Hundreds of journalists, communicators, and supporters came together both in person and virtually to celebrate excellence in journalism at the Fourth Estate Gala.
The evening honored:
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Lester Holt, anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News and anchor of Dateline NBC, with the esteemed Fourth Estate Award (Photo by Melissa Lyttle)
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The Marshall Project with the Neil and Susan Sheehan Award for Investigative Journalism
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Haze Fan, a Chinese citizen working for Bloomberg News, with the John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award (international)
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Detroit native Danny Fenster, managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, with the John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award (domestic)
Here are highlights from the acceptance speeches of the honorees.
Fourth Estate Award
Lester Holt, anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News and anchor of Dateline NBC:
“I think this is an amazing time to be a journalist. We've risen to the occasion for a country splintered and in search of hand-holds. I wake up every day eager to get to work and plan our broadcast, knowing for better or worse these will be the stories people talk about, not only tomorrow, but for years to come.”
Neil & Susan Sheehan Award for Investigative Journalism
Susan Chira, editor-in-chief, on behalf of The Marshall Project:
“We're determined to bring reporting muscle on criminal justice to local communities, where budgets for journalism have been slashed. We need to keep asking who we're writing for, and whether traditional ways to present journalism are effective for all the people we want to inform. Throughout, we continue to believe in the power of journalism — even with its shortcomings, frustrations, and blind spots. This award helps sustain that faith.”
John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award (international)
“Like everybody else in this room, like every other organization represented here, we compete fiercely with each other. That's our job. But the freedom of the press around the world is a common cause. Hopefully, the recent Nobel Peace Prize recognition of the very courageous Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov will raise even more awareness. Suddenly, the list of unresolved cases of journalists facing hardship or oppression for just doing their jobs is growing far too quickly. And it is not just in countries with authoritarian governments.”
