Nominations for the Izzy Award for calendar year 2016 are now open. The annual honor for outstanding achievement in independent media — named after legendary journalist I. F. “Izzy” Stone — is a project of the Park Center for Independent Media (PCIM) at Ithaca College.
“This election year revealed a further ethical decline at conglomerated media,” said PCIM director Jeff Cohen. “But independent outlets have elevated their content, not only in election coverage but in reporting on broader issues of political corruption, racism, immigration, the environment and human rights. The Izzy Award honors independent journalists and outlets that have become so important in recent years.”
Izzy Award winners are selected by a panel of judges with expertise in independent media. Joining Cohen on the panel for the ninth 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 2016 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 the January 19, 2017, deadline. 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. For more information on the Izzy Award, visit www.ithaca.edu/indy/izzy.
The inaugural Izzy Award in 2009 was shared by blogger Glenn Greenwald and “Democracy Now!” host/executive producer Amy Goodman.
2010: Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill.
2011: Shared by New York City investigative outlet “City Limits” and author/“Truthdig” cofounder Robert Scheer.
2012: Shared by journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous and the investigative outlet Center for Media and Democracy for its work on “ALEC Exposed.”
2013: Nonprofit outlet “Mother Jones.”
2014: Shared by investigative journalists John Carlos Frey and Nick Turse. Also in 2014, previous Izzy winners Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill were inducted into the newly established I.F. Stone Hall of Fame.
2015: Shared by author Naomi Klein (“This Changes Everything”) and investigative journalist David Sirota.
2016: Shared by “Inside Climate News” for its series “Exxon: The Road Not Taken” and independent journalists Jamie Kalven (Invisible Institute) and freelancer Brandon Smith for exposing the cover-up of the Chicago police killing of Laquan McDonald. Also in 2016, Amy Goodman was inducted into the I. F. Stone Hall of Fame.
In 1953, during the height of the anti-communist witch hunts, Stone launched “I. F. Stone’s Weekly,” through which he challenged McCarthyism, official deceit, war and racism. A documentary feature was released this year – “All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception and the Spirit of I. F. Stone” – that features many past Izzy Award winners. Ithaca College houses a unique collection of mementos from Stone, who died in 1989.
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.