The Nieman Foundation presented the 2009 I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence to Jon Alpert. An investigative reporter, producer and documentary filmmaker whose career has spanned more than 35 years, Alpert has reported on diverse topics ranging from homelessness and health care to post-war Vietnam and criminals in New Jersey. Read more
An an investigative journalist, researcher and expert on human rights issues in the North Caucasus region of Russia, Tlisova is being honored for courageous reporting in the face of severe intimidation and physical assaults. Read more
For many years this award was presented at the White House Correspondence Dinner in Washington. And in recent times, the winner was honored at the National Press Foundation Dinner, which also is held in Washington. Read more
When I'm working on my stories by candlelight in Nairobi... when the power in the neighborhood is off for no good reason and dogs are barking while I'm recording in my little home studio... and when I'm screaming profanities because the batteries in the machine are running low... the last thing I'm thinking is that the folks at Harvard want to know about my job. Read more
John Walcott, now the Washington bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers, was awarded the first I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence on Oct. 7, for his Knight-Ridder bureau's coverage of the run-up to the war in Iraq. Read more
What do you say when your real life far exceeds your wildest dreams? I once heard a comedian answer, "Keep it to yourself." And while there are an increasing number of comedians masquerading as journalists, I am not yet ready to quit my day job. Read more
I remember as a young journalist in college when we were studying journalism, Joe Alex Morris was a name that I knew well. It was a name that I looked up to — somebody who had an understanding and a compassion for the Middle East that's not always evident in coverage that comes out of that region. That I'm here speaking in a lecture that carries his name is a great honor. Read more
As I speak to you today, our nation prepares for war. Within a short time, young Americans and Iraqis will begin to die. There appears to be nothing any of us who oppose this war can do. Read more
A few years ago I was on the border of Georgia and Azerbaijan trying to talk my way into that breakaway region. The Russian peacekeeper on duty wouldn't let me through. Read more
Ten days ago I was in Ramallah, on the West Bank, with Adila Laidi, a straight-backed Palestinian woman dressed in grey and black. She was showing me around an exhibition called "100 Lives," commemorating some of the victims of the latest Intifada. Read more
