The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Brandy Hawley bhawley@ithaca.edu

Nominations Open for Sixth Annual 'Izzy Award' for Independent Media

Nominations for the Izzy Award for calendar year 2013 are officially open. The annual honor for outstanding achievement in independent media -- named after maverick journalist I. F. "Izzy" Stone -- is a project of the Park Center for Independent Media (PCIM) at Ithaca College.

ITHACA, NY

Nominations for the Izzy Award for calendar year 2013 are officially open. The annual honor for outstanding achievement in independent media -- named after maverick journalist I. F. "Izzy" Stone -- is a project of the Park Center for Independent Media (PCIM) at Ithaca College.

"As large corporate news media find themselves in a prolonged crisis," said PCIM director Jeff Cohen, "journalists in independent media have become even more important as the public's watchdogs, and the Izzy honors the best of those journalists."

The 2012 Izzy Award was won by the nonprofit outlet "Mother Jones" for in-depth reports and exposes throughout the year, including the Mitt Romney 47% undercover video.

2011: Shared by journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous and the investigative outlet Center for Media and Democracy for its work on "ALEC Exposed."

2010: Shared by New York City investigative outlet "City Limits" and author/columnist/"Truthdig" cofounder Robert Scheer.

2009: Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill.

2008: Shared by blogger Glenn Greenwald and "Democracy Now!" host/executive producer Amy Goodman.

For more information on the Izzy Award, visit www.ithaca.edu/indy/izzy.

In 1953, during the height of the anti-communist witch hunts, Stone launched "I. F. Stone's Weekly," through which he challenged McCarthyism, official deception, war and racial bigotry. In 1999, a poll of prominent journalists ranked the publication as number 16 among the "Top 100 Works of Journalism in the United States in the 20th Century." Ithaca College houses a unique collection of mementos from Stone, who died in 1989.

Izzy Award winners are selected by a panel of judges who have expertise in independent media. Joining Cohen on the panel for the sixth year in a row are communications professor and author Robert W. McChesney and Linda Jue, executive director and editor at the G. W. Williams Center for Independent Journalism.

This year's Izzy Award will be given for work published, broadcast or posted in 2013 by an independent media outlet, journalist or producer. The award may relate to a single piece or a body of work. Journalists, academics and the public at large may submit nominations by January 15, 2014, and self-nominations are acceptable. The judges may also nominate. The winner will be announced early next spring, with an award ceremony to follow.

Nominations should be submitted via a brief e-mail (250 words or less) that includes supporting Web links (no more than six) and/or attached materials to Brandy Hawley at bhawley@ithaca.edu. Only if e-mail is not possible, nominations may be mailed to Brandy Hawley, Ithaca College, Park Center for Independent Media, 953 Danby Road, Ithaca, NY 14850.

Launched in 2008 and located within Ithaca College's Roy H. Park School of Communications, PCIM is a national center focusing on media outlets that create and distribute content outside traditional corporate systems and news organizations.

The Park Center for Independent Media, launched in 2008, is a national center for the study of media outlets that create and distribute content outside traditional corporate systems and news organizations. Throughout history, technological and social upheaval have given rise to independent media voices. Today, independent media are growing amid crisis and conglomeration in mainstream journalism, and the rise of the Internet and new forms of media production and distribution. The Center's mission is to engage media producers and students in conversation about career paths in independent media, and financially viable ways to disseminate news and information. The center examines the impact of independent media institutions on journalism, democracy, and a participatory culture. Jeff Cohen is the foundi