Amanda Bennett, best known for her award-winning leadership in investigative reporting at The Wall Street Journal, The Oregonian, and Bloomberg News, received the National Press Club’s most esteemed prize, the Fourth Estate Award, at a Press Club gala in her honor on October 17, 2019 in Washington, D.C. Bennett is the 47th recipient of the award, which recognizes journalists who have made significant contributions to the field.
The Fourth Estate Award is the top honor bestowed on a journalist by the National Press Club Board of Governors. Previous winners include Marty Baron, Dean Baquet, Wolf Blitzer, Gwen Ifill, Andrea Mitchell, Bob Woodward, Jim Lehrer, Walter Cronkite, Christiane Amanpour, and David Broder.
The Neil and Susan Sheehan award for investigative journalism was given to Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald for her work exposing Jeffrey Epstein.
Brown’s work revealed a decade-old secret plea bargain that hid the scope of accusations against Epstein and denied the young women he victimized their day in court. The Herald’s series – “Perversion of Justice” – led to a federal sex trafficking indictment against Epstein and the resignation of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta for his past role in the deal.
The evening also featured the John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award winners: Aasif Sultan, a journalist with the Kashmir Narrator magazine who has spent a year in jail for his reporting, and POLITICO reporter Mackenzie Mays for her dogged pursuit of the truth in the face of harassment while reporting for McClatchy’s Fresno Bee.
The gala dinner is a fundraiser for the Club’s nonprofit affiliate, the National Press Club Journalism Institute, which advocates for press freedom worldwide, equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire civic engagement, and provides scholarships to aspiring journalists.
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- The 2019 Fourth Estate Award Gala Dinner honoring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Amanda Bennett was held at at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. on October 17, 2019. (Photo by Melissa Lyttle)
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- The 2019 Fourth Estate Award Gala Dinner honoring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Amanda Bennett was held at at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. on October 17, 2019. Politico reporter Mackenzie Mays, was one of this year’s John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award winners. (Photo by Melissa Lyttle)
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- The 2019 Fourth Estate Award Gala Dinner honoring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Amanda Bennett was held at at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. on October 17, 2019. Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie K. Brown, center, listens to the speeches from the head table. (Photo by Melissa Lyttle)
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- The 2019 Fourth Estate Award Gala Dinner honoring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Amanda Bennett was held at at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. on October 17, 2019. Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak, the 2019 National Press Club President, emcees. (Photo by Melissa Lyttle)
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- The 2019 Fourth Estate Award Gala Dinner honoring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Amanda Bennett was held at at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. on October 17, 2019. Barbara Cochran, National Press Club Journalism Institute Board of Directors President helped emcee the event. (Photo by Melissa Lyttle)
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- The 2019 Fourth Estate Award Gala Dinner honoring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Amanda Bennett was held at at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. on October 17, 2019. Sandy Rowe, former editor of the Oregonian, talks about hiring and working with Amanda Bennett. (Photo by Melissa Lyttle)
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- The 2019 Fourth Estate Award Gala Dinner honoring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Amanda Bennett was held at at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. on October 17, 2019. Greta Conway Van Susteren, left, applauds the honorees. (Photo by Melissa Lyttle)