The non-governmental advocacy group National Endowment for Democracy earlier this week (September 18th) honored three international journalists and a press freedom organization for their efforts to spread free speech and decrease political control over media.  VOA's Tony Budny has the story.  

Kavi Chongkittavorn

NED presented its annual Democracy Award to Chongkittavorn, Egyptian publisher Hisham Kasem the late Russian investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, and the Venezuelan-based Instituto Prensa y Sociedad [IPYS or Press and Society Institute].

Hisham Kasem

Ewald Scharfenberg

Elena Milashina

Democratic Party Congressman Tom Lantos praised  Politkovskaya's coverage of the conflict in Chechnya. "We are here to honor a true hero of democracy, human rights, free journalism, and a lover of Russia, was cut down at a very young age because of her unbelievable courage and her willingness to put her life on the line."

Milishina said, in Russia, reporting has meaning beyond journalism. "It's not something brave, but in our country, telling the truth becomes one of the bravest things."

Each individual honored showed that even doing what may seem like a simple job can influence the lives of many.