| About
Kurt Schork Kurt Schork was lured to journalism late in his life, and at
the age of 43 he realized his dream of becoming a foreign correspondent.
For much of his career he chose to be a freelance journalist.
He was passionate about his job, and early in his journalism career
he wrote: “War reporting is a privilege. After three years, the grime and gore of combat, the dreadful logic of ethnic hatred are no longer abstractions for me. More important, every day I see the grace and dignity of ordinary people trying to survive under extraordinary circumstances.” – Kurt Schork |
AwardsThe Kurt Schork
Memorial Awards are the only ones that specifically honor the contributions
of freelance journalists covering foreign news and reporters from
the developing world and countries in transition. The goal of the Kurt Schork Memorial Fund, however, is to not only honor, but assist these often overlooked journalists with a $5,000 monetary award that recognizes their contribution to news and provides some financial means to help them continue reporting. |
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| Board
of Directors Sabina Cosic, President Principal Investment Officer, Life Sciences, International Finance Corporation Stephen Jukes, Vice President Dean of The Media School, Bournemouth University Anthony Loyd, Board Member Freelance Journalist, The Times of London Chris Schork, Board Member Family Member John Schork, Board Member Family Member |
Advisory Board
Christiane Amanpour Chief International Correspondent, CNN John Burns London Bureau Chief, The New York Times Thomas Goldstein Frank Russell Chair in Business and Journalism, Cronkite School, Arizona State University Emeritus Professor and Dean, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism Ambassador Richard Holbrooke Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Kifner Editor, The New York Times John Owen Visiting Professor of Journalism, City University of London Chairman, Frontline Forum, London Samantha Power Lecturer in Public Policy Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard University Richard Tait Director, Centre for Journalism Studies, Cardiff University Former Editor-in-Chief, ITN (UK) Martin Langfield Reuters Bureau Chief, New York
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Welcome
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About Kurt Schork Memorial Fund
The Kurt Schork Memorial Fund was created in honor of Kurt Schork, an American journalist who was killed in a military ambush while on assignment for Reuters on May 24, 2000 in Sierra Leone. The Schork family and friends of Kurt Schork, with start-up support from Reuters, established the Fund as a 501(c)(3) organization in March 2001.
It was the work of freelancers and local journalists that Schork valued above all. As a result, Kurt Schork’s friends, colleagues from Reuters and family decided the best way to honor his legacy was to acknowledge those journalists with whom he had a particular bond. The Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism were created to honor fearless freelance news reporting, and those journalists who cannot leave their country when the story becomes secondary to survival. Two annual prizes of $5,000 each are awarded, one to a freelance journalist covering foreign news, and the second to a local journalist in the developing world or countries in transition. The award process is managed by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting in London.
The recipients of the awards are honored at an ceremony each fall in London. The awards are administered by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (iwpr.net), the international media development and publishing non-for profit which is based in the UK, US and South Africa.