Media Advisory - The 18th annual CJFE Gala celebrates those defending free expression

December 2, 2015
Carolyn Jarvis and Craig Silverman co-host A Night to Honour Courageous Reporting

TORONTO, Nov. 24, 2015 /CNW/ - Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) will host its 18^th annual gala on December 2. Honourees are Saudi documentary filmmaker Safa Al Ahmad with the International Press Freedom Award and US-based lawyer Jameel Jaffer with the Vox Libera Award. This year, CJFE will also present veteran investigative researcher Ken Rubin with the first-ever CJFE Investigative Award. 

Hosted by Carolyn Jarvis, chief correspondent for Global's 16x9, and Craig Silverman, founding editor at BuzzFeed Canada and Columbia University Fellow, the gala applauds brave journalists and media workers from Canada and abroad who risk their jobs, freedom and often their lives to bring truth to others around the globe.

What:	CJFE Gala: A Night to Honour Courageous Reporting
When:	Wednesday, December 2, 2015 Cocktail reception: 6:00 p.m. Dinner and evening program: 7:00 p.m.
Where:	Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto

CJFE Photo Exhibit 2015: Finding Refuge

CJFE is also proud to present and sell photographs by 21-year-old Hany al Moulia, a Syrian refugee who now lives in Regina, Sask. The stunning images record life in a refugee camp that are both heartbreaking and beautiful. This is a massive accomplishment—he is legally blind from an eye condition called nystagmus. His world is out of focus unless it is 10 centimeters from this face.

Hany fled his home in Syria in 2012 and found temporary safety in a refugee camp in Lebanon, where he was introduced to American photographer Brendan Bannon and, through a United Nations workshop, the joy of photography.

The exhibit, co-sponsored by Aon Hewitt and the Toronto Star, will also showcase photographs from the Syrian refugee crisis donated by some of the world's great photographers, including Brendan Bannon, Ed Kashi, Dalia Khamissy, Andrew McConnell, Dominic Nahr, Alfredo D'Amato and the Associated Press' Muhammed Muheisen. Proceeds from the exhibit will go to CJFE's Journalists in Distress Program, which helps journalists whose life or well-being is threatened, and to support al Moulia and his family.

About Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
CJFE monitors, defends and reports on free expression and access to information in Canada and abroad. Rooted in the field of journalism, CJFE promotes a free media as essential to a fair and open society. CJFE boldly champions the free expression rights of all people, and encourages and supports individuals and groups in the protection of their own and others' free expression rights. For more information, visit cjfe.org

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SOURCE Canadian Journalists for Free Expression

or to request interviews: Ginger Shewell, [phone], [email protected]; Julia Ranalli, [phone], [email protected]