Contact: Patricia Kranz, executive director, Overseas Press Club of America
patricia@opcofamerica.org – (917) 971-0746
New York Times Dominates the Overseas Press Club Awards
NEW YORK, March 18, 2025 — Coverage of the war in Gaza commanded the competition in the 86th annual Overseas Press Club Awards. The New York Times emerged as the top winner with eight awards – four of those for coverage of Gaza. The paper was also recognized for its investigation into the Sinaloa Cartel’s fentanyl operations in Mexico, the story of a Russian military deserter, a probe of toxins from India’s green energy industry and a collaboration with The Fuller Project on brutal conditions for women in India’s sugar fields.
The awards will be presented at the annual OPC awards dinner in New York on April 17. Lynsey Addario, an American photojournalist for more than two decades, will receive the club’s President’s Award for her outstanding coverage of conflict, humanitarian crises and women’s issues around the Middle East and Africa.
Nicholas Kristof, a columnist for The New York Times and an award-winning author, will deliver the keynote address.
“We are thrilled to congratulate this year’s winners and citation honorees,” said Scott Kraft, Overseas Press Club president and Editor at Large for the Los Angeles Times.
“The winning work this year reflects the best in international reporting, and it is a gift to all of us who hunger for a deeper understanding of the world today. This year’s awards, selected from more than 400 entries, were among the most competitive in years. We salute the dedication, skill and courage of all those who do this important work.”
Nine of the OPC’s 22 awards recognize reporting and commentary on the Israel-Hamas war. The honored work covers a range of angles, including documentation of the civilian toll from Israeli military attacks, the evacuation of injured children from Gaza for emergency medical care, the challenges of covering the conflict under restrictions for international media and the war’s ripples across the Middle East. Two of the three photography awards center on Gaza, the Best Cartoons award honors a project by Amy Kurzweil of the Los Angeles Times illustrating the Israeli-Palestinian struggle for peace, and the Flora Lewis Award goes to a New York Times Opinion video contributed by a Syrian-American surgeon in Gaza.
Three awards honor reporting on drug wars in Latin America, two on the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, two on the war in Ukraine and others on coverage of Haiti, Ecuador, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Al Jazeera English, The New Yorker and The Washington Post each won two awards. Al Jazeera English won the David A. Andelman and Pamela Title Award for a Fault Lines program about a family fleeing violence in Ecuador and the Peter Jennings Award for reporting in Gaza. The New Yorker won the Danish Siddiqui Award for photographs from Syria and the Lowell Thomas Award for investigating U.S. war crimes in Iraq. The Washington Post won the Robert Spiers Benjamin Award for an investigation into the expanding power of criminal gangs in Latin America and the inaugural Shireen Abu Akleh Award for continuing coverage of conflict for its innovative reporting on Gaza.
The Continuing Coverage of Conflict Award was renamed in May 2024 to honor Abu Akleh, a prominent Palestinian-American journalist who was killed during an assignment in 2022.
Laura Boushnak and Nariman El-Mofty of The New York Times won the prestigious Robert Capa Gold Medal Award for photography requiring exceptional courage and enterprise. The duo documented the evacuation of injured children from Gaza. Samar Abu Elouf, also with the Times, won the Olivier Rebbot Award for portraits and interviews with evacuees from Gaza who fled to Qatar. Moises Saman of The New Yorker won the Danish Siddiqui Award for images of the aftermath of the fall of the Assad regime and evidence of atrocities inside its infamous detention facilities.
The OPC also awarded runner-up citations in 21 of the 22 categories. The Associated Press and Bloomberg News led with three citations each, followed by The New York Times, Reuters, CNN and FRONTLINE (PBS), each with two citations.
Marcus Mabry, senior vice president of digital editorial and programming for CNN Digital Worldwide and an OPC past president, will be the awards presenter at the April 17 dinner.
The OPC Awards judging process is led by John Daniszewski, former vice president and editor-at-large for standards of The Associated Press. The entries are reviewed by more than 100 judges from across the profession with deep experience in international journalism.
For a full list of award winners, see below. To see citation (runner-up) winners, click on this link. A list of all our awards judges is posted here. Biographies of those honored with a named award are listed here.
OPC 2025 Awards (for work in 2024)
Newspapers, News Services, Print or Digital
THE HAL BOYLE AWARD
Best newspaper, news service, newsletter or digital reporting from abroad
Sponsor: Norman Pearlstine in memory of Jerry Flint
Staff
The New York Times
“Middle East Upended”
Judges: The newspaper tied together the disparate elements of an upheaval that is reshaping the world as we knew it. The video showing the before and after scenes of Gaza was heart-breaking, along with the disturbing stories about Israel’s new rules of engagement and the unchecked violence perpetrated by settlers.
THE WILLIAM WORTHY AWARD
Best newspaper, news service, newsletter or digital interpretation of international affairs
Sponsor: The Simon and June Li Center for Global Journalism
Staff
The Wall Street Journal
“Exposing Putin’s Police State – From Inside a Russian Prison and Beyond”
Judges: The Journal’s team used correspondent Evan Gershkovich’s wrongful detention as a jumping off point to produce truly groundbreaking reporting on the Kremlin’s global spying operations, publishing eye-opening revelations about how Russian agents have aggressively penetrated the West and how its security services have taken a leading role within Putin’s regime both domestically and abroad.
THE ED CUNNINGHAM AWARD
Best magazine-style, long-form narrative feature in print or digital on an international story
Sponsor: Michael S. Serrill
Sarah Topol
The New York Times Magazine
“The Deserter”
Judges: The exquisite details in Topol’s piece speak to patient, dogged reporting, and create a compelling narrative in vivid, novelesque prose. “The Deserter” braids together a complicated love story with the historical sweep of contemporary Russia leading up to (and into) the disaster of the Ukraine war.
THE MADELINE DANE ROSS AWARD
Best international reporting in the print medium or digital showing a concern for the human condition
Sponsor: Linda Fasulo
Rhana Natour and Eman Mohammed
The Atavist Magazine
“Coming to America”
Judges: Rhana Natour’s intimate storytelling plunges readers deep into the world of Layan, a defiant 14-year-old Palestinian girl confronting staggering loss from the Israel-Hamas war. Powerful photos by Eman Mohammed capture Layan’s fragility – and her strength.
TV, Video, Radio, or Podcast
THE LOWELL THOMAS AWARD
Best radio, audio, or podcast coverage of international affairs
Sponsor: Deborah Amos
Madeleine Baran, Samara Freemark, Natalie Jablonski, Rehman Tungekar, Parker Yesko and team
The New Yorker
“In the Dark Season 3: The Killings in Haditha”
Judges: A forensic investigation into the 2005 killing of 24 Iraqis by U.S. Marines pried loose testimony and photos the military sought to conceal from the public. The eight-hour series includes details about the reporting process, offering not only a chilling account of the massacre, but a master class in journalism too.
THE DAVID KAPLAN AWARD
Best TV or video spot news reporting from abroad
Sponsor: ABC News
James Longman, Sohel Uddin, Ghazi Balkiz, Amer Al Sayeed Ali, Wissam Usama Arksousey, Fahed Al Mawla and Colm O’Molloy
ABC News
“Inside Syria: Assad Overthrown”
Judges: James Longman and his team covered comprehensively and determinedly the entire trajectory of the rebellion that brought down the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. From a tour of the Presidential palace to Assad’s escape tunnel, to the infamous prisons and mass graves and interviews with families looking for missing relatives this entry truly follows in the footsteps of David Kaplan.
THE EDWARD R. MURROW AWARD
Best TV, video or documentary about international affairs with a run time up to 20 minutes
Sponsor: CBS News
Marcia Biggs, Sara Just, Morgan Till, Eric O’Connor and André Paultre
PBS News Hour
“Haiti in Crisis”
Judges: “Haiti in Crisis” is a remarkable series that takes viewers from the Miami River in Florida to the slums of Port-au-Prince to show the devastating impact of American guns and policy on the lives of Haitians. Scenes of bullet-riddled homes and sewage-strewn streets accompany gripping interviews with the victims and perpetrators of unspeakable gang violence.
THE PETER JENNINGS AWARD
Best TV, video or documentary about international affairs with a run time over 20 minutes
Sponsor: The Jennings Family
Kavitha Chekuru, Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Adrienne Haspel, Laila Al-Arian and Ashraf Mashharawi with Media Town
Al Jazeera English
“Fault Lines – The Night Won’t End”
Judges: The Night Won’t End reveals the human cost of the war in Gaza, documenting attacks on civilians by the Israeli military and the United States’ role in the conflict. The judges marveled that the filmmakers could make such a cinematically beautiful film given the complexities of trying to work inside Gaza while it was under frequent Israeli bombardment.
THE DAVID A. ANDELMAN AND PAMELA TITLE AWARD
Best international TV, video, radio, audio or podcast reporting showing a concern for the human condition
Sponsor: David A. Andelman and Pamela Title
Mark Scialla, John Holman, Adrienne Haspel, Luis del Valle, Rodrigo Galdos-Tanguis and Laila Al-Arian
Al Jazeera English
“Fault Lines – Children of the Darien Gap”
Judges: Powerful, poignant, and meticulously reported, the documentary follows a family fleeing corruption and gang violence in Ecuador, enduring profound pain in pursuit of a safer, brighter future away from home.
Any Medium
THE MALCOLM FORBES AND MORTON FRANK AWARD
Best international business news reporting in any medium
Sponsor: Forbes Magazine
Staff
Reuters
“Fentanyl Express”
Judges: This ambitious exploration of the global supply chain for fentanyl exposed the vulnerabilities of the United States’ efforts to police imports of Chinese chemicals that Mexican cartels obtain to make the drug. Surprisingly, the reporting showed that the U.S. mail system is so exploitable that the chemicals often flow from China to the U.S. in small packages before being forwarded to Mexico for final production as pills.
THE SHIREEN ABU AKLEH AWARD
Best reporting on a continuing international conflict or crisis in any medium
Sponsor: The Simon and June Li Center for Global Journalism
Staff
The Washington Post
“Unchecked War”
Judges: Vividly conveyed and assiduously reported, The Washington Post tore at official narratives through accountability journalism that centered the human costs of Israel’s war in Gaza. The package is a masterclass of innovative, rigorous and empathetic storytelling.
THE JOE AND LAURIE DINE AWARD
Best international reporting in any medium dealing with human rights
Sponsor: Philip Dine
Qadri Inzamam and Megha Rajagopalan
The Fuller Project with The New York Times
“The Brutality of Sugar”
Judges: The Fuller Project and The New York Times together upheld the highest traditions of foreign correspondence by giving voice to some of the world’s most marginalized, powerless communities: women and children toiling in the sweltering sugarcane fields of western India.
THE WHITMAN BASSOW AWARD
Best reporting in any medium on international environmental issues
Sponsor: Robert Serio
Maria Abi-Habib and Bryan Denton
The New York Times
“Is a ‘Green’ Revolution Poisoning India’s Capital?”
Judges: The NYT team spent years uncovering and documenting the shameful secret behind a powerful conglomerate’s supposed state-of-the-art power plant that was meant to convert waste into green electricity. This story has it all: Dogged reporting, first-hand accounts, meticulous scientific evidence and a stunning multimedia presentation.
THE ROBERT SPIERS BENJAMIN AWARD
Best reporting in any medium on Latin America
Staff
The Washington Post
“The Takeover”
Judges: The series took readers across Latin America to show how criminal gangs have seized control of growing swaths of societies, undermined democratic rule and fomented violence in nearly every corner of the region. Post reporters used vividly drawn characters to illustrate a changing landscape of drug and human trafficking, extortion and environmental crime.
THE KIM WALL AWARD
Best story or series of stories in any medium on international affairs using creative and dynamic digital storytelling techniques
Sponsor: ProPublica
Joseph Dyke, Rowena De Silva, Nathan Walker, Nikolaj Houmann Mortensen, Sanjana Varghese and Staff
Airwars
“Cutting-edge Open-Source Investigations into Harm in Gaza”
Judges: Airwars stood out for the innovation they brought to the field of digital storytelling on international affairs, homing in on the most urgent and competitive storyline of the year with tangible impact. The visually stunning interactive breaks down an overwhelming amount of data into a digestible presentation.
THE ROY ROWAN AWARD
Best investigative reporting in any medium on an international story
Sponsor: Marcus Rowan
Natalie Kitroeff and Paulina Villegas
The New York Times
“Mexico’s Fentanyl Machine”
Judges: The reporters not only provided a sweeping account of the vicious drug cartel’s billion-dollar operation, but gained entry to one of its secret fentanyl labs to see how the deadly drug is prepared for the American market. Pursued at great personal risk, this daring investigation presents a gripping picture of the workings of this violent organization and how its sophisticated operations keep it one step ahead of authorities.
THE FLORA LEWIS AWARD
Best commentary in any medium on international news
Sponsor: Marc Lemcke
Samer Attar
The New York Times Opinion
“Two Weeks in Gaza’s Ruined Hospitals”
Judges: Samer Attar’s chilling testimony from inside Gaza’s emergency rooms provides a haunting picture of the unrelenting bloodshed occurring outside its walls. Attar is a brave witness who admonishes us not to look away and to recognize the humanity of these victims of war who cannot escape.
Photography
THE ROBERT CAPA GOLD MEDAL AWARD
Best photographic reporting from abroad requiring exceptional courage and enterprise published in any medium
Sponsor: Getty Images
Laura Boushnak and Nariman El-Mofty
The New York Times
“Gaza’s Injured Children”
Judges: Courage in conflict is often measured in proximity to the front lines, but Nariman El Mofty and Laura Boushnak remind us that bravery also lies in bearing witness to survival. In documenting the lives of Palestinian children evacuated from Gaza, El Mofty and Boushnak capture not just what has been lost, but what refuses to be taken: innocence interrupted, but not erased.
THE OLIVIER REBBOT AWARD
Best photographic news reporting from abroad in any medium
Sponsor: David Ake
Samar Abu Elouf
The New York Times
“Out of Gaza”
Judges: The quality of the images is exceptional, with Abu Elouf’s sensitive and wrenching portraits capturing the almost unimaginable cost of the war on human lives, particularly children. The photographs are not just a testament to the resilience of the human spirit but also a reminder of the devastating consequences of conflict.
THE DANISH SIDDIQUI AWARD
Best feature photography on an international theme published in any medium
Sponsor: Reuters
Moises Saman
The New Yorker
“The Fall of the Assad Regime”
Judges: Saman followed relatives hunting for traces of survivors of the Sednaya prison complex and followed a grim trail of evidence left behind by Assad’s government at morgues, mass graves and funerals. The work is a stark but unflinching record of more than a decade of violence largely hidden from the public eye, and an important historic record of this turbulent chapter of Syrian history.
Books
THE CORNELIUS RYAN AWARD
Best non-fiction book on international affairs
Sponsor: Norman Pearlstine in honor of Scott Kraft
Sune Engel Rasmussen
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
“Twenty Years”
Judges: A deeply reported and even-handed account of the Afghanistan War’s impact on the lives of ordinary Afghans of all stripes – rather than on diplomats, generals and politicians. This extremely well-written work is especially sensitive to the draconian results of the final Taliban victory on Afghanistan’s female population.
Cartoons
THE BEST CARTOON AWARD
Best print or digital graphic journalism, including cartoons, on international affairs
Sponsor: Mercedes-Benz
Amy Kurzwell
Los Angeles Times
“Op-comic: A Palestinian, an Israeli and a Path to Peace”
Judges: Amy Kurzweil’s entry, written in a graphic novel format, eschews satire but effectively illustrates the hideous pain, frustration and anger felt by human beings gravely affected by war in the Middle East. The piece, written in close counsel with her subjects, stares at the reality of barbarism – then, touchingly, seeks a way forward.
The Overseas Press Club of America is an international association of journalists based in New York City that works to encourage the highest standards in journalism, to educate the next generation of foreign correspondents and to promote international press freedom and the well-being of colleagues in the field.