World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award


The Golden Pen of Freedom Award is an annual international journalism award established in 1961, given by the World Association of Newspapers to individuals or organisations. The stated purpose of the award is "to recognise the outstanding action, in writing or deed, of an individual, a group or an institution in the cause of press freedom". One of the objectives of the award is "to turn the spotlight of public attention on repressive governments and journalists who fight them" and to afford journalists a degree of protection against further persecution.
The Award is presented each year at the opening ceremony of the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum.
Award winners
YearWinnerCountry
1961Ahmet Emin YalmanTurkey
1963Guardian Sein WinBurma
1964Gabriel MakosoDemocratic Republic of the Congo
1965Esmond WickremesingSri Lanka
1966Jules DuboisUSA
1967Mochtar LubisIndonesia
1968Christos LambrakisGreece
1969The Czechoslovak pressCzechoslovakia
1970Alberto Gainza PazArgentina
1972Hubert Beuve-MéryFrance
1973Anton BetzGermany
1974Julio de Mesquita NetoBrazil
1975Sang-Man KimSouth Korea
1976Raul RégoPortugal
1977Robert High LilleyNorthern Ireland
1978Donald Woods, Percy QobozaSouth Africa
1979Claude Bellanger France
1980Jacobo TimermanArgentina
1981José Javier UrangaSpain
1982P. Joaquin Chamorro BarriosNicaragua
1985Joaquin RocesPhilippines
1986Anthony HeardSouth Africa
1987Juan Pablo CárdenasChile
1988Naji al-Ali Palestinian territories
1989Sergei GrigoryantsSoviet Union
1990Luis Gabriel CanoColombia
1991Gitobu ImanyaraKenya
1992Dai QingChina
1993Pius NjaweCameroon
1994Omar BelhouchetAlgeria
1995Gao YuChina
1996Yndamiro Restano DíazCuba
1997Naša borba, Feral Tribune, OslobođenjeFederal Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzogovina
1998Doan Viet HoatVietnam
1999Faraj SarkohiIran
2000Nizar NayoufSyria
2001Win Tin, San San NwehBurma
2002Geoffrey NyarotaZimbabwe
2003Belarusian Association of JournalistsBelarus
2004Ruslan SharipovUzbekistan
2005Mahjoub Mohamed SalihSudan
2006Akbar GanjiIran
2007Shi TaoChina
2008Li ChangqingChina
2009Najam SethiPakistan
2010Ahmad ZeidabadiIran
2011Dawit IsaakEritrea/Sweden
2012Anabel HernándezMéxico
2013Than Htut AungMyanmar
2014Eskinder NegaEthiopia
2015Journalists killed in the line of dutyWorldwide
2016Dmitry MuratovRussia
2017Can DündarTurkey
2018Maria RessaPhilippines
2019Jamal KhashoggiSaudi Arabia