The 2025 Fourth Estate Award Gala took place in the National Press Club ballroom on Dec. 9, 2025, bringing together journalists, communicators, and supporters from around the world to recognize excellence in a year of extraordinary challenges.
The evening honored:
- Robert Costa, national correspondent for “CBS Sunday Morning” and chief Washington analyst for CBS News, Fourth Estate Award
- Ed Mahon, investigative reporter at Spotlight PA, Neil and Susan Sheehan Award for Investigative Journalism
- The Associated Press, John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award (domestic)
- Nine USAGM-affiliated reporters who remain in prison across several authoritarian countries, John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award (international)
You can learn more about the program in this visual guide, which includes information about the evening, honorees, and sponsors. The gala is a fundraiser supporting the National Press Club Journalism Institute, whose work powers journalism in the public interest. You can donate here to support the Institute’s work.
Meet the honorees
Fourth Estate Award
The Fourth Estate Award is the top honor bestowed on a journalist by the National Press Club Board of Governors. Previous winners include: Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei, Christiane Amanpour, Dean Baquet, Marty Baron, Wolf Blitzer, Tom Brokaw, Walter Cronkite, Lester Holt, Gwen Ifill, Andrea Mitchell, Clarissa Ward, Kristen Welker, and Susan Zirinsky.
Robert Costa is a national correspondent for “CBS Sunday Morning” and chief Washington analyst for CBS News. His work at “Sunday Morning” includes coverage of national politics, in-depth interviews with newsmakers, and features on culture, literature and the arts. As chief Washington analyst for CBS News, Costa offers reporting and analysis across CBS News programs.
Costa was named a national correspondent for “Sunday Morning” in February 2025 following three years of contributions to the broadcast, including an exclusive sit-down in the White House residence with President Joe Biden in August 2024. It was Biden’s first interview after he announced his decision to not seek reelection. Costa and colleagues at “Sunday Morning” won an Emmy Award in 2023 for Outstanding Recorded News Program and the show remains the No. 1 Sunday morning program in viewers going on 22 consecutive seasons.
Costa previously served as chief election and campaign correspondent for CBS News. In that role, he focused on coverage of both Republicans and Democrats, with numerous scoops and exclusives during the 2022 and 2024 campaigns. He has also been a regular guest anchor on the CBS Television Network programs “CBS Evening News,” “CBS Weekend News” and “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
John Aubuchon Press Freedom Awards
Named for a former Club president who fervently advocated for press freedom, this award is given each year to one journalist in the United States and one journalist overseas who bravely pushes to disclose the truth in trying circumstances.
The Associated Press was recognized with the domestic John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award for its leadership in defending press freedom and standing for the right of all Americans to speak freely without government retaliation or control. The AP sued the government in February after the administration barred its journalists from covering White House events when the global news organization continued to use “Gulf of Mexico” in its independent reporting, rather than “Gulf of America.”
A U.S. district court in April issued a preliminary injunction ordering the White House to restore AP journalists’ access to events, ruling that the government may not exclude a news organization from events because of the viewpoints expressed. The government is appealing that ruling. Following the April ruling, the White House then introduced a new media policy that would reduce the number of wire service reporters who have regular access and reserve discretion for the press secretary to decide who in the pool participates.
This year’s international award highlights nine USAGM-affiliated reporters who remain in prison across several authoritarian countries. They include:
- Shin Daewe, a Burmese documentary filmmaker and Radio Free Asia (RFA) contributor, has been sentenced to up to 15 years under Myanmar’s Anti-Terrorism Law for purchasing drone equipment used in her reporting.
- Nguyen Lan Thang, a contributor to RFA’s Vietnamese Service, has been sentenced in Vietnam to six years in prison for “spreading anti-state propaganda.”
- Nguyen Tuong Thuy, a contributor to RFA’s Vietnamese Service, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for defaming the Hanoi government.
- Pham Chi Dung, a journalist, blogger, and VOA contributor, sentenced to a 15-year prison term in Vietnam after being convicted of “propaganda against the state.”
- Truong Duy Nhat, a contributor for RFA’s Vietnamese Service’s blog section before his January 2019 abduction in Thailand by police, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for “abusing his position and authority while on duty.”
- Nguyen Vu Binh, a contributor to RFA’s Vietnamese language service, has been sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of propaganda against the state.
- Farid Mehralizada, an Azerbaijani journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), has been sentenced to nine years on politically motivated financial charges.
- Sithu Aung Myint, a commentator for Voice of America (VOA), has been sentenced to three years in Myanmar on charges of “incitement” and “defamation” after criticizing the military junta. Sithu Aung Myint was released on Nov. 30.
Neil & Susan Sheehan Award for Investigative Journalism
This award recognizes work that best reflects the Sheehans’ extraordinary commitment to the principle that a vibrant democracy depends on an informed citizenry and a free press.
Ed Mahon, an investigative reporter at Spotlight PA, reports on addiction treatment and the opioid epidemic in Pennsylvania, one of the states hardest hit by fatal overdoses. Mahon’s ongoing work includes a first-of-its-kind, wide-ranging look at how Pennsylvania county officials spent or are planning to spend tens of millions of dollars they received in opioid settlement money. His reporting has spurred policy changes, created new legal precedent in favor of transparency, and earned national recognition from the Association of Health Care Journalists, Investigative Reporters and Editors, and other organizations.
Photos from the gala
All photos by Melissa Lyttle and Pete Kiehart
Thank you to our generous sponsors!
Gold
Blue Carpet
Silver
Bronze
Spirit
About the National Press Club
Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world’s leading professional organization for journalists. The Club has 3,000 members representing nearly every major journalism organization and is a leading voice for press freedom in the United States and around the world.
About the National Press Club Journalism Institute
The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy. As the nonprofit affiliate of the National Press Club, the Institute powers journalism in the public interest.