Three journalists from Africa are being honored through the Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards, a story contest presented by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), in partnership with the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia.
The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) today announced its 2026 Knight International Journalism awardees. José J. Nieves, an exiled media leader from Cuba who is the editor-in-chief of innovative news site elTOQUE, and Zeinab Mohammed Salih, a courageous freelance reporter covering the atrocities of the war in her home country of Sudan, will be honored at the 2026 ICFJ Awards Dinner.
Applications for the Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards (OTKJA) are now open.
Presented by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) in partnership with the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia, the Open the Knowledge Awards recognize African journalists whose reporting helps close knowledge gaps about Africa on Wikipedia.
Each year, the International Center for Journalists honors outstanding colleagues with the ICFJ Knight International Journalism Award at our Awards Dinner. We are now seeking nominees whose pioneering coverage or media innovations have made an impact on the lives of people in their countries or regions.
Candidates can be reporters, editors, technologists or citizen journalists from countries where they face major challenges doing their work. Those who meet the award’s criteria may nominate themselves. The extended deadline is Feb. 15.
The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) has named NBC News anchor Lester Holt the 2025 winner of the ICFJ Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism. This honor recognizes Holt's exceptional record serving the public with consequential, reliable news coverage for more than four decades.
Three journalists have won awards for in-depth stories that have improved the financial literacy of minorities across the United States. The award winners were among 42 reporters who participated in a 12-week program administered by ICFJ and funded by The McGraw-Hill Companies on personal finance reporting.
Heather Scofield, staff writer at The Durango Herald, won first place for her front-page articles on immigrants slipping through cracks in the country’s health system.
Two Germans and one American won the 2005 Arthur F. Burns Awards for stories resulting from their fellowship program last year. Susanne Gieffers and Fabian Mohr each received their 2,000 euro prize from Germany’s Foreign Minister at the annual Burns alumni dinner and lecture in Berlin on May 5. Klaus Scharioth, Germany’s new ambassador to the United States, will present the award to American Helen Fessenden on July 26 at the reception in Washington, D.C., for the 2006 Burns Fellows.
