Izzy Award Ceremony held at Ithaca College to recognize independent media

On April 30, the 17th annual Izzy Award Ceremony was back in person at Ithaca College after being held via Zoom for six years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The awards were presented by Ithaca College’s Park Center for Independent Media. The 2025 awards recognized the work of Jewish Currents and San Francisco Public Press along with journalists Steve Mellon, Maximillian Alvarez and Mohammad Mhawish. Students, faculty, journalists and Ithaca community members attended the ceremony.

The Izzy Awards honor the legacy of I.F. “Izzy” Stone, the muckraking journalist known for speaking out against racial bigotry, McCarthyism and government deceit. The award is given to journalists, publications and producers that practice independent media outside of the commercial newsroom. The 2025 Izzy Award Ceremony was held in Ithaca College’s Emerson Suites.

Independent outlet, Jewish Currents, was recognized for providing coverage of Gaza and its related injustices, inequalities and threats to democracy, both foreign and domestic. Jewish Currents’ work highlights the greater Israel-Palestine issue prior to President Trump’s second term.

Founding director of PCIM, Jeff Cohen, presented the award to senior reporter of Jewish Currents, Alex Kane. Kane spoke as a representative of the publication. He said it is an inspiration to have been recognized for an award named after Izzy Stone.

“People may not know that one of the high points of Izzy Stone’s journalistic career was his vivid, week-after-week on-the-ground coverage of the Jewish displaced persons, survivors of the Nazi Holocaust, who fled to what is now Israel,” Cohen said.

In his speech, Kane said there is a parallel between McCarthy’s anti-communist crusade of the 1950s and the current wave of repression toward anti-Palestinian activists in the United States. In reference to Izzy Stone’s 1954 critique, “But it’s not just Joe McCarthy,” Kane said the Biden administration laid the groundwork for Trump’s anti-Palestinian ideology.

“Indeed, if Izzy Stone were writing today, he could easily title his column: it’s not just Donald Trump,” Kane said.

​​Kane ended his speech by saying that the United States has been subject to forces of oppression spawning from those in power. In these cases, democracy and civil liberties are under threat.

“We don’t yet know how this story will end,” Kane said. “But I know that Jewish Currents will continue to chronicle these dangerous attacks and write the first draft of history.”

The San Francisco Public Press was also recognized at the event. This outlet investigated the non-consensual, unethical radiation experiments on the public done by the U.S. Navy in their eight-part investigative series titled “Exposed.”

Maya Schenwar — director of the Truthout Center for Grassroots Journalism — and Lara Witt — editor-in-chief at Prism — presented the award. Schenwar said San Francisco Public Press’ work embodies why social justice driven journalism is essential.

“Michael [Stoll] talked about how this reporting came to be after 24 years of carrying around milk crates of records and seven years of reporting work,” Shenwar said. “Hearing how this came together really proves how crucial independent media outlets are to the communities that need them.”

Authors Rebecca Bowe and Chris Roberts, and Michael Stoll, senior editor and co-founder of San Francisco Public Press, accepted the award on behalf of the publication. Roberts said the project was motivated by the team’s shared outrage over how the people entrusted with power can make unethical decisions.

“When immersing yourself in local accountability journalism, never forget that it matters to the human beings,” Stoll said. “Even with many of the victims long gone, their stories can help our democratic society from repeating the same mistakes.”

During his acceptance speech, Roberts said the project failed because there are more radiation experiments beyond what the San Francisco Public Press had covered within the U.S. Navy. He said that there is more work to be done to uncover the full story and that the Navy simply scratches the surface.

“The job isn’t done,” Roberts said. “Maybe someone listening to this will finish it, maybe they’re not even born yet. Whoever it is and wherever you are, I’m in your corner and I’m cheering you on.”

Alvarez — editor-in-chief of The Real News Network — and Mellon of Pittsburgh Union Progress were recognized for their collaborative work in exposing the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio and its effect on the health and safety of community members.

Eleanor Goldfield — associate producer and co-host of the Project Censored Show — introduced Alvarez and Mellon. Goldfield said that in their short documentary, “Trainwreck in Trump Country,” it is clear that Alvarez and Mellon are on the side of the people, not the train barrons.

“We keep us safe,” Goldfield said. “We have far more in common with each other than any of us has in common with our so-called leaders.”

Alvarez and Mellon focus on the human-aspect of derailment effects. Alvarez said the people of East Palestine have been overlooked and forgotten by those in power so they are paying the unimaginable price years after the derailment occurred Feb. 3, 2023. He said as independent thinkers it is their mission to serve the people, not the powerful.

“We’re not just here to keep people better informed about the world as it burns around them,” Alvarez said. “We are here to help them see that they are the ones who are going to save it.”

Since October 2023, Mellon has been on strike with the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, protesting unfair labor practices. Since Once the strike began, Mellon has stepped away from corporate journalism — and a paycheck. Mellon began his acceptance speech by saying some names of those who were affected by the derailment, and how they did nothing to deserve the consequences they are forced to endure.

“These are working class people who lived complex and extraordinary lives,” Mellon said. “And then came the train derailment. The derailment was a result of carelessness by a billion dollar company, Norfolk Southern. They have since moved on.”

The final award of the evening was presented to Mohammad Mhawish. Mhawish is a Palestinian journalist born and raised in Gaza. His work covers first-hand experiences surrounding the ongoing violence in Gaza. Mhawish was unable to attend the event, but a pre-recorded acceptance speech was shown.

The award was presented by Robin Andersen, Izzy Award judge and professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University. Anderson said Mhawish covered the first phase of the war from the ground before he fled Gaza for his family and his safety.

Mhawish said every story that is published feels like an act of defiance. He said journalists will keep telling stories and their voices still matter. He said that in Gaza, the conditions for journalists have become more dangerous than anywhere in the world.

“Journalism is not just about telling the story of survival,” Mhawish said. “It is, itself, a form of survival.”