National Press Club honors imprisoned USAGM journalists with its highest press freedom award

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Press Club will award its 2025 John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award to a group of nine journalists affiliated with the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) who remain imprisoned abroad following the agency's dismantling earlier this year.

The Club's Board of Directors agreed the honor is meant both to recognize the journalists' courage to practice journalism in parts of the world often dangerous for journalists and to call attention to what it describes as a failure by the United States government to defend reporters jailed for work that advanced U.S. ideals of free expression.

"These nine journalists risked their freedom to report the truth in some of the world's most dangerous places," said National Press Club President Mike Balsamo. "They carried out the work of a free press — shining light where others tried to impose silence — and they did so under the banner of U.S.-supported media. Their courage deserves our deepest respect."

The Aubuchon Award, named for late National Press Club President John Aubuchon, is the organization's highest recognition for press freedom. It is awarded annually to recognize journalists both domestic and abroad who risk their lives or liberty in pursuit of the truth.

This year's award highlights nine USAGM-affiliated reporters who remain in prison across several authoritarian countries. They include:

• Shin Daewe, a Burmese documentary filmmaker and Radio Free Asia (RFA) contributor, has been sentenced to up to 15 years under Myanmar's Anti-Terrorism Law for purchasing drone equipment used in her reporting.
• Sithu Aung Myint, a commentator for Voice of America (VOA), has been sentenced to three years in Myanmar on charges of "incitement" and "defamation" after criticizing the military junta.
• Nguyen Lan Thang, a contributor to RFA's Vietnamese Service, has been sentenced in Vietnam to six years in prison for "spreading anti-state propaganda."
• Nguyen Tuong Thuy, a contributor to RFA's Vietnamese Service, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for defaming the Hanoi government.
• Pham Chi Dung, a journalist, blogger, and VOA contributor, sentenced to a 15-year prison term in Vietnam after being convicted of "propaganda against the state."
• Truong Duy Nhat, a contributor for RFA's Vietnamese Service's blog section before his January 2019 abduction in Thailand by police, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for "abusing his position and authority while on duty."
• Nguyen Vu Binh, a contributor to RFA's Vietnamese language service, has been sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of propaganda against the state.
• Farid Mehralizada, an Azerbaijani journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), has been sentenced to nine years on politically motivated financial charges.
• Nika Novak, a reporter for RFE/RL's Russian Service, has been sentenced to four years in prison for "collaboration with a foreign organization on a confidential basis."

"Their imprisonment should outrage anyone who believes in America's commitment to liberty," Balsamo said. "These reporters advanced U.S. values of transparency and free expression and yet they've been left behind. Their abandonment is a stain on our nation's credibility and a reminder of what happens when we retreat from defending press freedom."

USAGM was an independent federal agency that oversaw VOA, the United States' largest and oldest international broadcaster, and provided grants to RFA, RFE, and other news agencies. The agency had around 3,500 employees with an annual budget of $886 million in 2024.

Between March and July 2025, 85% of staff at USAGM and its subsidiaries were eliminated at the direction of the White House. The cuts followed an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in March 2025 that directed the dismantling of USAGM "to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law." Approximately 250 employees remain, with indications that the agency's 2026 budget would be directed toward a complete shutdown of USAGM operations.

The National Press Club's Board of Governors said its decision to honor the imprisoned journalists was driven in part by the collapse of the USAGM structure, which had previously funded and supported independent U.S.-backed media outlets operating abroad. The dismantling, critics say, left dozens of journalists vulnerable to retaliation and removed formal avenues for the U.S. government to advocate for their release.

"The United States cannot walk away from these journalists or the ideals they represent," Balsamo said. "We urge the White House, Congress, and the State Department to re-engage, to press for their release and to ensure that future U.S.-supported media operations have clear mechanisms for protecting journalists who risk their lives in America's name."

The National Press Club will confer the 2025 Aubuchon awards, along with the Neil and Susan Sheehan Award for Investigative Journalism, during its annual Fourth Estate Award Gala honoring Robert Costa on Dec. 9 in Washington, D.C. Tickets are available.

The gala dinner is a fundraiser for the Club's nonprofit affiliate, the National Press Club Journalism Institute, which produces training to equip journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire civic engagement. Tickets and more information for the event can be found here.

Press Contact: Bill McCarren, director of the Press Freedom Center at the National Press Club, [email protected].

SOURCE National Press Club