Afghan journalist Najiba Ayubi will be honored with a 2013 Courage in Journalism award at a second awards ceremony hosted today by the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) in Los Angeles.
Najiba Ayubi is the managing director of The Killid Group in Afghanistan, a public media group made of eight local radio stations and two weekly, national magazines. She also co-founded the Afghan Independent Media Consortium and the Freedom of Expression Initiative to promote free expression in journalism.
During Najiba Ayubi’s 25 years as a journalist, she has faced threats from every direction, including from members of Afghanistan’s parliament, the country’s secret service, warlords, and anonymous aggressors, but she courageously continues reporting on politics, women’s rights, and other sensitive issues. “Every time I confront a threat in journalism, I feel some sort of satisfaction in my heart, and I recognize I am doing something very important that I am being threatened for,” Ayubi said.
Despite the challenges facing journalists in Afghanistan, Ayubi has said that media has grown in the country. “When the Taliban was overthrown in 2001, all journalists, raised their voices and created a new Afghanistan media,” she said, “and with the support of the international community Afghanistan media has become as extensive as it is today.”
IWMF will also honor Nour Kelze, a photojournalist for Reuters in Syria, and Bopha Phorn, an investigative reporter for The Cambodia Daily, with Courage in Journalism awards. Edna Machirori, the first black female editor of a newspaper in Zimbabwe – considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists – will also be honored with the IWMF annual lifetime achievement award.
You can watch the livestream of the award ceremony here.
