The Women's Media Center 2023 Women's Media Awards Honor Mariska Hargitay, Fredricka Whitfield, Karen Lincoln Michel, Emily Ladau, Koritha Mitchell, Akila Radhakrishnan

WMC 2023 Women’s Media Award Honorees (left to right): Mariska Hargitay, Fredricka Whitfield, Koritha Mitchell, Emily Ladau, Karen Lincoln Michel, and Akila Radhakrishnan.

Photo by John Lamparski/Getty.

New York, New York — THE WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER hosted their 2023 WOMEN’S MEDIA AWARDS on October 19^th at the Whitby Hotel in New York City.

The WMC AWARDS were presented to outstanding leaders and champions for women in media. This year’s WMC 2023 Women’s Media Awards honorees were:

Mariska Hargitay, Fredricka Whitfield, Karen Lincoln Michel, Emily Ladau, Koritha Mitchell, and Akila Radhakrishnan.

WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER Co-Founders Jane Fonda, and Robin Morgan, and WMC President & CEO Julie Burton appeared at the gala. WMC Board Chair Janet Dewart Bell, former WMC President Carol Jenkins, WMC Vice Chair Erica González Martínez, and WMC Board member Rebecca Adamson also made appearances at the gala.

The WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER 2023 Women’s Media Award Honorees were:

· Mariska Hargitay, Emmy-winning actor, director, producer, activist, Founder & President of the Joyful Heart Foundation, received the WMC Sisterhood is Powerful Award.

· Fredricka Whitfield, CNN News anchor, received the WMC Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award.

· Karen Lincoln Michel, President of ICT, formerly Indian Country Today, and President and CEO of IndiJ Public Media, received the WMC Carol Jenkins Award.

· Emily Ladau, Disability Rights Activist, author of Demystifying Disability, received the WMC Progressive Women’s Voices IMPACT Award.

· Koritha Mitchell, award-winning author, cultural critic, literary historian, professor of English, received the WMC Progressive Women’s Voices IMPACT Award.

· Akila Radhakrishnan, President of the Global Justice Center, received the WMC Progressive Women’s Voices IMPACT Award.

“The Women’s Media Center’s call to action is simple: We want to see more diverse women, hear more diverse women, and read articles from more diverse women across all media platforms. Our Women’s Media Awards honor champions for women who set the standard for what media should look like when it gives voice to the female half of the country. They are role models, history-makers, and inspiring leaders,” said Julie Burton, President & CEO of the WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER.

Women’s Media Awards Co-Chairs were: Loreen Arbus, Melinda French Gates, Anne Kiehl Friedman, Cindy Holland, Helen LaKelly Hunt, Susan Pritzker, Lynda & Stewart Resnick, Sheryl Sandberg, Regina K. Scully, Alexandra Shiva, Mary & Steven Swig, Darren Walker, Jenny Warburg, and Sophia Yen.

Proceeds from these awards support the work of the WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER.

Past WMC honorees include Luvvie Ajayi, Christiane Amanpour, Amma Asante, Laura Bates, Samantha Bee, Ursula Burns, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Katie Couric, Abigail Disney, Sady Doyle, Mona Eltahawy, Fatima Goss Graves, Maria Hinojosa, Cindy Holland, Sarah Hoye, Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff, Sheila C. Johnson, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Ashley Judd, Maria Teresa Kumar, Laura Ling and Lisa Ling, Lara Logan, Andrea Mitchell, Pat Mitchell, Martha Nelson, Soledad O’Brien, Salma Hayek Pinault, Elianne Ramos, Joy Reid, Robin Roberts, April Ryan, Anita Sarkeesian, Regina K. Scully, Mary Thom, Marlo Thomas, Barbara Walters, Padmasree Warrior, Lindy West, and Maggie Wilderotter.

For more information about the ongoing work of the WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER, go to: www.womensmediacenter.com.

About the WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER (WMC):

Founded by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem, the WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER (WMC) is a feminist organization that works for gender and racial inclusion, representation, and equality in media. The WMC mission is to make diverse women visible and powerful in the media. WMC programs address unequal representation and misrepresentation of women in media through interconnected strategies to: 1) Research, document, and produce reports in the WMC Media Lab that highlight the status of women in U.S. media, equip activists with evidence, and create benchmarks to hold media accountable for sexist and racist coverage;

2) Train women leaders and experts to be effective in media and increase their thought leadership through WMC Progressive Women’s Voices and customized training and leadership programs; 3) Recruit and promote diverse women experts to the media through WMC SheSource; and 4) Investigate, report, and publish original online and on-air journalism to expand diverse women’s voices and representation.

For information about the Women’s Media Center, contact Cristal Williams Chancellor at cristal@womensmediacenter.com.