Awards
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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.
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BackgroundStone’s passion for speaking his mind incurred the wrath of the powerful. His opposition to Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his determination to expose the excesses of the F.B.I. under J. Edgar Hoover brought him under attack when America was under the influence of McCarthyism in the early 1950s.
The I.F. Stone Medal bears a likeness of an issue of I.F. Stone’s Weekly with a headline on the Tonkin Gulf affair, “All We Really Know Is That We Fired The First Shots.” Stone was one of only a few journalists who reported on the government’s false allegations that the North Vietnamese had attacked a U.S. destroyer; it was the claim President Johnson used to persuade the Senate to approve the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, committing the country to the Vietnam War.
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.
DonationsAn 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. Donations may also be made to the I.F. Stone Project Current Use Fund.
I.F Stone Project Endowment
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard
One Francis Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138
Learn more about giving to the Nieman Foundation.
For more information on I.F. Stone, visit www.ifstone.org.