INTERNATIONAL:
Press Freedom Awards

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Press Freedom Awards
22 September 1997

Journalists from six countries to receive CPJ's International Press Freedom Awards; committee to honour Ted Koppel, Fred Friendly for dedication to press freedom

(CPJ/IFEX) - Six journalists -- from Croatia, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Russia, Taiwan and the United States -- who have risked their freedom and their lives to report the news will receive the 1997 International Press Freedom Awards from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), it was announced on 19 September 1997. CPJ will also honour Ted Koppel, anchor and managing editor of the American Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC's) "Nightline" [news program], for his contributions to the cause of press freedom. And the Committee will present a special tribute to legendary broadcast news producer Fred W. Friendly.

The seventh annual awards will be presented on 23 October at formal dinner ceremonies at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City, United States attended by leading national and international journalists. The gala benefit marks the 16th year of CPJ. The International Press Freedom Awards honour journalists who have courageously provided independent news coverage and viewpoints in the face of arrest, imprisonment, violence against them and their families, and threats of death. Gene Roberts, chairman of CPJ's board of directors and managing editor of "The New York Times", said, "The brave actions honoured by these press freedom awards are a stark reminder that the absence of a free press signals the absence of freedom. Our recognition of these journalists' contributions carries a message to all would-be suppressors of the press that censorship in all its forms is incompatible with democracy."

The 1997 CPJ International Press Freedom Award recipients are:

Christine Anyanwu, imprisoned editor-in-chief of the independent Nigerian news weekly "The Sunday Magazine", who is serving a brutal, 15-year jail sentence for exposing a government ploy to round up political opponents.

Ying Chan, U.S. correspondent and contributing editor of the Hong Kong magazine "Yazhou Zhoukan", an international Chinese-language newsweekly, and Shieh Chung-liang, its Taiwan bureau chief, who are battling a criminal libel suit by a high-ranking Taiwanese ruling party official over their reporting of an alleged offer of an illegal contribution to the Clinton re-election campaign.

Viktor Ivancic, editor-in-chief of "Feral Tribune", a weekly newspaper in Croatia, who has continued his pointed and irreverent coverage of Croatian politics and hard-hitting reporting of atrocities while fighting a seditious libel conviction and death threats.

Yelena Masyuk, special correspondent of NTV independent television of Russia, whose incisive and balanced reporting on the war in Chechnya under treacherous conditions, harassment by Russian officials, and great personal risk, culminated in her kidnapping by Chechen armed rebels who held her and her two-man crew hostage for 100 days.

Freedom Neruda, managing/senior editor of "La Voie", the leading independent daily newspaper in the Ivory Coast, who has been arrested, physically assaulted and prosecuted for criminal libel for criticizing the government's policies and conduct.

Speakers at the black-tie event will include Tom Brokaw of [the United States television network] NBC, who will be master of ceremonies; Dan Rather of [the United States television network] CBS; Peter Jennings of ABC; Christiane Amanpour of the Cable News Network (CNN); Bill Keller of "The New York Times"; journalist and author Kati Marton of CPJ's board of directors; Ed Bradley and Andy Rooney of CBS; and Roger Rosenblatt, writer and essayist. Michael D. Eisner, chairman and chief executive officer of the Walt Disney Company, is dinner chairman.

"The journalists receiving International Press Freedom Awards risk personal and political peril in upholding the highest standards of their profession," said William A. Orme, Jr., CPJ's executive director, in announcing their names. "Their determination to provide independent news coverage in these most difficult circumstances advances the cause of press freedom for journalists everywhere."

For further information, contact Judith Leynse at CPJ, 330 Seventh Ave, New York NY 10001, U.S.A., tel:+1 212 465 1004 x 105, fax:+1 212 465 9568, e-mail: jleynse@cpj.org. For more on the awards: http://www.cpj.org/.

The information contained in this press release is the sole responsibility of CPJ. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit CPJ.

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