Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism
Encyclopedia
The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, named for the renowned war correspondent
, Martha Gellhorn
, was established in 1999 by the Martha Gellhorn Trust. It is founded on the following principles:
The prize is awarded annually to journalist
s writing in English whose work has appeared in print or in a reputable internet publication.
War correspondent
A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...
, Martha Gellhorn
Martha Gellhorn
Martha Gellhorn was an American novelist, travel writer and journalist, considered by The London Daily Telegraph amongst others to be one of the greatest war correspondents of the 20th century. She reported on virtually every major world conflict that took place during her 60-year career...
, was established in 1999 by the Martha Gellhorn Trust. It is founded on the following principles:
The award will be for the kind of reporting that distinguished Martha: in her own words "the view from the ground". This is essentially a human story that penetrates the established version of events and illuminates an urgent issue buried by prevailing fashions of what makes newsNewsNews is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
. We would expect the winner to tell an unpalatable truth, validated by powerful facts, that exposes establishment conduct and its propaganda, or "official drivel", as Martha called it. The subjects can be based in this country or abroad.
The prize is awarded annually to journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s writing in English whose work has appeared in print or in a reputable internet publication.
Previous winners
- 1999: Nick DaviesNick DaviesNick Davies is a British investigative journalist, writer and documentary maker.Davies has written extensively as a freelancer, as well as for The Guardian and The Observer, and been named Reporter of the Year Journalist of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year at the British Press Awards...
(The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
) - 2000: Jeremy Harding (London Review of BooksLondon Review of BooksThe London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
) - 2001: Geoffrey Lean (The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
) - 2002: Robert FiskRobert FiskRobert Fisk is an English writer and journalist from Maidstone, Kent. As Middle East correspondent of The Independent, he has primarily been based in Beirut for more than 30 years. He has published a number of books and has reported on the United States's war in Afghanistan and the same country's...
(The Independent) - 2003: Chris McGrealChris McGrealChris McGreal is a reporter for The Guardian who frequently covers Middle East issues.-Career:McGreal started in journalism with the BBC, covering Mexico and Central America. In 1985 he moved to The Independent, and then to The Guardian in 1992...
(The Guardian) - 2004: Patrick CockburnPatrick CockburnPatrick Cockburn is an Irish journalist who has been a Middle East correspondent since 1979 for the Financial Times and, presently, The Independent....
(The Independent) - 2005: Ghaith Abdul Ahad (The Guardian); Jonathan SteeleJonathan SteeleJonathan Steele is a British journalist, author of several books on international affairs.Jonathan Steele was educated at King's College, Cambridge and Yale University . He has reported on Afghanistan, Russia, Iraq, and other countries. He was Washington Bureau Chief, Moscow Bureau Chief, and...
(The Guardian) received a special award for his distinguished career as a reporter. - 2006: Hala JaberHala JaberHala Jaber is a Lebanese-British journalist. She was born in West Africa and currently writes for The Sunday Times. Jaber was awarded the Amnesty International Journalist of the Year Award in 2003. She won Foreign Correspondent of the Year at the British Press Awards in 2005 and 2006 for her...
(The Sunday TimesThe Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
) and Michael TierneyMichael TierneyMichael Tierney is an American film director, actor, and screenwriter. He is the nephew of actors Lawrence Tierney and Scott Brady. His directorial debut, Evicted opened the 1st Annual Melbourne Underground Film Festival in Australia in July 2000....
(The Glasgow Herald) - 2007: Dahr JamailDahr JamailDahr Jamail is an American journalist who is best known as one of the few unembedded journalists to report extensively from Iraq during the 2003 Iraq invasion. He spent eight months in Iraq, between 2003 to 2005, and presented his stories on his website, entitled Dahr Jamail's MidEast Dispatches....
(unembedded, Inter Press ServiceInter Press ServiceInter Press Service is a global news agency. Its main focus is the production of independent news and analysis about events and processes affecting economic, social and political development....
, IPS) and Mohammed OmerMohammed OmerMohammed Omer is a Palestinian journalist. He has reported for numerous media outlets, including: the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, ; Al Jazeera ; New Statesman ; Pacifica Radio; Electronic Intifada ; The Nation ; Inter Press Service ; Free Speech Radio News ; Vermont Guardian ;...
(unembedded, Inter Press Service, IPS) - 2008: Mohammed OmerMohammed OmerMohammed Omer is a Palestinian journalist. He has reported for numerous media outlets, including: the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, ; Al Jazeera ; New Statesman ; Pacifica Radio; Electronic Intifada ; The Nation ; Inter Press Service ; Free Speech Radio News ; Vermont Guardian ;...
(Washington Report) - 2009: Ian Cobain (The Guardian)
- 2010: Johann HariJohann HariJohann Hari is an award winning British journalist who has been a columnist at The Independent, the The Huffington Post, and contributed to several other publications. In 2011, Hari was accused of plagiarism; he subsequently was suspended from The Independent and surrendered his 2008 Orwell Prize...
(The Independent) - 2011: Julian AssangeJulian AssangeJulian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
(WikileaksWikileaksWikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
) for the prize, and Umar CheemaUmar CheemaUmar Cheema is an investigative reporter for the Pakistan newspaper The News. In 2008 he won a Daniel Pearl Journalism Fellowship. He claimed to have been abducted and beaten by a group he suspects to be from the Inter-Services Intelligence agency....
, Charles Clovers, and Jonathan CookJonathan CookJonathan Cook is a British writer and a freelance journalist based in Nazareth, Israel, who writes about the Middle East, and more specifically, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.-Background:...
for the "Martha Gellhorn Special Award for Journalism"