WASHINGTON -- April 14 -- News Advisory:

WHO: Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, author Adrian Nicole LeBlanc and 9/11 activist Kristen Breitweiser will each speak and will be presented with Ron Ridenhour Awards honoring “truth- telling.” The awards, each of which carries a $10,000 cash stipend, memorialize and foster the fearless spirit of Ron Ridenhour, who broke the story of the My Lai massacre and later became an award-winning investigative journalist. The awards were established by the Fertel Foundation and The Nation Institute in 2003.

Presenters will be: U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine, bestselling author and “Deadline Poet” for The Nation Calvin Trillin, and David Jones, president of the Community Service Society of New York. Also attending are the inaugural Ridenhour Award winners: former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, author Deborah Scroggins and whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, and the “whistleblowing” community, including representatives from Ridenhour Awards strategic partners: the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the Fund for Constitutional Government, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) and the Project on Government Oversight (POGO).

WHERE: National Press Club, 529 14th St NW, Washington, D.C.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 19, noon to 1:30 p.m. Luncheon and awards presentation. Program will run from 12:05 to 1:30, with one break from approx. 12:25 to 12:45 p.m.

SPECIFICS:

• The Ron Ridenhour Award for Truth-Telling will be awarded to Kristen Breitweiser, who, along with the other “Jersey Girls,” pressured official Washington to establish the 9/11 Commission.
  
• The Ron Ridenhour Book Prize goes to Adrian Nicole LeBlanc for "Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx," which documents ten years in the lives of two families growing up poor.
  
• The Ron Ridenhour Courage Award, a lifetime achievement award, will be awarded to Seymour Hersh.
  

“These three individuals personify the ideals that Ron represented throughout his life,” said Randy Fertel, president of the Fertel Foundation. “Because of them, and others like them, we have access to the world’s most valuable currency –- the truth.”

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