Journalists from Georgia, India, Mexico and the Togolese Ferdinand Ayité will be honored in November at the 2023 International Press Freedom Awards, which celebrate brave reporters around the world.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, the organisers of the award, announced yesterday June 29, 2023 the four journalists who would be honoured at this 33rd edition of the award.
This year’s winners are Georgian Nika Gvaramia, Indian Shahina K.K., Mexican Maria Teresa Montaño and Togolese Ferdinand Ayité.
“Attacks on the press are on the rise, but journalists continue to step up and report on the vital issues that empower us all,” CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg said in a statement announcing the winners.
“It is our honor to recognize this year’s winners: wonderful journalists working tirelessly to expose corruption, abuse and wrongdoing despite tremendous efforts to silence them,” Ginsberg said.
Ayité runs L’Alternative, one of Togo’s leading investigative media outlets. Ayité and the editor-in-chief of his newspaper, Isidore Kouwonou left Togo in March, just days before being sentenced to three years in prison for insulting authority and spreading false information on social media.
“Thank you very much to CPJ for this recognition, the fruit of hard work at the cost of a thousand sacrifices. We must continue! Congratulations to the other Laureates”, tweeted Ayité.
On Thursday, CPJ also announced that it will honor Alberto Ibargüen, president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, with the 2023 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award.
The event honoring the journalists will be held in New York in the United States on November 16. This 33rd annual award will be chaired by New York Times Company President and CEO Meredith Kopit Levien.