RSF Press Freedom Awards: the 2024 laureates

Each year, the RSF Press Freedom Awards honour the work of journalists and media outlets that have made significant contributions to the defence and promotion of press freedom worldwide. The 32nd ceremony took place this Tuesday, 3 December 2024, in Washington, DC, at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The event was hosted by journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro, co-host of “The Interview” series from The New York Times Magazine and a contributor to CNN.

Other speakers at the ceremony included Michel Martin, an Emmy Award-winning journalist, host of NPR's Morning Edition and contributor to PBS's “Amanpour & Company”, as well as Aïssa Maïga, a renowned French actress and director, and daughter of the courageous Malian journalist Mohamed Maïga, who died 40 years ago.

This year, 18 journalists and journalist teams, two media outlets and five photojournalists from 22 countries were in the running. They competed in five categories, including the brand new Mohamed Maïga Prize for African Investigative Journalism, which honours the memory of the Malian investigative journalist and his fight to uphold social justice in Africa through his writing.

The awards went to Palestinian journalist Wael al-Dahdouh, who has never stopped reporting despite injuries and the death of his family members in Gaza (Courage Prize); Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk, who co-founded The Reckoning Project: Ukraine Testifies, an NGO that documents war crimes (Impact Prize); Indian journalist Ravish Kumar, who continues using his YouTube channel to inform the world and defend journalism in his country despite being targeted by smear campaigns (Independence Prize); Burkinabe journalist Mariam Ouédraogo, who is internationally recognised for her investigations into sexual violence linked to terrorism (Mohamed Maïga Prize for African Investigative Journalism); and Belgian photojournalist Gaël Turine for his photo series “The Ravages of Tranq Dope” on the opioid epidemic plaguing the East Coast of the United States (Lucas Dolega-SAIF Photo Prize).

The jury of the 32nd edition was comprised of prominent journalists, freedom of expression advocates and photojournalists from around the world, and was chaired by RSF’s president,  French journalist Pierre Haski.

The Courage Prize

Waël al-Dahdouh (Palestine)

Waël al-Dahdouh, head of Al Jazeera’s Gaza desk, is an experienced Palestinian journalist who embodies resilience and the fight for reliable information. He has never stopped reporting, despite the loss of his wife, grandson and three of his children — one of whom was also a journalist for Al Jazeera — who were killed by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip as they took refuge in the Nuseirat camp. Al-Dahdouh was injured by an Israeli drone strike in December which killed his cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa and left for Qatar on 16 January to receive medical treatment. 

The Impact Prize

Natalya Gumenyuk (Ukraine)

Nataliya Gumenyuk is a prominent Ukrainian journalist, CEO of the Public Interest Journalism Lab (PIJL) and co-founder of The Reckoning Project: Ukraine Testifies, an NGO that documents war crimes and trains journalists to record, collect, and conserve witness statements in a way that preserves their integrity for use in court. The Reckoning Project published one of the first investigations into Russia's deportations of Ukrainian children. After these investigations, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova in March 2023.

The Independence Prize

Ravish Kumar (India)

Ravish Kumar personifies the Indian media’s resistance to political pressure and is a true hero of journalism in the country. With his sharp, hard-hitting stories and desire to expose the truth, he has shed light on crucial issues and given a voice to the voiceless, significantly influencing public opinion and politics. Kumar was brutally ousted from NDTV, a TV channel taken over by a businessman close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and subject to smear campaigns. Nevertheless, he continued his quest to inform the public via his YouTube channel, which boasts 12 million subscribers. He has stood firm against government repression by defending the country's journalistic space.

The Mohamed Maïga Prize for African Investigative Journalism

Mariam Ouédraogo (Burkina Faso)

A journalist for the state-owned daily Sidwaya, Mariam Ouédraogo investigates sexual violence linked to terrorism. Internationally recognised for her work, she won the prestigious Bayeux Prize for war correspondents in October 2022. Ouédraogo’s work highlights the suffering of vulnerable people, particularly those affected by the security crisis, and her writing tells the stories of these communities. Most of her work focuses on women, children, and other vulnerable groups.

The Lucas Dolega-SAIF Photo Prize

Gaël Turine (Belgium)

For the past thirty-six months, one person has died of an overdose every five minutes in the United States. This opioid epidemic has been exacerbated by a new drug cocktail called tranq dope, which is around fifty times more potent and addictive than heroin. Philadelphia's Kensington neighbourhood, the setting of  Gael Turine’s  "The Ravages of Tranq Dope", is the epicentre of tranq sales and consumption on the East Coast of the United States. Turine, whose career has spanned 25 years, lives in Brussels. His work appears in various international outlets, and he has authored several monographs.