2026 RSF Prize laureates to be announced at 77th World News Media Congress on 1 June in Marseille, France

On 1 June, the RSF Press Freedom Prize ceremony will be held in Marseille, at the Palais du Pharo, as part of the 77th World News Media Congress, co-organized by WAN-IFRA and CMA Media. During this major event, which will bring together media from around the world to reflect, among other topics, on the future of journalism, the RSF Prize will pay tribute to these "information heroes", spotlighting their courageous, essential work.

This year's shortlist comprises 19 journalists and photojournalists, five media outlets, one defender of the right to information, and one collective defending journalists from 25 different countries. All have made significant contributions to the defence and promotion of press freedom worldwide. They compete in five categories: the Courage Prize, the Impact Prize, the Independence Prize, as well as, since 2023, the Lucas Dolega-SAIF Photo Prize and, since 2024, the RSF-Mohamed Maïga African Investigative Journalism Prize.

The Courage Prize

The Courage Prize recognises a journalist, media organisation or other body that has shown courage in practising, defending or promoting journalism, in a hostile environment and despite the risk to their freedom or safety.

Elnaz Mohammadi (Iran)

The Iranian journalist embodies the exceptional courage required to face the systematic repression of press freedom in Iran. As head of the society desk at the reformist newspaper Ham-Mihan - suspended in 2026 by the regime for its coverage of protests - she played a crucial role in reporting on the social consequences of the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement that followed the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. In February 2023, she was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for "conspiracy" and "collusion" in retaliation for her journalism. She was targeted, like her twin sister Elaheh Mohammadi - also a prominent journalist - for giving a voice to the people. Despite legal harassment, imprisonment, and being forced to resign from her job, Elnaz Mohammadi has continued working and defending the right to information.

Sai Zaw Thaike (Myanmar)

Photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike has been documenting human rights violations in Myanmar since 2012. After the military coup in 2021, he became one of the country's most threatened journalists. Despite the risks, he chose to stay and continued to clandestinely document the violent repression carried out by the junta. Forced to move constantly and live underground, he risked arrest at every moment. In May 2023, he travelled to Rakhine State in the west to report on the devastation caused by one of the most powerful cyclones ever recorded in the country. He was then arrested and sentenced by a military court to 20 years of imprisonment with hard labour. He is currently being held in the notorious Insein Prison in Yangon, where he is tortured by prison authorities.

Carlos Correa (Venezuela)

A staunch defender of the right to information in Venezuela, the director of Espacio Público - an NGO dedicated to defending press freedom and human rights - was the victim of an enforced disappearance in 2025. Abducted in Caracas, he was held incommunicado for several days before being released under international pressure. His case has become symbolic of the growing crackdown against journalists and press freedom defenders in the country, highlighting how arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance are used as tools of intimidation. Despite this nightmare, Carlos Correa has continued his work documenting censorship and attacks against the press.

Edmond Sassine (Lebanon)

This Lebanese journalist from Al-Araby TV, and previously from LBCI, is known for his work on the front lines of combat. He has relentlessly covered the consequences of the war with Israel since it broke out in Lebanon in 2026, and remains on the front line, in front of the camera, wearing his press vest and helmet, to tell the world what is happening. On 13 October 2023, he was about 20 metres away when an airstrike targeted a group of journalists, injuring several of his colleagues and killing Issam Abdallah, a journalist with Reuters.

Georgia Fort and Don Lemon (United States)

The independent journalist, who serves as vice president of the local chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, and the independent journalist and former CNN anchor, were arrested for covering a protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a church in Minnesota. While filming and interviewing protesters and worshippers, they were detained and charged alongside the demonstrators under a law that was originally intended to protect reproductive health clinics from violent attacks, but which was diverted from its original purpose in this case. Defiant in the face of this blatant violation of press freedom, Georgia Fort and Don Lemon continued covering the news and the actions of the Trump administration. Don Lemon was targeted by online attacks from administration officials and pro-Trump influencers.

The Impact Prize

The Impact Prize recognises a journalist, media outlet or organisation whose work has led to tangible improvements in the freedom, independence and pluralism of journalism, or has raised awareness of these issues.

The newsroom of Radio Elle FM (DRC)

Created in 2022 in Goma, an eastern city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the radio station ELLE FM broadcasts across the Kivu provinces. It airs content primarily related to women's rights. The station has notably broadcast several investigations exposing sexual abuse in schools, contributing to the survivors' calls for justice. The team, which consists of ten journalists, has also produced magazines on awareness and community mobilisation on gender issues and the prevention of sexual violence in schools, educational advertisements on national and international resources to combat sexual violence and abuse, and roundtable discussions on the psychological care of victims of this type of violence.

Ziarul de Garda (Moldova)

This independent investigative media outlet plays a crucial role in protecting Moldova's information space against foreign interference. In the run-up to the legislative elections of September 2025, its newsroom revealed the existence of a "digital army" of fake accounts spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda to influence the vote. This major investigation exposed a vast system to manipulate public opinion and alerted citizens, authorities and international partners to the scale of the interference targeting Moldova's democracy. Despite smear campaigns and political intimidation, including direct threats, the team continues its work with determination. In a context marked by disinformation, Ziarul de Gardă embodies the public-interest journalism that fuels democracy.

Alt News (India)

This fact-checking outlet was founded in 2017 by Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha to counter the growing threat of fake news in India. It is a high-stakes mission in a country that has become a global hotspot for disinformation, and where a large share of false information originates from networks aligned with the Hindu supremacist ideology (Hindutva), close to the ruling party, the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). With a team of 15 people split between its two offices in Ahmedabad and Kolkata, the outlet - a non-profit organisation funded solely by donations from within India - stands on the front line of exposing hate speech and crimes.

Carlitos Cadangue (Mozambique)

A journalist for the private broadcaster Soico Televisão (STV) in the central city of Chimoio, Carlitos Cadangue has spent the past three years investigating the devastating effects of illegal mining, from pollution to lost crops to public health risks. His work has made waves, prompting a response from the authorities. On 30 September, Maputo suspended mining activities in the province of Manica and, from that point on, companies started calling him threateningly, saying they had been forced to halt operations because of his reporting. The journalist, who discovered that some companies continued operating regardless, received warnings that escalated into direct threats from local leaders. He survived an attempted assassination on 4 February.

Colectivo Ave Fénix (Mexico)

The Colectivo Ave Fénix is a group formed in 2023 and 2024 in Veracruz by relatives of murdered and disappeared journalists, created in response to the persistent violence against the press in Mexico. It supports the families of victims seeking justice through psychological support sessions, legal training, and collective monitoring of the cases of their missing or killed relatives. It also organises tributes to keep the stories of these journalists visible. By transforming grief into collective action, the group brings sustained attention to the impunity for these crimes and the human cost of attacks on journalism, illustrating the impact of civic mobilisation in defence of press freedom.

The Independence Prize

The Independence Prize recognises a journalist, media outlet or organisation for their resistance to pressure (whether financial, political, economic, religious or otherwise) or for the values and principles that enable them to resist such pressure (such as avoiding conflicts of interest and resisting economic control).

Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism (SIRAJ) (Syria)

Since 2017, this independent outlet has investigated the abuses committed by the Assad regime and its allies in Syria. In 2022, it notably published an investigation into the illegal trafficking of Syrian phosphate to Europe, which benefited a Russian company close to Vladimir Putin. Since Bashar al-Assad's fall from power, SIRAJ has continued to resist all forms of pressure. Its investigations are helping make justice possible today.

Leila Saralaeva (Kyrgyzstan)

This renowned investigative journalist and RSF correspondent has been documenting political developments in Kyrgyzstan for more than twenty years. After working for major international media outlets, she founded the independent outlet Novye Litsa and now continues her analytical and investigative work online. As press freedom has rapidly deteriorated in Kyrgyzstan, she has been increasingly exposed to pressure and legal proceedings targeting her reporting, forcing her into exile. Nevertheless, she continues to document abuses of power and defend independent Kyrgyz journalism, remaining an unflinching voice in Kyrgyzstan's shrinking media space.

Julia Mengolini (Argentina)

Julia Mengolini is a journalist and the founder of the independent outlet Futurock. In 2025, she was targeted by a large-scale intimidation campaign in which she was the victim of deepfake pornography, death and sexual threats, coordinated online harassment, and criminal defamation proceedings initiated by President Javier Milei, one of which remains ongoing and could proceed to trial. She has remained outspoken despite the ongoing harassment and has continued her journalistic work. Her case has come to symbolise the escalation of attacks against news workers in the country, and has helped expose the patterns of coordinated intimidation against the press - illustrating how journalism helps confront systemic threats to freedom of information.

Maryam Naibkhil (Afghanistan)

This journalist worked as a presenter and then as a reporter for Zan TV, a media outlet created by and for women. The channel's broadcasting was suspended following the return of the Taliban in 2021. Despite the risks, Maryam Naibkhil took over leadership of the outlet, which is now an online media, and in 2022 covered several topics deemed "sensitive" by the Taliban, particularly those relating to gender issues. Fearing for her safety, she was ultimately forced to seek refuge in Pakistan and then in France, where she continues to work for Zan TV in exile. Despite numerous threats and attempts at intimidation, she has consistently maintained an uncompromising stance towards the Taliban and their policies.

The Daily Star (Bangladesh)

Since it was founded in 1991, in the early days of parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh, The Daily Star has, under Mahfuz Anam's leadership, become one of the country's most-read independent English-language newspapers. It has consistently sought to uphold progressive, fact-based journalism and carried out numerous investigative projects to expose crimes. Former Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, who was deposed, regularly criticised the paper and tried to close it down, notably by applying financial pressure. Its journalists have also been intimidated on various occasions due to their reporting on government corruption. In 2025, a group of extremists even set fire to the newspaper's premises, ransacking and looting the building.

The African Investigative Journalism Prize - Mohamed Maïga

The RSF-Mohamed Maïga African Investigative Journalism Prize recognises an African journalist for their exemplary investigative work on issues close to the heart of the Malian journalist to whom the award pays tribute, Mohamed Maïga, such as human rights, the environment, education and the right to information.

Gazali Abdou Tasawa (Niger)

Gazali Abdou Tasawa, Deutsche Welle (DW) correspondent in Niger, has been working for DW for nearly 15 years. In 2025, he was summoned by the authorities six days after producing a Hausa-language report broadcast by DW on the living conditions of Nigerian migrants and refugees in Niger's capital, Niamey. The report gave a platform to dozens of people - largely women and children - including people who fled attacks by the jihadist group Boko Haram in Nigeria. On 7 May 2026, after several months in detention, the journalist was granted a "provisional release," according to the Nigerien local television channel Gaskia TV.

Hugues Comlan Sossoukpè (Benin)

Director of the Beninese investigative outlet Olofofo. Known for his investigations into the Beninese authorities, the journalist, who has been living in exile in Togo since 2021, has been imprisoned because of his work in Cotonou since July 2025. While he was on assignment in Côte d'Ivoire, invited to Abidjan by the Ivorian authorities to cover a regional trade fair on digital innovation, he was arrested on the second day of his stay, on 10 July 2025, by police officers. He was abducted, according to RSF information, and taken directly to Cotonou (Benin), where he is still in detention.

Habib Marouane Camara (Guinea)

Journalist Habib Camara, general administrator of the news website Le Révélateur 224, was reportedly abducted on 3 December 2024 by armed men wearing Guinean gendarmerie outfits while he was in his car with a colleague. He was forcibly removed from the vehicle, then knocked unconscious with batons and sent to an unknown destination. According to RSF information, he had been under surveillance before his disappearance. Authorities still deny being the perpetrators of his abduction. Camara is still missing as of today.

Fati Amadou Ali (Niger)

Fati Amadou Ali, director of La Voix de la Tapoa in south-western Niger, is committed to reporting on inequality and gender-based violence despite the challenges this involves in a context where security has completely deteriorated, amplifying the voices of victims when possible. In an RSF documentary, she recounts the dual struggle of being a woman journalist in an unsafe area, which involves night-time meetings, unfavourable social norms and daily harassment.

Honneur-David Safari (DRC)

The editor-in-chief of La Prunelle RDC press group, Honneur-David Safari, was abducted on 28 December 2025 in Bukavu, the capital of the eastern province of South Kivu. On 31 December, the journalist was discovered in a wasteland near Nyantende, in the eastern territory of Kabare, "in a poor condition." He is believed to have been held by the AFC/M23, the armed coalition that has controlled Bukavu since February 2025 - something AFC/M23 representatives have denied. Since the takeover of Bukavu, Honneur-David Safari has continued to work independently and impartially, giving a platform to civilians in the cities of Goma, Bukavu and Uvira.

The Lucas Dolega-SAIF Photo Prize

Abdul Hakim Abu Riash (Palestine)
Gaza's Agony: War, Hunger, and Loss (Gaza, 2025)

In this series, Gaza's Agony: War, Hunger, and Loss ("L'agonie de Gaza: guerre, famine et deuil"), produced in Gaza in 2025, the photojournalist depicts the humanitarian crisis tearing apart the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip, marked by bombardments by the Israeli armed forces, overwhelmed hospitals, and a severe food crisis, while rescue workers continue searching for missing persons in the rubble despite a lack of resources.

Adrienne Surprenant (Canada)
Exiled in Haftar's Libya (Libya, 2025)

Through Exiled in Haftar's Libya, produced in Libya in 2025, photojournalist Adrienne Surprenant documents the exile of hundreds of thousands of Sudanese people in Libya since the outbreak of war in Sudan in April 2023, where they live in precarious conditions between unsanitary camps, violence, and at times detention by Libyan authorities.

Arthur Larie (France)
Escaping Darfur Chaos (Sudan, 2026)

At the border between Chad and Sudan, the photojournalist created the series Escaping Darfur Chaos, documenting the exodus of tens of thousands of Darfuris following the El Fasher massacre in 2025 and the continued violence carried out by the Rapid Support Forces. The work highlights the scale of the crisis and the survival conditions in refugee camps in Chad, where populations already affected by decades of conflict live in extreme precarity.

Diego Herrera (Spain)
Donbass, Bleeding Behind the Slagheaps (Ukraine, 2025-2026)

In his series Donbass, Bleeding Behind the Slagheaps, the photojournalist portrays the lives of civilians facing the renewed intensity of fighting since 2022 in the region, where people are forced to flee bombardments and increasingly frequent attacks, particularly drone strikes, on cities such as Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka, and Sloviansk.

Mustafa Bilge Satkin (Türkiye)
After the Disappearance (Syria, 2026)

This photographic series, produced in Syria, documents life in a country marked by more than a decade of war, massive destruction, and population displacement. It explores everyday life in a territory undergoing political transition that, despite ruins and uncertainty, is witnessing the gradual return of its inhabitants.

Samir Maouche (Mali)
It's Azawad, Not Mali (Mali, 2025)

The series It's Azawad, Not Mali was produced clandestinely in Tinzaouatène, northern Mali, and documents the daily lives of Tuareg populations and young fighters involved in the struggle for the independence of Azawad. It portrays an extremely dangerous region of the Sahel, marked by the presence of armed groups, where war shapes the daily existence of young combatants.

Valentina Sinis (Italy)
The Third Butterflies (Bashur, Iraq, 2026)

The Third Butterflies is a series produced along the Iran-Iraq border within an all-female unit of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), documenting the lives of Kurdish women fighters engaged in both military and political struggle amid intense regional tensions. At night, the fighters often tell a story: three butterflies see a fire in the distance. The first approaches and returns, saying it is light. The second returns, saying it is warm. The third flies closer and closer until it dissolves into the flame. It never returns. "To reach the truth," says one fighter, "you must be ready to become the third butterfly."

The jury for this thirty-fourth edition is composed of distinguished journalists, defenders of press freedom and photojournalists from around the world: Rana Ayyub, Indian journalist and Washington Post opinion columnist; Raphaëlle Bacqué, French senior reporter at Le Monde; Mazen Darwish, Syrian lawyer and president of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression; Zaina Erhaim, Syrian journalist and communications consultant; Erick Kabendera, Tanzanian investigative journalist; Arnaud Février, La SAIF representative ; Hamid Mir, editor-in-chief, columnist and writer; Frederik Obermaier, investigative journalist at the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung; Mikhail Zygar, journalist and founding editor-in-chief of the only independent Russian TV channel, Dozhd; Mbaye Diouf, representative of the RSF-Mohamed Maïga African Investigative Journalism Prize; Gaël Turine, winner of the 2024 Lucas Dolega-SAIF Photography Prize; Robin Tutenges, winner of the 2024 Lucas Dolega-SAIF Photography Prize ; Sadibou Marong, head of the RSF Africa bureau. The jury's deliberations were chaired by French journalist and columnist Pierre Haski, president of RSF.

Update: This article was updated on Monday, May 11. The media outlet where Edmond Sassine works is Al-Araby TV.