CPJ to honor tenacious journos with 2025 Int’l Press Freedom Awards

(Photos, left to right- Courtesy of Dong family; courtesy of Elvira del Pilar Nole and Juan Carlos Tito; courtesy of Bolot Temirov; Ramla Dahmani)

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today announced that it will honor journalists from China, Ecuador, Kyrgyzstan, and Tunisia – as well as a champion of U.S. press freedom – at its 35th annual International Press Freedom Awards in New York this November. 

In a sign of the growing pressures on journalists around the world, two of this year’s awardees are currently behind bars for their journalism, and three were forced to flee their home countries and now report from exile.

“Journalists are at risk like never before and yet their work has never been more important,”  said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “The International Press Freedom Awards are an opportunity to show all journalists who face hostility and persecution that we stand with them.”

This year’s awards program will feature a tribute to journalists killed in the Israel-Gaza war. CPJ has repeatedly called for accountability for journalist killings in the war, the deadliest conflict for journalists the organization has ever documented. At last year’s awards, CPJ honored Gaza-based journalist Shrouq Al Aila, who continues to report from the territory.

The awards will be presented in New York on November 20. Christiane Amanpour, CNN Chief International Anchor and a longtime supporter of CPJ, will return to the stage as master of ceremonies. In 2016, Amanpour was honored by CPJ for her extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom. The event will be chaired by Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones and publisher of The Wall Street Journal, who was at the forefront of the Journal’s campaign to free wrongfully detained Russia correspondent Evan Gershkovich.

David McCraw, the New York Times’ lead newsroom lawyer, will receive the 2025 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award, an award presented annually by CPJ’s board of directors in recognition of an individual’s sustained commitment to press freedom. 

CPJ’s 2025 awardees are:

Dong Yuyu, China 

Veteran Chinese journalist Dong Yuyu is serving a seven-year sentence on espionage charges after he was arrested while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat in 2022. 

Elvira del Pilar Nole and Juan Carlos Tito, Ecuador 

For more than two decades, Ecuadorian journalists Elvira del Pilar Nole and Juan Carlos Tito operated Radio Selva from the small highland town of Baeza — its only radio station, providing vital, independent community news.

Bolot Temirov, Kyrgyzstan 

Kyrgyzstan’s seasoned investigative reporter, Bolot Temirov, runs Central Asia’s most prominent anti-corruption outlet, Temirov Live, from exile due to threats to his safety. 

In January 2024, 11 current and former Temirov Live staff were arrested, a shocking step in a country previously seen as a haven for democracy in the region. Among them is Temirov’s wife, Makhabat Tajibek kyzy, the director of Temirov Live, who is serving a six-year sentence on charges of calling for mass unrest.

Sonia Dahmani, Tunisia 

Sonia Dahmani, a lawyer, and a prominent political commentator known for her bold defense of human rights and civil liberties, is serving a nearly five-year sentence under Decree-Law 54 on multiple anti-state charges, after condemning racism in Tunisia. – Committee to Protect Journalists