#iwmf

I wouldn't have won The International Women's Media Foundation (@IWMF )'s Courage in Journalism Award 2024 this June if I hadn’t been on the ground reporting events and exposing Israeli flagrant violations under perilous conditions, all while being systematically attacked by supporters of the perpetrators.

Winning a prize for “courage” means being subjected to attacks and choosing to continue your work regardless. However, I regret to say that the very organization that recognized these perilous conditions and awarded me the prize succumbed to pressure and chose to act contrary to courage; they rescinded the award in a decision that would put my life at risk.

In fact, I’m very glad that both my winning the award and its withdrawal have starkly demonstrated the systematic physical and moral attacks Palestinian journalists endure throughout their careers. These threats and character assassinations aim only to silence us and perpetuate the longstanding bias in global media. I have never worked to receive awards, nor have I ever submitted an application to nominate myself. I didn't choose journalism as a profession; I became a journalist after recognizing the extent to which the world overlooks Palestinians’ suffering and opts to conform to Israeli pressures.

Every year, Palestinian journalists are recognized with international awards for their brave reporting under the Israeli occupation and relentless attacks. These accolades honor their courage and dedication to uncovering the truth.

However, each announcement of an award to a Palestinian journalist is systematically followed by extensive smearing campaigns and intense pressure on the awarding organizations from supporters of the Israeli occupation and the Zionist lobby. While some organizations uphold their principles and maintain their decision to honor these journalists, others, regrettably, cave to the pressure and withdraw the prizes.

Instead of recognizing the threats they face and contributing to their protection, a decision to withdraw a prize from a Palestinian journalist in Gaza—where over 150 journalists have been killed by the ongoing Israeli genocide—can further endanger them and increase their risk of targeting.

I have no regrets about any posts or reasons that led to the rescinding of this award, and I will not stop expressing my views. Before being a journalist, I am a Palestinian living under military occupation, a strangling blockade, and genocide in Gaza.

My grandparents were expelled from Jerusalem upon the creation of the state of Israel, and I have been expelled from my home in Gaza during this genocide.

If winning a prize entails enduring and witnessing war crimes while remaining silent, I am not honored to receive any prizes. I will always be objective in my reporting, but I can never be neutral; I will always point out the perpetrators and stand in solidarity with the victims. This is what journalism is truly about.

© photo: Paula Bronstein / text: IWMF

In its eighth year, the IWMF’s Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award recognizes women photojournalists who exhibit extraordinary courage and humanity in reporting from areas of instability, oppression, and conflict. The award was created in honor of German Associated Press photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2014. This year’s winner is veteran freelance photographer Paula Bronstein; Afghan journalist Farzana Wahidy and U.S. journalist Carol Guzy are also honored.

Documenting the Girls ‘Too Young to Wed’ with Stephanie Sinclair

To see more of Stephanie’s work, follow @stephsinclairpix on Instagram.

“Child marriage is a root cause for a lot of the issues that girls face,” says photojournalist Stephanie Sinclair (@stephsinclairpix). Her ongoing 15-year series “Too Young to Wed” (@tooyoungtowed) sheds light on the challenges girls face — cyclical poverty, curtailed education, psychological trauma, sexual violence and, at times, the transmission of HIV — when forced to marry at a young age. The work has taken her to numerous countries where the practice is common, including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Yemen. “While it has similarities in certain parts of the world, it has differences,” Stephanie says. “There’s different cultural nuances in each place.”

© photo: Masrat Zahra / text: Patrick Marks (AP)

Zahra, born and raised in Srinagar, has documented the ongoing conflict in Indian-controlled Kashmir for four years. Her images illustrate the violent confrontations between Kashmiri protesters and Indian security forces and their subsequent toll on the community. She is one of a small number of women photojournalists working in the area.

“I hope this honor will encourage me to perfect my skills and do my work more confidently,” Zahra said in remarks shared by IWMF. “I also expect it to inspire other women photographers who are working in difficult environments. This is an honor to all women who choose to work in conflict zones.”

Covering Conflict Around the World with Photojournalist Nicole Tung

To see more of Nicole’s work, follow @nicoletung on Instagram.

“I was curious to know what drove people to fight against their neighbors,” says photojournalist Nicole Tung (@nicoletung), who started covering conflict in 2011 amid revolutions in North Africa. More recently, she’s documented the mass displacement of civilians as Iraqi forces battled to retake Mosul from the Islamic State and the daily violence faced by residents of Aleppo, Syria. Nicole covers combat zones, but her focus is on how war affects the most vulnerable, bringing sensitivity and context to fast-changing and dire situations. “You have to show the reality and also not make it this horrible exposé, dramatic thing — which it is,” she says, “but I don’t want it to be sensational.”

© photo: Johanna Maria Fritz / text: IWMF

[September 15, 2025 – WASHINGTON, DC] – This morning the International Women’s Media Foundation announced Johanna Maria Fritz as the 2025 recipient of the IWMF Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award, which recognizes extraordinary bravery and dedication while reporting. Fritz’s winning portfolio captures life inside a Sudanese hospital amid one of the most severe humanitarian catastrophes in modern history. The Anja Award was created in 2014 to honor the life and work of Pulitzer Prize-winning German AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus, who was killed while reporting with the Associated Press in Afghanistan.

Fritz’s winning portfolio – “Al Naw: The Last Hospital” – depicts the deeply underreported story of civilians suffering from war-related violence inside one of the country’s last functioning public hospitals, located in Omdurman. On the brink of destruction, Al Naw is both a shelter and lifeline, where doctors and volunteers work under harrowing conditions to increase patients’ odds of survival. According to UNESCO, at least nine journalists have been killed in Sudan since this current conflict began and roughly 90 percent of the country’s media infrastructure has been destroyed, displacing close to 1,000 journalists and creating information blackouts.

The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) has been condemned for withdrawing its Courage in Journalism Award from Palestinian journalist Maha Hussaini, who is reporting from the war-torn Gaza Strip.

Since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October, Hussaini has published dozens of stories with Middle East Eye, including a report uncovering Israeli field executions of Palestinians, which was used as evidence by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its case accusing Israel of genocide.

On 10 June, the IWMF announced that Hussaini was one of three recipients of its Courage in Journalism Awards, which it says honours remarkable bravery in the pursuit of reporting.

However, following allegations made by conservative US publication the Washington Free Beacon, the IWMF on Thursday said it was rescinding the award.

The Washington Free Beacon erroneously described Hussaini as a supporter of Hamas and an antisemite, citing social media posts commenting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and her own experience as a Palestinian woman trapped under Israeli occupation and siege in the Gaza Strip.

The IWMF said the comments “contradict the values” of the organisation.

“Both the Courage Awards and the IWMF’s mission are based on integrity and opposition to intolerance. We do not, and will not, condone or support views or statements that do not adhere to those principles,” it said in its statement.

That decision, made without consultation with Hussaini, has been condemned by Middle East Eye and the reporter herself, among others.

“Winning a prize for ‘courage’ means being subjected to attacks and choosing to continue your work regardless.

However, I regret to say that the very organisation that recognised these perilous conditions and awarded me the prize succumbed to pressure and chose to act contrary to courage,” Hussaini said.

With the Israeli military accused of deliberately targeting Palestinian journalists and anyone with alleged or perceived links to Hamas, Hussaini said the IWMF decision had “put my life at risk”.

The IWMF has been asked for comment.

Over the past decade as a journalist and war reporter, I have come to understand why many do not continue in this profession, especially in Palestine. In addition to immense challenges and ongoing physical targeting, there are extensive, systematic and well-organised efforts by pro-Israel organisations to intimidate and silence Palestinian journalists.

These tactics aim to push journalists to abandon their work, which is crucial for exposing flagrant human rights violations and advancing the pursuit of accountability.

This June, I received a Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) for my reporting on the ground from Gaza, which has been under a devastating Israeli siege and relentless bombardment for more than eight months.

During this period, I was forcibly displaced three times, moving from one shelter to another.

My home was bombed, and I endured months of starvation, blackouts and ongoing bombardment.

At times, I had to resort to using a pen and paper to send my reports via text messages after Israel cut fuel and electricity supplies and bombed the infrastructure of Gaza’s main telecommunications companies.

Just a few days after the IWMF announced my award, an Israeli smear campaign was launched on social media, demanding that it be rescinded. Within 24 hours, the IWMF complied, rescinding the award, removing my profile from its website and reducing the number of awardees from four to three.

Every year, Palestinian journalists are recognised with international awards for their brave reporting under the Israeli occupation and amid relentless attacks.

These accolades honour their courage and dedication to uncovering the truth. I have no regrets about any posts or past comments that led to the rescinding of my award and I will not stop expressing my views.

Before becoming a journalist, I was a Palestinian living under military occupation and a strangling blockade. Today, I am enduring an internationally recognised genocide in Gaza.

✍️ by Maha Hussaini