On November 13, hundreds gathered in Washington, D.C. for ICFJ’s 2025 Awards Dinner to celebrate courageous journalists producing high-impact news coverage all over the world.
Here are the evening’s highlights:
Lester Holt, the award-winning journalist at NBC News, who has twice been named the “most-trusted television news personality in America” and today anchors Dateline NBC, was honored with the ICFJ Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism.
“Certainly all of us in journalism have felt at times that we are enduring some kind of a stress test right now, but organizations like ICFJ remind us we will not break or bend in our commitment to championing the truth," he said. "We will draw strength from each other and our higher purpose.”
Holt recorded a video message as he was unable to attend in person. José Díaz Balart, anchor of NBC Nightly News Saturday and Noticias Telemundo, accepted the award on his behalf.
Watch some of the highlights of Lester Holt’s career.
César Batiz, co-founder and director of El Pitazo ("The Whistle"), which publishes vital reporting for Venezuela’s poorest and most remote communities, operates from exile in Florida today due to threats against him.
“Venezuelan journalists show that journalism can be attacked, but never defeated. Our voice remains, even when they try to silence it,” he said. “And as we fight to return home, we know that free journalism will always be stronger than any dictatorship.”
Read more and watch his tribute video.
Philip Obaji Jr., a correspondent for The Daily Beast based in Nigeria, has reported on atrocities carried out by Russian paramilitaries in Western and Central Africa. He dedicated his award to every journalist who risks their life “to shine a light in dark places.”
This award is for “the three Russian journalists killed in the Central African Republic in 2018. Their deaths inspired me to investigate the Wagner Group in the first place,” he said. “It’s for the local reporters in Africa who work without fanfare, often without protection, to hold the powerful accountable. And it’s for the communities who trust us with their stories, even when it puts them in danger.”
Read more and watch his tribute video.
We are immensely grateful to Audie Cornish, anchor and senior analyst for CNN, who served as our superb emcee for the evening. She also held a conversation with José Díaz-Balart about how journalists must navigate the many challenges the news industry faces today, from declining press freedom to the rapid emergence of AI.
“For American journalists who were raised in that post-Watergate era where there's a source, a revelation and then hearings… and 'capital C' change. None of that is happening,” said Cornish. “That model is broken [...] I think we're in the middle of something new, and whenever you're in something new, it's uncomfortable.”
José Díaz-Balart urged journalists to recognize their duty to the communities they serve – especially those most vulnerable. “Those people have a right to be heard, and that right is rarely given,” he said. “What risk, what challenges are you willing and able to make to give those people a voice? It's… one of the most sacred responsibilities that one could have as a journalist.”
In the face of the disruption promised by AI, Cornish placed her confidence in the next generation of reporters. When a young person “says something that is true, their compliment is to say, ‘facts.’ They understand the value, they understand how complicated it is," she said. "And I do think that there is going to be a world very soon where verified information will be the new important thing.”
The evening also spotlighted ICFJ+, a new entity that bridges ICFJ’s vast global network with the technical expertise of long-time partners Code for Africa and PROTO. ICFJ+ cultivates civic intelligence – information that helps people make sense of their world and act constructively to shape it. Watch a video about ICFJ+.
You also can find photos of the evening’s celebration here.
We are grateful to our Awards Dinner sponsors, board of directors and other supporters who have donated. Please consider making a contribution today. Our work supporting impactful journalism globally – at a time when threats to independent media are on the rise – has never been more important.