Truthout Contributor Gareth Porter Wins Prestigious Journalism Award

Ripping away the illusions of official propaganda is difficult and dangerous work. But it’s all worth it when respected journalistic institutions take note.

That’s exactly what happened yesterday when reporter Gareth Porter was awarded the 2012 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, a top UK award for reporting that tells “an unpalatable truth, validated by powerful facts”! Past winners include Nick Davies of the Guardian; Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks; and the late Marie Colvin of the Sunday Times.

Upon announcing the award, the Martha Gellhorn Trust committee cited two articles Gareth wrote for Truthout:

“In a series of extraordinary articles, Gareth Porter has torn away the facades of the Obama administration and disclosed a military strategy that amounts to a war against civilians.”

These extraordinary articles – “The Lies That Sold Obama’s Escalation in Afghanistan” and “How McChrystal and Petraeus Built an Indiscriminate Killing Machine” – exemplify the mission that drives our organization. We are so proud of Gareth and honored by the recognition of the Martha Gellhorn Trust, a foundation named after one of history’s bravest war correspondents.

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Read Gareth Porter’s award-winning stories:

The Lies That Sold Obama’s Escalation in Afghanistan

How McChrystal and Petraeus Built an Indiscriminate Killing Machine

It’s working! Thank you for your support and readership!

Sincerely,
Maya Schenwar, Executive Director and Matt Renner, Director of Development

Matt Renner

Matt Renner was Director of Development and Communications at Truthout.

Maya Schenwar

Maya Schenwar is director of the Truthout Center for Grassroots Journalism. She is also Truthout‘s editor-at-large and board president. She is the co-author of Prison by Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms; author of Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn’t Work and How We Can Do Better; and co-editor of the Truthout anthology Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect? Police Violence and Resistance in the United States. In addition to Truthout, Maya’s work has appeared in many publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, NBC News and The Nation, and she has appeared on Democracy Now!, MSNBC, C-SPAN, NPR, and other television and radio programs. Maya cofounded the collaborative project Media Against Apartheid and Displacement. She lives in Chicago.