Golden Pen of Freedom awarded to Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation

The 2022 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom award of the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), has been awarded to Gazeta Wyborcza and the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation for its support of independent media and aid to Ukrainian journalist in the time of Russian invasion.

The Golden Pen of Freedom is WAN-IFRA’s annual award recognising individuals or organisations that have made an outstanding contribution to the defence and promotion of press freedom. One of the objectives of the Golden Pen is to turn the spotlight of public attention on repressive governments and the journalists who fight them.

“The deteriorating condition of Polish democracy means that civic engagement is needed now more than ever,” said Joanna Krawczyk, Head of Partnerships at Gazeta Wyborcza and President of the Board of the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation, accepting the award on behalf of the Foundation. “The events of recent months and years have shown with full force the scale of the challenges facing our democracies.

“I thank you for your support, generosity and unity and call on you to be with us, with any media in need in the years to come. We often say nowadays: be brave like Ukrainian journalists, so let’s be brave in our decision not to leave Ukrainian media alone. Let’s not leave any independent media facing oppression alone.”

More info: WAN-IFRA press release

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The award commemorates one of the most outstanding Polish photojournalists. A man who documented the reality, the changing world, the most important conflicts in the world. It showed the hell of war and the hardships of everyday life. He was also an excellent observer of Poland in the era of transformation.

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