Award-Winning Journalist Sissel McCarthy Introduces AFPC-USA 2022 Foreign Press Awards

NEW YORK — The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents-USA (AFPC-USA) hosted the 2022 Foreign Press Awards in New York City on Thursday, December 15, 2022, to honor prominent international journalists, impactful industry luminaries, and promising foreign journalists who may impact the field in coming years.

Foreign correspondents from around the world, AFPC-USA board members and supporters gathered to honor the winners, including the three honorary foreign press awardees: Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith, Fox News State Department Correspondent Benjamin Hall and NBC News Political Director and moderator of “Meet the Press” Chuck Todd.

The Foreign Press Awards and Party evening took place in person for the first time since December 2019 at the Roosevelt House, a public policy institute at Hunter College honoring the legacy of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. International journalists and guests came together for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, and seasoned reporters from Belgium mingled with scholarship recipients from New Zealand before an excited audience filed downstairs to begin the night’s ceremonies.

AFPC-USA board members spoke of challenges facing journalists today, and executives representing corporate donors helped introduce the seven 2022 scholarship winners (with two from China and the rest from India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Sweden and New Zealand) and five professional excellence awardees (from Brazil, Canada, Germany, Iran and Venezuela).

Sissel McCarthy

"Tonight is an opportunity to celebrate the important work foreign journalists, and indeed all journalists, are doing around the world in one of the most challenging environments for the news industry and press freedom," observed AFPC-USA Board Member and evening host Sissel McCarthy, Distinguished Lecturer and Director of the Journalism Program at Hunter College.

“When Pew Research center asked 12,000 journalists to describe their industry in a single word this year, nearly three-quarters of them said something negative,” she added, going on to list hardships that journalists in the U.S. and around the world are facing: Public trust in the media, particularly in the United States, is near an all-time low; 57 journalists have been killed in 2022 alone, and a further 533 have been imprisoned for their work; over 360 newsrooms have closed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It’s an enormously challenging and precarious time for the news industry,” McCarthy continued, “and thus, I would argue, the perfect time to reimagine the journalism of the future. This means a new approach to both support and reinvigorate the news industry.” McCarthy contends that news organizations need to retool for the digital age and diversify newsrooms. She also called on journalists to prove journalism is not partisan and practice journalism without fear or favor to restore the news industry’s credibility. 

Finally, McCarthy shared that most journalists would never consider any other job. According to the same Pew Research survey, journalists report a high degree of satisfaction and fulfillment in their work, with almost 80 percent saying they would pursue a career in journalism again.

“We must never forget what an honor and privilege it is to be a journalist, to serve the public, to hold power to account, to be a guardian of democracy,” said McCarthy. McCarthy expressed gratitude to all the supporters and partners of the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents: "We especially want to thank Unesco, the Knight Foundation, the Hinrich Foundation, Bayer, WeWork, PepsiCo, Microsoft, Toyota, Volkswagen, Procter & Gamble, General Motors, Libra Group Social Responsibility, Nasdaq, our own Mitzi Perdue, FOX News, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS and last, but not least JPMorgan Chase which is sponsoring our reception tonight. We could not be more grateful for your support," said McCarthy.

SUPPORTERS AND PARTNERS OF AFPC-USA