International Women’s Media Foundation Announces 2012 Award Winners @IWMF #hwhtw

The IWMF 2012 awards honor 4 brave women journalists with Courage in Journalism and Lifetime Achievement Awards:

“An imprisoned Ethiopian newspaper columnist wrongly convicted of treason after criticizing the government, a Palestinian writer threatened and beaten for covering politics in Gaza and a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Azerbaijani investigative reporter targeted in a smear campaign after reporting on corruption are the IWMF’s 2012 Courage in Journalism Award winners.

“Reeyot Alemu, 31, a columnist for the Ethiopian newspaper Feteh, is in prison for 14 years after being convicted of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts and participation in a terrorist organization.  Asmaa al-Ghoul, 30, a Palestinian blogger and writer, regularly receives death threats and has been beaten by Hamas security forces while covering protests. Khadija Ismayilova, 35, a talk show host on RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service who covers corruption and abuse of power by the government elite, was threatened and had surveillance cameras planted in her apartment in an effort to silence her.

“Pakistani media pioneer Zubeida Mustafa — the first woman reporter at Dawn English-language newspaper who promoted women’s equality in the newsroom — is the IWMF’s 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Mustafa, 70, worked for three decades as Pakistan’s oldest newspaper and enacted hiring policies to promote women.  She continues to write columns for the newspaper.

“These inspiring women will be honored by the International Women’s Media Foundation at award ceremonies in New York on Oct. 24 and in Los Angeles on Oct. 29.”

Read more: http://iwmf.org/honoring-courage.aspx