Nieman Foundation | Awards | Awards at a Glance | I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence

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Veteran Reporter Jon Alpert Wins the 2009 I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Nieman Foundation will present 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 »

The lessons of our failure

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

A panel of top journalists tries to derive some lessons from the elite media's failure to challenge what turned out to be a specious argument for war in Iraq. Among its conclusions: Journalists should aggressively defy the spin machine; should build on each others' work; should write for Americans outside the Beltway; should embrace accountability reporting on every beat; and should avoid the he-said she-said stories and instead adopt the directness and transparency increasingly found on journalistic blogs.

Read a transcript of the panel discussion »

The Platform: In Praise of Journalistic Independence

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

By Peter Osnos, The Century Foundation

The credit implosion of 2008 and simultaneous climax of a riveting two-year presidential campaign has overwhelmed pretty much everything else this fall, as well they should have. But the awarding of the first I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence (for which I serve as an adviser) underscored again the importance of reporting that aggressively and against the odds of conventional wisdom challenges official dogma.

I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence

Established in 2008, the I.F Stone Medal recognizes journalistic independence and honors the life of investigative journalist I.F. Stone.

The award will be presented annually to a journalist whose work captures the spirit of independence, integrity, courage and indefatigability that characterized I.F. Stone’s Weekly, published 1953-1971.

Each year, the winner of the award will deliver a speech about his or her own experience with journalistic independence, to be followed by a workshop on the same topic.

For more information on I.F. Stone, visit www.ifstone.org.

Learn more about the 2009 winner, journalist and documentary filmmaker Jon Alpert. Also, read about the 2008 winner and the 2008 I.F. Stone Medal presentation and workshop »

Nomination Process
An advisory committee of journalists will be formed to establish a process for nominations and selection of the medal winner. It will be chaired by Jeremy J. Stone, elder son of I.F. Stone.

Jeremy is the former president of the Federation of American Scientists (1970-2000), and current president of Catalytic Diplomacy.

Donations
An endowment fund for the I.F. Stone Medal, with an anonymous matching gift of $100,000, has been established at Harvard University.

Donations toward a goal of $200,000 can be made through the Nieman Foundation by sending a check to the address below, or by using the Harvard University giving site.

I.F Stone Project Endowment
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard
One Francis Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138