2025 Freedom of the Press Awards

The 2025 Freedom of the Press Awards were held on Oct. 15, 2025, at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York. The cocktail reception was at 6:00 p.m., and dinner and program began at 7:00 p.m. Judy Woodruff, senior correspondent and the former anchor and managing editor of the PBS NewsHour, served as host for the event.

Support the Freedom of the Press Awards

Please see our sponsorship brochure to reserve and/or purchase sponsorships, tables, tickets, and advertisements, or to make a donation in support of the 2025 Freedom of the Press Awards.

2025 Honorees

The 2025 Freedom of the Press Award winners are:

Career Achievement Award
Amanda Bennett, Former CEO, U.S. Agency for Global Media
Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief, The Atlantic

Local Champion Award
Terry Baquet, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Verite News

Catalyst Award
The Baltimore Banner

Pro Bono Service Award
Brad Kutrow, Partner, McGuireWoods

Event Chairs

Tom Glocer, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, BlueVoyant Inc.
Norman Pearlstine, Editor and Media Executive

Sponsors

Presenter

Erin Thornton

Champions

Anonymous
Microsoft
Morgan Stanley

Legacies

Davis Polk
Dodi Fromson and Family
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Hearst

Advocates

Advance Publications
Anonymous
Lisa and Jeff Bewkes
Bloomberg
Mary and David Boies
Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr. and Helen Boutrous
Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation
Chevron
DCI
Dow Jones/The Wall Street Journal
Glocer Family
Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP
The New York Times Company
Newsweek
Norman Pearlstine and Jane Boon
Eric and Fiona Rudin
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Thomson Reuters

Defenders

Amy and David Abrams
Stephen J. Adler and Lisa Grunwald Adler
The Associated Press
James Attwood & Leslie Williams
The Baltimore Banner
Sarah Beshar
BlackRock
Brunswick Group
CAPITOLIS
CBS News
CNN
Covington & Burling LLP
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Deep South Today
The E.W. Scripps Company
FOX News Media
The IAC Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The Lenfest Institute for Journalism
Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Luczo
McGuireWoods LLP
NBA
NBCUniversal News Group
News/Media Alliance
NewsGuard
OpenAI
POLITICO
Robert S. Rifkind Foundation
TEGNA
TIME
U.S. News & World Report
The Washington Post
Williams & Connolly LLP
WilmerHale LLP

Supporters

Ann B. & Thomas L. Friedman Family Foundation
Scott Applewhite
Bailen Law
Ballard Spahr LLP
Neil Barsky
David and Katherine Bradley
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
Carol & Gene Ludwig Family Foundation
Sewell Chan
Bill and Kate Conger
Crowell & Moring LLP
Egon Zehnder
Kris Fischer
Freedom Forum
Gannett
GBH
James Gorman
James V. Grimaldi
Laura R. Handman
John C. Henry
Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation
Ezra Jennings
Gary Knell
Margaret Low and Kinsey Wilson
Lynn Novick
NPR
Jeffrey Nuechterlein
Ron and Jane Olson
Open Society Foundations
The Orogen Group
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Brooke Kamin Rapaport and Richard A. Rapaport
Jaako Rauramo
Recht Kornfeld, P.C.
Cris Russell and Ben Heineman
Greg and Grace Schott
Vox Media
Wallace House Center for Journalists
Vickie Walton-James
Leslie Wayne
Peter Wendell
David and Sherrie Westin
Katharine Weymouth
Judy Woodruff and Al Hunt
Omri and Jenny Yoffe

List in formation as of Oct. 15.