of local resources and corruption at all levels of government and commitment to press freedom has triggered death threats, libel suits and financial repercussions,” added IWMF.
The winners were announced on the night of May 24 in a private ceremony in New York. This year, journalists will be honored at two ceremonies. One will take place in Los Angeles on October 20 and the other will take place in New York on October 26.
In addition to Cáceres, Janine di Giovanni Stella of the USA and Stella Paul of India will receive the Award for Courage in Journalism. Diane Rehm from the USA will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Since 1990, when this distinction started, more than 100 women journalists from 54 countries have received the Courage in Journalism Award. Some journalists from Latin America who have received it: Claudia Julieta Duque and Jineth Bedoya, of Colombia; Marielos Monzon of Guatemala; Lourdes Ramirez of Honduras; Adela Navarro, Lidya Cacho and Elena Poniatowska of Mexico; and Mabel Rehnfeldt of Paraguay.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
