The Ridenhour Prizes are awards in four categories given annually in recognition of those "who persevere in acts of truth-telling that protect the public interest, promote social justice or illuminate a more just vision of society".
History The awards are presented by The Nation Institute and The Fertel Foundation in recognition of Ron Ridenhour, the Vietnam War veteran who exposed the My Lai Massacre. Each prize carries a $10,000 stipend. The prizes were first awarded in 2004.
Prize categories The Ridenhour Courage Prize The Ridenhour Book Prize The Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize The Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize (since 2011)
Past winners The Ridenhour Courage Prize 2004: Daniel Ellsberg 2005: Seymour Hersh 2006: Gloria Steinem 2007: Jimmy Carter 2008: Bill Moyers 2009: Bob Herbert 2010: Howard Zinn (posthumous) 2011: Russ Feingold 2012: John Lewis 2013: James Hansen 2014: Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr. 2015: James Risen 2016: Jamie Kalven 2017: Anna Deavere Smith 2018: Tarana Burke 2019: George Soros (donated all of prize money to Hungarian Spectrum) 2020: Denis Hayes 2021: José Andrés 2022: Anita Hill 2024: Jamie Raskin
The Ridenhour Book Prize 2004: Deborah Scroggins, for Emma's War: An Aid Worker, Radical Islam, and the Politics of Oil – A True Story of Love and Death in the Sudan 2005: Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, for Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx 2006: Anthony Shadid, for Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War 2007: Rajiv Chandrasekaran, for Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, 2008: James Scurlock, for Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit 2009: Jane Mayer, for The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into A War on American Ideals 2010: Joe Sacco, for Footnotes in Gaza 2011: Wendell Potter, for Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR is Killing Healthcare and Deceiving Americans 2012: Ali H. Soufan, for The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al‐Qaeda 2013: Seth Rosenfeld, for Subversives: The FBI's War on Student Radicals, and Reagan's Rise to Power 2014: Sheri Fink, for Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital 2015: Anand Gopal, for No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War Through Afghan Eyes 2016: Jill Leovy, for Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America 2017: Heather Ann Thompson, for Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy 2018: Lauren Markham, for The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life 2019: Eliza Griswold, for Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America 2020: Chanel Miller for Know My Name: A Memoir 2021: Claudio Saunt for Unworthy Republic: The dispossession of Native Americans and the road to Indian Territory 2022: Heather McGhee for The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together 2024: Lea Ypi for Free: Coming of Age at the End of History
The Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize 2004: Joseph Wilson 2005: Kristen Breitweiser 2006: Rick S. Piltz 2007: Donald Vance 2008: Matthew Diaz 2009: Thomas Tamm 2010: Matthew Hoh 2011: Thomas Andrews DrakeLeaks and the Law: The Story of Thomas Drake|History|Smithsonian Magazine 2012: Eileen Foster and Daniel L. Davis 2013: Jose Antonio Vargas 2014: Edward Snowden and Laura Poitras 2015: Aicha Elbasri 2016: Mona Hanna-Attisha 2017: Daniela Vargas 2018: Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto 2019: Dr. Scott Allen, Dr. Pamela McPherson, and Scott Shuchart 2020: Dr. Rick A. Bright 2021: Cariol Horne 2022: Anika Collier Navaroli 2024: Dawn Wooten
The Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize 2011: Julia Bacha, Ronit Avni and Rula Salameh, for BudrusRidenhour Prizes Honor Courageous Truth Tellers - POGO.org 2012: Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon, for Semper Fi: Always Faithful 2013: Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, for The Invisible War10th Annual Ridenhour Prizes Honor 'Courageous Truth-Telling' - POGO.org 2014: Dawn Porter, for Gideon's Army 2015: Laura Poitras, for Citizenfour 2016: Joshua Oppenheimer, for The Look of Silence 2017: Sonia Kennebeck, for National Bird 2018: Joe Piscatella, for Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower 2019: Alexandria Bombach, for On Her Shoulders 2020: Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang, for One Child Nation 2021: Ramona Diaz, for A Thousand Cuts 2022: Stanley Nelson Jr. and Traci A. Curry, for Attica 2024: Emma Tildes and Tia Lessin for The Janes
Special Ridenhour Prize for Reportorial Distinction 2009: Nick Turse
References
External links The Ridenhour Prizes official site Fertel Foundation site with links to sites related to Ridenhour and My Lai