IPI honours women leading impactful media initiatives around the world

The International Press Institute has taken the occasion of today’s International Women’s Day to “celebrate the incredible women journalists in our global network who have dedicated their careers to digging out and telling important stories to their communities”.

The IPI singles out a number of female journalists and editors for “some of the most inspiring and pioneering journalism being done around the world for the distinction,” including Muscat.

“Caroline Muscat is founder of The Shift in Malta, which continues to report on political corruption in Malta despite continued harassment and legal threats,” the IPI said this afternoon.

Elsewhere across Europe, Iliana Papangeli was honoured for leading the investigative media organisation Solomon, which tells the vital stories related to corruption, refugees and migration, environment, and food systems across Greece.

As editor-in-chief of the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, Trine Eilertsen has been at the forefront of thinking about media innovation, fostering a culture of experimentation which has allowed for the transformation of Norway’s largest printed newspaper to now be sustainable as a purely digital media.

The IPI notes how some of the most powerful coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been championed by Sevgil Musaieva, chief editor of Ukrayinska Pravda, and Olga Rudenko, chief editor of The Kyiv Independent.

In September 2022, seven Ukrainian female editors received the IPI-IMS Free Media Pioneer Award at IPI’s World Congress in New York. They were the editors of ABO, Hromadske, Slidstvo.info, StopFake, The Kyiv Independent, Ukraїner, and Ukrainska Pravda.

The IPI explained how, “Their resilience and commitment to the truth have been crucial to shedding light on the conflict and the human toll it has taken.”

In Brazil, Paula Miraglia covers important human rights issues such as police violence, the treatment of prisoners and the rights of women and indigenous people in her role as CEO and co-founder of Nexo Journal. In Peru, Milagros Salazar works with her team at Convoca to conduct in-depth investigations on human rights abuses, corruption, and the environment. Jazmín Acuña, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Paraguay’s El Surtidor, has made huge strides forward for public interest journalism in Paraguay.

Dana Coester continues to cover the landscape of American politics through the prism of Appalachia in the collaborative 100 Days in Appalachia news organisation. Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Azmat Khan not only reports on the human costs of war but is actively shaping the future of journalism in her role as director of the Simon and June Li Center for Global Journalism at Columbia University. Sally Buzbee grapples with some of the biggest challenges facing journalism today as executive editor of The Washington Post. Organisational member Global Press, led by CEO Cristi Hegranes, works to build independent news bureaus, staffed by local, women reporters, in some of the world’s least-covered places.

At the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, Motunrayo Alaka has meanwhile forged a new space for investigative journalism in Nigeria and for female reporters through the establishment of the Female Reporters’ Leadership Programme. In Kenya, Asha Mwilu leads the charge against the pervasive influence of misinformation at Debunk Media. Joan Chirwa is a champion of press freedom in Zambia where she founded the Free Press Initiative Zambia.

As editor-in-chief and co-founder of feminist web magazine Magdalene, Devi Asmarani has been a pioneer in the feminist digital media space in Indonesia. Over at Project Multatuli, executive director and co-founder Evi Mariani continues to do journalism in service of the public, telling the stories of structural injustice while herself facing harassment and cyberattacks.

Also facing attacks is Maria Ressa, IPI executive board member, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder of Rappler in the Philippines, whose dedication to reporting on important issues despite facing harassment and legal threats is a testament to her unwavering commitment to the truth.