Features
IWMF Announces 2008 Courage in Journalism Award Winners
The International Women's Media Foundation today announced the winners of 2008 Courage in Journalism Awards:
- Farida Nekzad, Afghanistan. Nekzad frequently receives phone calls and email messages threatening her life but remains committed to work toward a free press and greater equality for women journalists.
- Sevgul Uludag, Cyprus. A journalist for nearly three decades, Uludag has covered missing people and mass graves for both Turkish and Greek newspapers in Cyprus. She has received death threats and has been the subject of hate campaigns for her investigative reporting.
A third woman journalist has also won a Courage Award; her name will be released at a later date due to concerns for her safety.
The IWMF will also honor Edith Lederer with the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award. Lederer, chief correspondent at the United Nations for the Associated Press, was the first female resident correspondent in Vietnam in 1972. She has worked on every continent except Antarctica since she began her journalism career in 1966.
This year's awards will be presented at ceremonies in Los Angeles on October 16 and New York on October 21. Award winners will attend a reception and panel discussion in Washington, D.C., on October 9.
- Click here to read the press release.
- Learn more about or help support the Courage Awards.
IWMF Names 2008-09 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow
The International Women's Media Foundation announced today that Jenny Manrique, a Colombian freelance journalist, has received the 2008-09 IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship. The annual fellowship gives a woman journalist working in print, broadcast or online media the opportunity to focus exclusively on human rights journalism and social justice issues.
Manrique writes for Comunicaciones Aliadas, a non-governmental online magazine based in Peru that focuses on Latin American news, particularly human rights. She has covered subjects such as kidnapping, drug trafficking and refugees and hopes to investigate Colombian paramilitaries and their ties with multinational corporations during her IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship.
- Click here to read more about Manrique in the press release.
- Learn more about the Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship.
- Help support this program.
Sally Sara Concludes Stint as IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow
Sally Sara, an anchor for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, has completed her year as the 2007-08 IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow. She is now traveling in Asia conducting research for a new book. Before she left, Sara visited the IWMF and spoke about her experiences as the Neuffer Fellow.
- Watch video clips of Sally Sara talking about her time as the IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow.
- Click here to read more about Sara.
- Learn more about the IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship.
- Help support the IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fund.
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IWMF Live Features Liza Gross
Liza Gross, El Nuevo Dia, participated in an IWMF Live chat on Thursday, September 26, 2002.
What was your first job in the media?
My first full time job in the media was as editor of the Latin American Desk of The Associated Press in New York. (That was after several years of contributions to modest and not-so-modest publications on scintillating topics such as Christmas traditions in Latin America, or meatier subjects like a comparison between the real Eva Peron versus the character in the musical).
Did you have a career plan?
Career plan? What was that? At 20 all I wanted was to edit and write and get the greatest scoop on earth. I did not start thinking in terms of a structured career plan until about 10 years later, when I went for my master's in public affairs reporting.
Who was your most important mentor? What did you learn from her/him? How did you apply that in your career?
Interestingly, my most important mentor was not a newspaper person. She was a history professor in my undergrad days. Her greatest gift was that she taught me to identify my strengths, to avoid superficial thinking and to have a professional approach to whatever I set out to do. And books have always been, and still are, my perpetual and irreplaceable mentors.
What was the biggest roadblock that you faced, as a woman, in your career? How did you overcome it?
Sometimes I have trouble figuring out whether the roadblocks I faced were due to the fact that I am a woman, or that I am a minority, or that I simply was not in the right place at the right time, or a combination of all three. I could fill a book with specific instances, ranging from having my opinions discounted to being asked (directly and indirectly) to support male colleagues who were not really competent, but were making more money than I was and certainly had more privileges and visibility. For overcoming techniques, see next question.
In one simple sentence, what one piece of advice would you give women who want to succeed in the media?
Get a Ph.D. That's Professionalism, Humor and Determination.