UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize

David Dembele (Mali)

Editor-in-chief, Depeche du Mali / L’Investigateur.

David Dembele has worked on ICIJ’s investigations such as Panama Papers, Swiss Leaks, Fatal Extraction and Offshore Leaks. He works on topics such as tax evasion, illicit finance and terrorism. Dembele created the Malian Network of Journalists Investigation (RMJI) and increasingly works in data journalism to use and extract public data from computerized and secure databases.

Marilu Mastrogiovanni (Italia)

Reporter, Founder and Director, Il Tacco d'Italia

Founder and director of Il Tacco d’Italia, an information website created in 2003, and also collaborating with several national media outlets. She specialized in investigative reporting on the organized-crime based in the South-East region of Puglia, the "sacra corona unita", known to be “fourth mafia” in Italy. She has reported for many years on the waste business in the Puglia region handled by this criminal network and on corruption cases involving local officials. She is also active on promoting safety of journalists in Italy with the Observatory “Ossigeno,” as well as in the management board of "Giulia giornaliste", an association committed to the elimination of discrimination and stereotypes against women. The previous President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano mentioned her, along with other female journalists risking their lives, during an appeal to promote press freedom. Following several threats to her life, she was given permanent police protection.She is the founder of the Forum of Mediterranean Women Journalists and teaches "Digital Journalism and Inquiry" at the Master in Journalism of the Aldo Moro University in Bari. 

Wendy Funes (Honduras)

Investigative journalist

Wendy Funes is an investigative journalist who regularly risks her life on reporting about her country, an extremely harsh environment for reporters. Two journalists were murdered in 2017 and her father and friends are among those who have met violent deaths in the country – killings for which no one has ever been brought to justice. Funes meets these challenges with creativity and determination and also writes about violence against women (in Honduras, one woman is killed every 16 hours).

Hamid Mir (Pakistan)

Executive Editor, Geo Television Pakistan

Journalist, news anchor, and security analyst, Hamid Mir writes columns for many Pakistani and Indian newspapers. On Geo TV, he currently hosts the political talk show Capital Talk. He became internationally known due to his interviews with Osama bin Laden after September 11 attacks. He also interviewed various world leaders such as John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Colin Powell and Shimon Peres and discovered and interviewed Malala Yousafzai in 2009 (Nobel Peace Prize in 2014). Under the Musharraf regime he was banned from TV in 2007. Because of his work, he was several times severely attacked.

Alfred Lela (Albania)

Political analyst, News24, Founder and Director, Politiko.al

Alfred Lela is an in-house political analyst for Real STORY on News 24, an Albanian 24-hour news channel. He is the founder and Director of Politiko.al a news website. From 2010-2017 he worked for Media MAPO, as Deputy Editor-in-Chief for the daily MAPO, Editor-in-Chief for MAPO magazine and later as the Executive Director. He is a founding Member and on the Board of Directors of the Albanian Media Council (supported by UNESCO). He holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the European University of Tirana and a BA in Journalism from the University of Tirana. In recent years he has lectured in Journalism and Political Communication at both Universities he graduated from. He is the author of three books and the receiver of two important Journalism Awards. 

Gisèle Khoury (Lebanon) -President of the Jury

Journalist, BBC Arabic

Gisele Khoury is a journalist and talk show host on BBC Arabic called Al Mashhad where she interviews prominent figures and high-profile guests from the Arab World. She is the widow of the late Samir Kassir, writer and historian, who was killed in 2005. She started her career in 1986 on LBC 1 Channel as a presenter of cultural talk shows. She joined the pan-arab media group MBC in 2002 and contributed to the launch of the 24-hour Al-Arabiya news channel. She hosted a weekly political talk show on Al-Arabiya from 2003 to 2013, Bil Arabi, where she hosted political decision makers, heads of states, prime ministers and ministers of foreign affairs. She founded the Samir Kassir foundation and the SKeyes centre for media and cultural freedom.

David Dembele (Mali)

Editor-in-chief, Depeche du Mali / L’Investigateur.

David Dembele has worked on ICIJ’s investigations such as Panama Papers, Swiss Leaks, Fatal Extraction and Offshore Leaks. He works on topics such as tax evasion, illicit finance and terrorism. Dembele created the Malian Network of Journalists Investigation (RMJI) and increasingly works in data journalism to use and extract public data from computerized and secure databases.

Marilu Mastrogiovanni (Italia)

Reporter, Founder and Director, Il Tacco d'Italia

Founder and director of Il Tacco d’Italia, an information website created in 2003, and also collaborating with several national media outlets. She specialized in investigative reporting on the organized-crime based in the South-East region of Puglia, the "sacra corona unita", known to be “fourth mafia” in Italy. She has reported for many years on the waste business in the Puglia region handled by this criminal network and on corruption cases involving local officials. She is also active on promoting safety of journalists in Italy with the Observatory “Ossigeno,” as well as in the management board of "Giulia giornaliste", an association committed to the elimination of discrimination and stereotypes against women. The previous President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano mentioned her, along with other female journalists risking their lives, during an appeal to promote press freedom. Following several threats to her life, she was given permanent police protection.She is the founder of the Forum of Mediterranean Women Journalists and teaches "Digital Journalism and Inquiry" at the Master in Journalism of the Aldo Moro University in Bari. 

Wendy Funes (Honduras)

Investigative journalist

Wendy Funes is an investigative journalist who regularly risks her life on reporting about her country, an extremely harsh environment for reporters. Two journalists were murdered in 2017 and her father and friends are among those who have met violent deaths in the country – killings for which no one has ever been brought to justice. Funes meets these challenges with creativity and determination and also writes about violence against women (in Honduras, one woman is killed every 16 hours).

Hamid Mir (Pakistan)

Executive Editor, Geo Television Pakistan

Journalist, news anchor, and security analyst, Hamid Mir writes columns for many Pakistani and Indian newspapers. On Geo TV, he currently hosts the political talk show Capital Talk. He became internationally known due to his interviews with Osama bin Laden after September 11 attacks. He also interviewed various world leaders such as John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Colin Powell and Shimon Peres and discovered and interviewed Malala Yousafzai in 2009 (Nobel Peace Prize in 2014). Under the Musharraf regime he was banned from TV in 2007. Because of his work, he was several times severely attacked.

Wojciech Tochman (Poland) -President of the Jury

Reporter, non fiction writer

Wojciech Tochman is a reporter and non-fiction writer, cooperating with “Gazeta Wyborcza” (the biggest newspaper in Poland). He is one of the most widely translated Polish non-fiction authors. With “Like Eating a Stone”, about post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tochman was a finalist for the Nike Literary Prize and for the Prix Témoin du Monde, awarded by the Radio France International. Another book of him “Today We’re Going to Draw Death” shows the scars of the Rwandan genocide that can still be found today. “Eli, Eli” is a title of his book about poverty and tourism in Philippines. He is also the co-author of “The Caravan” – non-fiction story about Syrian refugees in Jordan. In 2016 Tochman was awarded the Premio Kapuściński, the annual reportage award issued ‘for the skill to recount places and cultures, for annalistic observation and the skill to narrate it.” He lives in Warsaw.

Gisèle Khoury (Lebanon)

Journalist, BBC Arabic

Gisele Khoury is a journalist and talk show host on BBC Arabic called Al Mashhad where she interviews prominent figures and high-profile guests from the Arab World. She is the widow of the late Samir Kassir, writer and historian, who was killed in 2005. She started her career in 1986 on LBC 1 Channel as a presenter of cultural talk shows. She joined the pan-arab media group MBC in 2002 and contributed to the launch of the 24-hour Al-Arabiya news channel. She hosted a weekly political talk show on Al-Arabiya from 2003 to 2013, Bil Arabi, where she hosted political decision makers, heads of states, prime ministers and ministers of foreign affairs. She founded the Samir Kassir foundation and the SKeyes centre for media and cultural freedom.

Maria Ressa (Philippines)

CEO, Executive Editor, Rappler

Maria Ressa is the CEO and executive editor of Rappler, a social news network where “stories inspire community engagement and digitally fuelled actions for social change”, combining professional journalism with citizen journalism and crowdsourcing. She has been a journalist in Asia for nearly 30 years, most of them as CNN’s bureau chief in Manila and then in Jakarta. She was CNN’s lead investigative reporter focusing on terrorism in Southeast Asia. In 2005, she took the helm of ABS-CBN News and Current affairs in the Philippines.

Haron Mwangi (Kenya)

CEO, Kenyan Media Council

Haron Mwangi teaches journalism at United States University in Kenya. He was CEO of the Media Council of Kenya until recently. Mwangi has over 20 years of experience in media policy, regulation, research and development. He has extensively trained on ethics in journalism and edited The Observer, a periodical journalism profession magazine produced by the Media Council of Kenya. He has researched on emerging issues in the media profession and carried out national and international trainings on the same. Mwangi is widely published in the field of media economics, media policy and regulations and consulted in media regulation models, media and politics, and governance. He holds a doctorate in Media Management and Economics and a Master degree in Communication Studies.

Lisa LaFlamme (Canada)

Chief Anchor & Senior Editor, CTV National News

Lisa LaFlamme (Canada) is a television journalist, and currently the chief anchor and senior editor of CTV National News. She co-hosted on Canada AM from 2001 to 2003, as a parliamentary reporter, and on CTV NEWSNET, now CTV News Channel. LaFlamme joined CTV National News in 2003 as a foreign correspondent as well as back-up anchor. She covered many international events and conflicts: the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent Iraq war, the war in Afghanistan, the Arab Spring in Cairo, Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005 and the election of Pope Francis in 2013. LaFlamme has also covered every Canadian federal election since 1997, and every Olympic Games since 2006. Among others, she won a Canadian Screen Award for 'Best National Newscast' and 'Best News Anchor' for CTV National News.

Mabel Rehnfeldt (Paraguay)

Journalist, ABC-Digital-ABC Color

Mabel Rehnfeldt is a well-known and awarded journalist, an investigative reporter at ABC-Color and Director of ABC-Digital. She also heads Radio Primero de Marzo and Canal 100 for which she runs a daily programme. Rehnfeldt has been an investigative reporter since 1991, uncovering cases of corruption and human rights violations in Paraguay. In 2007 and 2008, Rehnfeldt was a reporter on the ICIJ’s Tobacco Underground project, following illicit tobacco networks from South America to Europe and Asia. She is founder and original president of FOPEP, the Forum for Paraguayan Journalists. Rehnfeldt teaches investigative journalism at the American University in Asunción. Among others, she was awarded the top prize for coverage of corruption from the Latin American Institute for Press and Society and Transparency International, as well as the Maria Moors Cabot Prize. She is a member of ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists).

Wojciech Tochman (Poland)

Reporter, non fiction writer

Wojciech Tochman is a reporter and non-fiction writer, cooperating with “Gazeta Wyborcza” (the biggest newspaper in Poland). He is one of the most widely translated Polish non-fiction authors. With “Like Eating a Stone”, about post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tochman was a finalist for the Nike Literary Prize and for the Prix Témoin du Monde, awarded by the Radio France International. Another book of him “Today We’re Going to Draw Death” shows the scars of the Rwandan genocide that can still be found today. “Eli, Eli” is a title of his book about poverty and tourism in Philippines. He is also the co-author of “The Caravan” – non-fiction story about Syrian refugees in Jordan. In 2016 Tochman was awarded the Premio Kapuściński, the annual reportage award issued ‘for the skill to recount places and cultures, for annalistic observation and the skill to narrate it.” He lives in Warsaw.

Gisèle Khoury (Lebanon)

Journalist, BBC Arabic

Gisele Khoury is a journalist and talk show host on BBC Arabic called Al Mashhad where she interviews prominent figures and high-profile guests from the Arab World. She is the widow of the late Samir Kassir, writer and historian, who was killed in 2005. She started her career in 1986 on LBC 1 Channel as a presenter of cultural talk shows. She joined the pan-arab media group MBC in 2002 and contributed to the launch of the 24-hour Al-Arabiya news channel. She hosted a weekly political talk show on Al-Arabiya from 2003 to 2013, Bil Arabi, where she hosted political decision makers, heads of states, prime ministers and ministers of foreign affairs. She founded the Samir Kassir foundation and the SKeyes centre for media and cultural freedom.

Cilla Benko (Sweden)

Director-General of the Swedish Radio

Cilla Benkö was appointed Director-General & CEO of the Swedish Radio in 2012. Since 2009, she had held the position of Deputy Director-General. Cilla Benkö has been working for the Swedish Radio for more than 30 years and during this period she has had several management positions. She started her work at the sports department and at the news department, as a business journalist. She has also worked as a freelance in New York for the Swedish commercial television and was head of its news programme “Aktuellt”. Since 2010, Cilla Benkö has been a member of the executive board of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Since 2014, she has been vice- president of Prix Europa. She graduated in Journalism and Media at the Stockholm University in 1986. She also studied economy at the Stockholm School of Economics, and communication and marketing at the New York University.

Lisa LaFlamme (Canada)

Chief Anchor & Senior Editor, CTV National News

Lisa LaFlamme (Canada) is a television journalist, and currently the chief anchor and senior editor of CTV National News. She co-hosted on Canada AM from 2001 to 2003, as a parliamentary reporter, and on CTV NEWSNET, now CTV News Channel. LaFlamme joined CTV National News in 2003 as a foreign correspondent as well as back-up anchor. She covered many international events and conflicts: the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent Iraq war, the war in Afghanistan, the Arab Spring in Cairo, Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005 and the election of Pope Francis in 2013. LaFlamme has also covered every Canadian federal election since 1997, and every Olympic Games since 2006. Among others, she won a Canadian Screen Award for 'Best National Newscast' and 'Best News Anchor' for CTV National News.

Chadia Khedir (Tunisia)

Cultural News, Watania 2

Chadia Khedir was the director of the Tunisian public TV channel Watania2 until 2015. She is now in charge of cultural news. She has worked as a journalist and reporter for 18 years producing youth and cultural programs for TV and radio and working for the National Tunisian Television. She is now professor at the Institute of Media and Information Sciences and is currently preparing her PhD about access to information and investigative journalism in Tunisia. She is a member of the ARIJ (Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism) network.

Mabel Rehnfeldt (Paraguay)

Journalist, ABC-Digital-ABC Color

Mabel Rehnfeldt is a well-known and awarded journalist, an investigative reporter at ABC-Color and Director of ABC-Digital. She also heads Radio Primero de Marzo and Canal 100 for which she runs a daily programme. Rehnfeldt has been an investigative reporter since 1991, uncovering cases of corruption and human rights violations in Paraguay. In 2007 and 2008, Rehnfeldt was a reporter on the ICIJ’s Tobacco Underground project, following illicit tobacco networks from South America to Europe and Asia. She is founder and original president of FOPEP, the Forum for Paraguayan Journalists. Rehnfeldt teaches investigative journalism at the American University in Asunción. Among others, she was awarded the top prize for coverage of corruption from the Latin American Institute for Press and Society and Transparency International, as well as the Maria Moors Cabot Prize. She is a member of ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists).

Maria Ressa (Philippines)

CEO, Executive Editor, Rappler

Maria Ressa is the CEO and executive editor of Rappler, a social news network where “stories inspire community engagement and digitally fuelled actions for social change”, combining professional journalism with citizen journalism and crowdsourcing. She has been a journalist in Asia for nearly 30 years, most of them as CNN’s bureau chief in Manila and then in Jakarta. She was CNN’s lead investigative reporter focusing on terrorism in Southeast Asia. In 2005, she took the helm of ABS-CBN News and Current affairs in the Philippines.

Wojciech Tochman (Poland)

Reporter, non fiction writer

Wojciech Tochman is a reporter and non-fiction writer, cooperating with “Gazeta Wyborcza” (the biggest newspaper in Poland). He is one of the most widely translated Polish non-fiction authors. With “Like Eating a Stone”, about post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tochman was a finalist for the Nike Literary Prize and for the Prix Témoin du Monde, awarded by the Radio France International. Another book of him “Today We’re Going to Draw Death” shows the scars of the Rwandan genocide that can still be found today. “Eli, Eli” is a title of his book about poverty and tourism in Philippines. He is also the co-author of “The Caravan” – non-fiction story about Syrian refugees in Jordan. In 2016 Tochman was awarded the Premio Kapuściński, the annual reportage award issued ‘for the skill to recount places and cultures, for annalistic observation and the skill to narrate it.” He lives in Warsaw.

Maria Moukrim (Morocco)

Director, febrayer.com

Maria Moukrim has been working as a journalist for 15 years. She was a co-founder of the first independent Moroccan newspaper, the weekly Assahifa (1988-2000) and she was editor-in-chief of the weekly Al Ayam (2000-2012). Maria Moukrim was also President of the Moroccan Association for Investigative Journalism until July 2014. Since 2012 she has been CEO of the independent website febrayer.com.

Haron Mwangi (Kenya)

CEO, Kenyan Media Council

Haron Mwangi is CEO of the Media Council of Kenya. Mwangi has over 20 years of experience in media policy, regulation, research and development. He has extensively trained on ethics in journalism and edited The Observer, a periodical journalism profession magazine produced by the Media Council of Kenya. He has researched on emerging issues in the media profession and carried out national and international trainings on the same. Mwangi is widely published in the field of media economics, media policy and regulations and consulted in media regulation models, media and politics, and governance. He holds a doctorate in Media Management and Economics and a Master degree in Communication Studies.

Clovis Rossi (Brazil)

Journalist, Folha de Sao Paulo

Mr Clovis Rossi is a columnist for the daily news Folha de Sao Paulo and has 51 years of experience as a reporter, foreign correspondent and editor. He has written several books on journalism and has received a number of prizes, among them the "Maria Moors Cabot", granted by Columbia University.

Miranda Patrucic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Investigative Reporter

Based in Sarajevo, Miranda Patrucic is an investigative reporter and regional editor for OCCRP, focusing on Central Asia, the Balkans and the Caucasus. Highlights of her work include exposing billions in telecom bribes in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, uncovering hidden assets of the ruling elites of Azerbaijan and Montenegro, the €1.2 billion arms trade between Europe and Gulf, fueling conflicts in the Middle East, and ties between organized crime, government and business in Montenegro. She collaborated with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on a project involving tobacco smuggling, on the US$ 4 billion black market in endangered bluefin tuna and on Swiss Leaks and Panama Papers. She is the recipient of the Knight International Journalism Award, the Global Shining Light Award, IRE Tom Renner Award, the Daniel Pearl Award and European Press Prize. She is much in demand worldwide for training journalists on how to investigate and uncover corruption and money laundering.

Najiba Ayubi (Afghanistan)

Journalist and activist

Najiba Ayubi (Afghanistan) is a journalist and activist. She heads Killid Group, a non-profit media network which publishes two of the most popular magazines of the country (Killid Weekly et Mursal Weekly), a quarterly cultural Magazine (Sapida ) and 11 local radios listened by 15 million Afghan people. In 2013, she is recipient of the International Women’s Media Foundation Prize. In 2014 she is recognized as one of the 100 heros of information by Journalist without Borders. In 2016, she was awarded the most important Afghan prize in culture (Said Jamaludin) from President Ashraf Ghani.

Saouti Haidara (Mali)

Director, Daily L'Indépendant

Saouti Haidara (Mali) is the director of the private daily The Independent. He was arrested by the intelligence services and questioned about his sources and, two months after, was abducted by a dozen gunmen, beaten and threatened death. His picture, arm in plaster and swollen face, made the tour of Africa and triggered in Malian media a "dead Media Day." He is considered as the Dean of the Malian Press.

Cilla Benko (Sweden)

Director-General of the Swedish Radio

Cilla Benkö was appointed Director-General & CEO of the Swedish Radio in 2012. Since 2009, she had held the position of Deputy Director-General. Cilla Benkö has been working for the Swedish Radio for more than 30 years and during this period she has had several management positions. She started her work at the sports department and at the news department, as a business journalist. She has also worked as a freelance in New York for the Swedish commercial television and was head of its news programme “Aktuellt”.
Since 2010, Cilla Benkö has been a member of the executive board of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Since 2014, she has been vice- president of Prix Europa.
She graduated in Journalism and Media at the Stockholm University in 1986. She also studied economy at the Stockholm School of Economics, and communication and marketing at the New York University.

Lisa LaFlamme (Canada)

Chief Anchor & Senior Editor, CTV National News

Lisa LaFlamme (Canada) is a television journalist, and currently the chief anchor and senior editor of CTV National News. She co-hosted on Canada AM from 2001 to 2003, as a parliamentary reporter, and on CTV NEWSNET, now CTV News Channel. LaFlamme joined CTV National News in 2003 as a foreign correspondent as well as back-up anchor. She covered many international events and conflicts: the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent Iraq war, the war in Afghanistan, the Arab Spring in Cairo, Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005 and the election of Pope Francis in 2013. LaFlamme has also covered every Canadian federal election since 1997, and every Olympic Games since 2006. Among others, she won a Canadian Screen Award for 'Best National Newscast' and 'Best News Anchor' for CTV National News.

Chadia Khedir (Tunisia)

Cultural News, Watania 2

Chadia Khedir was the director of the Tunisian public TV channel Watania2 until 2015. She is now in charge of cultural news. She has worked as a journalist and reporter for 18 years producing youth and cultural programs for TV and radio and working for the National Tunisian Television. She is now professor at the Institute of Media and Information Sciences and is currently preparing her PhD about access to information and investigative journalism in Tunisia. She is a member of the ARIJ (Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism) network.

Mabel Rehnfeldt (Paraguay)

Journalist, ABC-Digital-ABC Color

Mabel Rehnfeldt is a well-known and awarded journalist, an investigative reporter at ABC-Color and Director of ABC-Digital. She also heads Radio Primero de Marzo and Canal 100 for which she runs a daily programme. Rehnfeldt has been an investigative reporter since 1991, uncovering cases of corruption and human rights violations in Paraguay. In 2007 and 2008, Rehnfeldt was a reporter on the ICIJ’s Tobacco Underground project, following illicit tobacco networks from South America to Europe and Asia. She is founder and original president of FOPEP, the Forum for Paraguayan Journalists. Rehnfeldt teaches investigative journalism at the American University in Asunción. Among others, she was awarded the top prize for coverage of corruption from the Latin American Institute for Press and Society and Transparency International, as well as the Maria Moors Cabot Prize. She is a member of ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists).

Maria Ressa (Philippines)

CEO, Executive Editor, Rappler

Maria Ressa is the CEO and executive editor of Rappler, a social news network where “stories inspire community engagement and digitally fuelled actions for social change”, combining professional journalism with citizen journalism and crowdsourcing. She has been a journalist in Asia for nearly 30 years, most of them as CNN’s bureau chief in Manila and then in Jakarta. She was CNN’s lead investigative reporter focusing on terrorism in Southeast Asia. In 2005, she took the helm of ABS-CBN News and Current affairs in the Philippines.

Musikilu Mojeed (Nigeria)

Managing Editor, Premium Times (Nigeria)

Musikilu Mojeed is managing editor at Nigeria's multimedia newspaper, Premium Times. He was until 2011 investigative editor at Nigeria’s Next newspaper where he directed the groundbreaking investigative work and coordinated the paper's WikiLeaks coverage. A recent Ford Foundation International Fellow at The City University of New York, he has reported extensively on corruption, human rights and human trafficking and is one of Africa's most regarded investigative journalists. His works have also appeared in the New York Times, the New York News Service, the Huffington Post, the Toronto Star, among others.
Mojeed is a winner of several awards, including the FAIR’s Editor’s Courage Award, a Stanford journalism fellowship, the Wole Soyinka Investigative Reporting Award. He was on the board of the Forum for African Investigative Reporters.

Maria Moukrim (Morocco)

Director, febrayer.com

Maria Moukrim has been working as a journalist for 15 years. She was a co-founder of the first independent Moroccan newspaper, the weekly Assahifa (1988-2000) and she was editor-in-chief of the weekly Al Ayam (2000-2012). Maria Moukrim was also President of the Moroccan Association for Investigative Journalism until July 2014. Since 2012 she has been CEO of the independent website febrayer.com.

Haron Mwangi (Kenya)

CEO, Kenyan Media Council

Haron Mwangi is CEO of the Media Council of Kenya. Mwangi has over 20 years of experience in media policy, regulation, research and development. He has extensively trained on ethics in journalism and edited The Observer, a periodical journalism profession magazine produced by the Media Council of Kenya. He has researched on emerging issues in the media profession and carried out national and international trainings on the same. Mwangi is widely published in the field of media economics, media policy and regulations and consulted in media regulation models, media and politics, and governance. He holds a doctorate in Media Management and Economics and a Master degree in Communication Studies.

Clovis Rossi (Brazil)

Journalist, Folha de Sao Paulo

Mr Clovis Rossi is a columnist for the daily news Folha de Sao Paulo and has 51 years of experience as a reporter, foreign correspondent and editor. He has written several books on journalism and has received a number of prizes, among them the "Maria Moors Cabot", granted by Columbia University.

Martin M. Šimecka (Slovakia)

Author and journalist, Editor-in-Chief of Respekt

Mr Šimecka is a Slovak author and journalist. He was editor-in-chief of Respekt, a Czech intellectual weekly for which he still writes articles. He is one of the few Slovak authors who published in the “samizdat literature” during communism. In 1990 he founded and led an independent publishing house Archa. He later became editor-in-chief of Domino-forum, a Slovak weekly. From 1997 to 2006, he acted as editor-in-chief of SME, the country’s leading daily newspaper in English. Šimecka’s novel “The Year of the Frog” has been translated to English and French, published in France by Gallimard.

Ko-ko U (Myanmar)

Publisher of the Yangon Times

Ko-ko U is chairman of the Yangon Media Group and publisher of the Yangon Times. He is the former secretary-general of the Journalists and Writers Association. He is also closely engaged in the transition now underway in his country's media landscape: he is involved in the drafting process of the new press law and in developing plans to create a national press council.

Ljiljana Zurovac (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Executive Director of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Press Council

Ljiljana Zurovac has been the executive director of the Press Council in Bosnia-Herzegovina since September 2005. An expert on media self-regulation and ethics, she established a new press council for all print and online media in Bosnia-Herzegovina. She has established educational programs on media ethics and press freedom, as well as on media literacy for diverse audiences. She had previously worked for six years as programme director at the Media Plan High College of Journalism. Between 1980 and 2008 she worked as an active radio and TV journalist, editor and host of live programs at PBS and Radio FERN.

Cilla Benko (Sweden)

Director-General of the Swedish Radio

Cilla Benkö was appointed Director-General & CEO of the Swedish Radio in 2012. Since 2009, she had held the position of Deputy Director-General. Cilla Benkö has been working for the Swedish Radio for more than 30 years and during this period she has had several management positions. She started her work at the sports department and at the news department, as a business journalist. She has also worked as a freelance in New York for the Swedish commercial television and was head of its news programme “Aktuellt”.
Since 2010, Cilla Benkö has been a member of the executive board of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Since 2014, she has been vice- president of Prix Europa.
In 1986, she graduated in Journalism and Media at the Stockholm University. She also studied economy at the Stockholm School of Economics, and communication and marketing at the New York University.

Yuli Ismartono (Indonesia)

Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Tempo

Yuli Ismartono is Deputy Chief Editor of TEMPO English, a weekly news and current affairs magazine based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Yuli Ismartono is an expert in media issues and media training, government relations and community development. She is also managing editor of AsiaViews, a monthly supplemental magazine distributed by publications in the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). She is a board member of Altsean Burma, an NGO based in Bangkok, involved in promoting freedom and democracy, including media development. She is President of an Indonesian NGO, the TIFA Foundation, promoting media development, pluralism, access to justice and women empowerment. Yuli Ismartono completed her undergraduate studies in political science at Delhi University and graduated in journalism at Syracuse University in New York.

Chadia Khedir (Tunisia)

Cultural News, Watania 2

Chadia Khedir was the director of the Tunisian public TV channel Watania2 until 2015. She is now in charge of cultural news. She has worked as a journalist and reporter for 18 years producing youth and cultural programs for TV and radio and working for the National Tunisian Television. She is now professor at the Institute of Media and Information Sciences and is currently preparing her PhD about access to information and investigative journalism in Tunisia. She is a member of the ARIJ (Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism) network.

Laura Puertas Meyer (Peru)

Journalist, Telemetro

Laura Puertas is an economist and journalist and, for the past twenty years, has dedicated herself to human rights issues and the fight against corruption. She works for the Panamean Television Channel Telemetro. She worked for Proética, Transparency International's chapter in Peru, as the Executive Director, and at Channel 4 as the news director. Puertas Meyer has also worked as a stringer for The New York Times and El Pais and for various Peruvian media in magazines, journals, radio and television programs.  In 1993, she founded, with other Peruvian journalists, the IPYS (Instituto Prensa y Sociedad), to promote investigative journalism in the Andean Region.

Musikilu Mojeed (Nigeria)

Managing Editor, Premium Times

Musikilu Mojeed is managing editor at Nigeria's multimedia newspaper, Premium Times. He was until 2011 investigative editor at Nigeria’s Next newspaper where he directed the groundbreaking investigative work and coordinated the paper's WikiLeaks coverage. A recent Ford Foundation International Fellow at The City University of New York, he has reported extensively on corruption, human rights and human trafficking and is one of Africa's most regarded investigative journalists. His works have also appeared in the New York Times, the New York News Service, the Huffington Post, the Toronto Star, among others.
Mojeed is a winner of several awards, including the FAIR’s Editor’s Courage Award, a Stanford journalism fellowship, the Wole Soyinka Investigative Reporting Award. He was on the board of the Forum for African Investigative Reporters.

Maria Moukrim (Morocco)

Director, febrayer.com

Maria Moukrim has been working as a journalist for 15 years. She was a co-founder of the first independent Moroccan newspaper, the weekly Assahifa (1988-2000) and she was editor-in-chief of the weekly Al Ayam (2000-2012). Maria Moukrim was also President of the Moroccan Association for Investigative Journalism until July 2014. Since 2012 she has been CEO of the independent website febrayer.com.

Jacques Pauw (South Africa)

Executive Producer, Special Assignment, SABC

Jacques Pauw is the executive producer for Special Assignment, a current affairs program at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). He was a founding member and assistant editor of Vrye Weekblad, the first Afrikaans language anti-apartheid newspaper that became one of the most persecuted and prosecuted newspapers in South African history. Pauw has also written three books mainly on the apartheid issue.

Clovis Rossi (Brazil)

Journalist, Folha de Sao Paulo

Mr Clovis Rossi is a columnist for the daily news Folha de Sao Paulo and has 51 years of experience as a reporter, foreign correspondent and editor. He has written several books on journalism and has received a number of prizes, among them the "Maria Moors Cabot", granted by Columbia University.

Martin M. Šimecka (Slovakia)

Author and journalist, Editor-in-Chief of Respekt

Mr Šimecka is a Slovak author and journalist. He was editor-in-chief of Respekt, a Czech intellectual weekly. He is one of the few Slovak authors who published in the “samizdat literature” during communism. Šimecka’s novel “The Year of the Frog” has been translated to English and French, published in France by Gallimard. In 1990 he founded and led an independent publishing house Archa. He later became editor-in-chief of Domino-forum, a Slovak weekly. From 1997 to 2006, he acted as editor-in-chief of SME, the country’s leading daily newspaper in English.

Paul Steiger (United States of America)

Editor-in-Chief, CEO, ProPublica

Paul Steiger is the editor-in-chief and president of ProPublica. He worked for 15 years as a reporter, as the Washington economics correspondent, and as the business editor for the Los Angeles Times. He worked for 26 years as a reporter and editor for the Wall Street Journal. Steiger served as the managing editor of the Wall Street Journal from 1991 to 2007. During his tenure, members of the Journal’s newsroom staff were awarded 16 Pulitzer Prizes. In addition, ProPublica reporters received Pulitzer Prizes in 2010 and 2011. He is a member of the steering committee of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a trustee of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. From 1999 to 2007, he was a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board, serving as its chairman in his final year. For six years, from 2005 to 2011, Steiger was the chairman of the Committee to Protect Journalists. He received a number of Prizes including the Columbia Journalism Award and the American Society of News Editors Leadership Award.

Ko-ko U (Myanmar)

Publisher of the Yangon Times

Ko-ko U is chairman of the Yangon Media Group and publisher of the Yangon Times. He is the former secretary-general of the Journalists and Writers Association. He is also closely engaged in the transition now underway in his country's media landscape: he is involved in the drafting process of the new press law and in developing plans to create a national press council.

Ljiljana Zurovac (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Executive Director of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Press Council

Ljiljana Zurovac has been the executive director of the Press Council in Bosnia-Herzegovina since September 2005. An expert on media self-regulation and ethics, she established a new press council for all print and online media in Bosnia-Herzegovina. She has established educational programs on media ethics and press freedom, as well as on media literacy for diverse audiences. She had previously worked for six years as programme director at the Media Plan High College of Journalism. Between 1980 and 2008 she worked as an active radio and TV journalist, editor and host of live programs at PBS and Radio FERN.

Florence Aubenas (France)

Journalist, Le Monde

She is a French journalist, who worked as a senior reporter until 2006 for the French newspaper Libération, then for the weekly review Le Nouvel Observateur. She currently works for Le Monde. She was taken hostage on January 5, 2005, in Iraq along with her translator Hussein Hanoun Al-Saadi. In 2009, she has been elected head of the International Observatory on Prisons (OIP).

Gamal Eid (Egypt)

Founder and Executive Director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information

He is founder and executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, the Arab world's leading organization providing original research, legal aid, and technical, networking, and strategic support for the defense of freedom of opinion, expression, and belief. A graduate of `Ain Shams University College of Law, Eid has been lead defense lawyer in many of Egypt's most important human rights cases, and writes and speaks regularly on international human rights and freedom of expression developments. He is also an experienced trainer on human rights research, monitoring, and legal aid, and issues relating to the use of the internet in defense of human rights.

Rossana Fuentes-Berain (Mexico)

Editorial Vice President, Grupo Editorial Expansión

She is a Mexican journalist and deputy director of the Spanish Foreign Affairs Magazine since 2000. She also teaches at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). In her fifteen years as a journalist, she covered topics from kidnappings, drug-trafficking and corruptions. Fuentes-Berain served as the first woman editor of business affairs for the journal El Financiero, led the investigative team at Reforma, and the op-ed pages at El Universal, three important daily newspapers in Mexico.

Yuli Ismartono (Indonesia)

Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Tempo

Yuli Ismartono is an expert in media issues and media training, government relations and community development. She is currently deputy chief editor of the English edition of TEMPO, a weekly news and current affairs magazine based in Jakarta, Indonesia. She is also managing editor of AsiaViews, a monthly supplemental magazine distributed by publications in the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Ms. Ismartono completed her undergraduate studies in political science at Delhi University in India and graduate studies in journalism at Syracuse University in New York. She is chairperson of the board of directors of TIFA Foundation, a nongovernmental organization in Jakarta supporting projects in the areas of media development, democracy, pluralism, access to justice and women’s empowerment. She is also a member of the advisory board of the New York-based Revenue Watch Institute and Altsean Burma, a Bangkok-based nongovernmental organization campaigning for a free and democratic Myanmar.

Laura Puertas Meyer (Peru)

Journalist, Telemetro

Laura Puertas is an economist and journalist and, for the past twenty years, has dedicated herself to human rights issues and the fight against corruption. Since 2002, she worked for Proética, Transparency International's chapter in Peru, as the Executive Director and at channel 4 as the news director. She is currently working for America TV. Puertas Meyer has also worked as a stringer for The New York Times and El Pais and for various Peruvian media in magazines, journals, radio and television programs. In 1993, she founded, with other Peruvian journalists, the IPYS (Instituto Prensa y Sociedad), to promote investigative journalism in the Andean Region.

Musikilu Mojeed (Nigeria)

Award-winning investigative journalist and Managing Editor at Nigeria's multimedia newspaper, Premium Times

Mr Mojeed is an award-winning investigative journalist and Managing Editor at Nigeria's multimedia newspaper, Premium Times. He has reported extensively on corruption, human rights and human trafficking. He has won several awards, including the Forum for African Investigative Reporters (FAIR) Editor’s Courage Award, the Wole Soyinka Investigative Reporting Award and Celebrity Media Award. Mojeed was also the Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, the Ford Foundation International Fellow at The City University of New York.

Fatuma Noor (Kenya)

Features writer, The Star

Fatuma Noor is an Investigative Writer with The Star Newspaper in Kenya. She has investigated and reported extensively on the ongoing civil war in Somalia. Fatuma has also done extensive reporting in the East African region. Prior to this she worked as a reporter for Kenya National Agency and as a news correspondent for The Star. Her investigative story on underage refugee girls brothel operating in Nairobi gained her international recognition winning the Forum for African Investigative Reporters Award (FAIR) in 2009. In 2010 she was awarded Features Writer of the Year by Radio Africa Group Limited and David Astor Journalism Fellow the same year. In 2011 she was awarded the CNN print journalist of the year and African Journalist of the year 2011 for her investigative series on recruitment of the Al Shabaab group in Somalia. Fatuma has also worked with some of the worlds leading newspapers in the United Kingdom, the Guardian, The Independent and The Scotsman in Scotland She has a BA in Communication and a Diploma in Mass Communications.

Rana Sabbagh (Jordan)

Executive Director of Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, ARIJ

She is the Jordan correspondent for The Times (of London), regular columnist for the London-based Arabic newspaper Al- Hayat and for Jordan’s daily Al Arab Al- Yawm, as well as consultant and trainer for the Thomson-Reuter Foundation. During her career, Ms Al-Sabbagh was also Chief Editor of the Jordan Times, served as correspondent for Reuters International News Agency and helped establish Jordan’s newest newspaper, Al-Ghad.

Martin M. Šimecka (Slovakia)

Author and journalist, Editor-in-Chief of Respekt

Mr Šimecka is a Slovak author and journalist, editor-in-chief of Respekt, a Czech intellectual weekly. He lives in Prague and Bratislava. He is one of the few Slovak authors who published in the “samizdat literature” during communism. Šimecka’s novel “The Year of the Frog” has been translated to English and French. In 1990 he founded and led an independent publishing house Archa. He later became Editor-in-Chief of Domino-forum, a Slovak weekly. From 1997–2006, he acted as Editor-in-Chief of SME, the country’s leading daily newspaper in English, before taking up his current position at Respekt.

Paul Steiger (United States of America)

Editor-in-Chief, CEO, ProPublica

Paul Steiger is the editor-in-chief, CEO and president of ProPublica. He worked for 15 years as a reporter, the Washington economics correspondent, and the business editor for the Los Angeles Times, and for 26 years as a reporter and editor for the Wall Street Journal. Steiger served as the managing editor of the Wall Street Journal from 1991 to 2007. During his tenure, members of the Journal’s newsroom staff were awarded 16 Pulitzer Prizes. In addition, ProPublica reporters received Pulitzer Prizes in May 2010 and 2011. He is a member of the steering committee of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a trustee of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. From 1999 to 2007, he was a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board, serving as its chairman in his final year. For six years, from June 2005 to June 2011, Steiger was the chairman of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Awards include the Columbia Journalism Award, the University of Missouri Honor Award for Distinguished Service in Journalism, the Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism from Harvard University’s Joan Shorenstein Center, the Gerald Loeb Award for lifetime achievement from the John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA, the Dean’s Medal for Distinguished Leadership from Brandeis University, the Fourth Estate Award from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., the National Press Foundation’s George Beveridge Editor of the Year Award, the Decade of Excellence Award from the World Leadership Forum in London, and the American Society of News Editors Leadership Award.

Ko-ko U (Myanmar)

Chairman of the Yangon Media Group, publisher of the Yangon Times and former Secretary-General of the Journalists and Writers Association

Mr U is the Chairman of the Yangon Media Group, publisher of the Yangon Times and the former Secretary-General of the Journalists and Writers Association. He is closely engaged in the transition now underway in his country's media and developing the capacity for change to meet the new opportunities for free expression. He is also involved in the drafting process of the new press law and developing plans to create a national press council.

Ljiljana Zurovac (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Executive Director of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Press Council

Ms Zurovac is the Executive Director of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Press Council, which is the it is the first self-regulatory body for print media in the Region of Western Balkans and Southeast Europe. Previously, she worked for 6 years as the Program Director at the High College of Journalism, apart her active radio-journalists work. She is the founder and producer of the radio program on media ethics and media self-regulation named "Your Voice in Media", that she runs with a team of ten students of journalism. She is co-author of publications "Media Self-regulation and Judiciary", and "The First Shadow Report for BiH" on media ethics and media freedoms.