News for Journalists – Entries Sought, Hacking, Trump and RIP

In the PR World we have a ‘difficult to define’ relationship with journalists – we hate it when they don’t publish our puff pieces and love them to bits when they do.

In any event journalism as an industry is under threat and it is behove upon us as PR Professionals to support and promote the journalism industry upon which we rely more than we will admit.

So, MYPR does a weekly feature on journalists along with giving journalists the OPTION to promote their work via a FREE FEATURED JOURNALIST SUBMISSION on MyPR of their latest article – we are not asking the journalist to just post a few sentences or paragraphs but also to give a personal narrative about their article and why they wrote it.

That submission form is at the bottom of this article or can be found HERE.

In addition to the above MyPR also has a dedicated section where journalists can request the help of an expert.

These articles about journalists popped up this past week:

Journalism Awards:

Renewed Call: Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards 2025 Submission Deadline Approaching!  South Africa’s journalists, the countdown has begun! The deadline for submissions to the prestigious 2025 Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards is fast approaching — March 31, 2025.

Do not let procrastination cost you the recognition you deserve. This is your chance to showcase impactful journalism — whether in investigative reporting, breaking news, feature writing, business and politics, or photojournalism.

There will be no extensions due to the tight judging schedule and the organisational work required ahead of the awards ceremony on Saturday, June 28, 2025.

Tough Times Ahead:

Report details spyware use against Italian activists and journalist: Sophisticated hacking software from an Israeli company with a U.S. affiliate and federal contracts has been used to spy on Italian activists who rescue migrants at sea, a nonprofit that examined their phones said Wednesday.

Toronto-based Citizen Lab said the spyware was developed by Paragon Solutions. The company has held itself out as being ethical and more selective in choosing government clients than peer companies such as NSO Group, one of several punished by the United States for selling to autocratic regimes that used its products against civil groups and opposition politicians.

Romania: Answers needed over surveillance of investigative journalist: On 17 March 2025, journalist Victor Ilie revealed that he had been surveilled for two months in 2023 as part of an investigation launched by the DNA branch in Ia?i, northern Romania. According to documents, Ilie was first followed for two days by DNA operatives in the spring of 2023, while working in the RISE Project editorial office in Bucharest. Ilie was photographed in front of the office, and his phone was tapped for two months by the Technical Service of DNA. Ilie was physically surveilled and followed while with his partner, fellow journalist Luiza Vasiliu.

Veteran journalist Norm Clarke dies at 82: Clarke, known for his trademark eye patch, spent many years at the Rocky Mountain News before moving to Las Vegas.

The Last Days at Voice of America: The gutting of VOA, along with our sister outlets Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was sparked by an executive order from President Donald Trump. The US Agency for Global Media, which oversees the entities, was established by Congress, so a president cannot unilaterally abolish it, but his order effectively halted all operations. The final VOA broadcasts and website updates were on Saturday.

Journalists Under Threat:

Urgently Needed: Immediate Review of State-Funded Legal Support for Magistrate’s Protection Order Against Journalists: In a shocking display of state overreach and misuse of public resources, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development employed an advocate at taxpayers’ expense to assist Magistrate Ezra Morrison in securing an interim protection order against journalists – a process usually aimed at assisting victims of domestic violence and harassment.

Exiled Russian journalists left ‘high and dry’ after US cuts radio funding: Journalists working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty at risk of being stranded without legal status after Trump administration decision. Exiled Russian journalists are being left “high and dry” and at risk of being stranded overseas without any legal status after the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw funding from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).

Jury convicts 2 men of plotting to assassinate an Iranian American journalist in New York: A jury has convicted two men of plotting to assassinate Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad at her home in New York City in a murder-for-hire scheme that prosecutors said was financed by Iran’s government.

The verdict was returned at a federal court in New York on Thursday, ending a two-week trial that featured dramatic testimony from a hired gunman and Alinejad, an author, activist and contributor to Voice of America.

Prosecutors said the convicted men, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, were crime bosses in the Russian mob. Their lawyers argued that they were innocent and trial evidence was flawed.

Ghana journalist awarded $18m in US after suing ex-MP: A US court awarded Ghanaian investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas $18m (£14m) in damages, after a jury said he was defamed by former Ghanaian MP Kennedy Agyapong.

The case stems from comments Agyapong made about Anas after his BBC investigation in 2018 that exposed football corruption in Ghana and elsewhere.

The court heard that Agyapong, among other accusations made on a podcast, had called the reporter a “criminal” and alleged he was behind the murder of fellow journalist Ahmed Suale.

Media rights, journalist groups call on US to protect press freedom after USAGM gutted: The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 27 other press freedom and journalist groups on March 19 in voicing support for a free press, and called on the United States to protect reporters and media workers employed by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM).

Accolades for Journalists:

Meet the journalist who exposed a daring cancer scam: It’s the true-crime case that launched a hit podcast and a Disney-Plus TV series. But for the journalist who exposed the shocking truth it’s not a story she can move on from easily.

Nick McKenzie named Journalist of the Year: The Age has dominated tonight’s prestigious 30th Melbourne Press Club Quill Awards, collecting a record 14 awards including the Gold Quill and Journalist of the Year. It is the best result for The Age since the Quills began in 1995.

The masthead led the charge by Nine’s journalists and editorial teams, with the strength and breadth of journalism at The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Good Weekend, 9News, 60 Minutes and 3AW collecting 18 awards across multiple categories.

The acclaimed Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award was presented to Nick McKenzie – the only journalist to win the Perkin three times in the 49-year-history of the award – for his exceptional body of work exposing the endemic corruption within the CFMEU. The investigation ran across The Age, The Australian Financial Review, 60 Minutes and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Journalist Jatinder Kaur Tur wins Chameli Devi Jain Award: New Delhi, Journalist Jatinder Kaur Tur has been awarded the Chameli Devi Jain Award for outstanding woman media person of the year.

The Media Foundation awarded this year’s Vishwa Nath-Delhi Press Award for Fearless Journalism to Rokibuz Zaman of the Scroll and the Kamla Mankekar Award for Journalism on Gender was given to Priyanka Tupe of Behan Boxx.

Jatinder Kaur Tur won the Chameli Devi Jain Award for her investigative work on human rights violations published in The Caravan.

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