Estlow Awards

Estlow Lecture and Anvil of Freedom Award

Each year, the Estlow Center works with industry professionals and academic leaders to select the Estlow lecturer, a media professional or organization that also receives the Anvil of Freedom Award. The recipient serves as a keynote speaker at a University-wide event, and provides learning opportunities for students, faculty, staff and community through classroom visits. These events forge interdisciplinary and cross-institutional connections, while positioning DU as a leader in the exploration of journalism's commitment to ethics, integrity and democratic freedoms.

Past recipients have included longtime White House press corps member Helen Thomas, CBS News broadcaster Bob Schieffer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and long-time editor-in-chief of the Washington Post Katharine Graham, and National Public Radio host Lulu Garcia-Navarro.

• Most Recent Estlow Lecturers

  2024-25: David von Drehle 

  

  In conjunction with Homecoming and the 125th anniversary of DU Clarion, The Estlow Center hosted the 2024-2025 Estlow Lecture and Anvil Freedom Award ceremony, where we honored DU and Clarion alumni David Von Drehle as our award winner and keynote speaker. Von Drehle has earned several awards, including the Livingston Award, the American Society of News Editors Distinguished Writing Award, and the New York Times Notable Book of the Year Award. 

   

  2023-24: Jamelle Bouie

  

  Jamelle Bouie is a columnist for the New York Times and a political analyst for CBS News. He covers history, politics, public policy, elections, and race. Bouie’s political instincts provide audiences with unique insight into the past, present, and future of our national politics, policy, and the state of race relations. As he did while writing for Slate and the Daily Beast, Bouie shares eye-opening perspectives on issues concerning the issues at play in America today.  

  2022-2023: Jeniffer Solis

  

  Jeniffer Solis is an award-winning environmental reporter for the Nevada Current, a nonprofit news outlet focused on state-level policy in the States Newsroom network. A Mexican-American journalist with Hñähñu (Otomí) roots, Solis grew up in Las Vegas and graduated from the University of Nevada in 2017. She has covered climate change stories of local and national significance on various issues, from excessive heat, extreme weather, and environmental justice to human health, infrastructure, and energy. She is especially interested in reporting on Indigenous-led and community-driven conservation efforts. Solis has reported on energy development on unceded sacred sites, growing water pollution on tribal lands, the effects of soaring energy costs on low-income communities, and the Southwest mega-drought. 

  2021-2022: Shaina Harrison

  

  The 2021-2022 Anvil of Freedom Award was presented to Shaina Harrison, Director of Education at New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV). Harrison was presented with the award at a full-day event in support of Institutional Justice, held in partnership with IRISE. 

  Harrison has designed, developed, and led NYAGV Education Fund’s anti-gun violence program for youth (the ReACTION Youth Education Program) since it was first launched in 2001. Since then, she has taught ReACTION to over 5,000 students, engaged youth and communities across New York City and throughout New York State, trained new facilitators within the NYC Crisis Management System, influenced a generation of anti-gun-violence advocates, and emerged as a widely recognized and respected movement leader. Harrison’s strong connection to underserved communities of color and her talent for engaging with youth has made her a sought-after speaker and a highly effective classroom presence. Prior to working at the NYAGV Ed Fund, Harrison was a certified mediator working with the Crown Heights Mediation Center (now called Neighbors In action). She was also a crisis intervener and Youth Court coordinator with the Murry Bergtraum High School and Red Hook Community Justice Center. Harrison holds a B.A. from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. This work has brought her to be featured in The New Yorker, CNN, New York Times, Bet, and People Magazine

  2020-2021: Representative Pat Schroeder

  

  The 2020-2021 Anvil of Freedom Award was presented to former Colorado Congresswoman Pat Schroeder in the Estlow Center's first virtual Anvil of Freedom Lecture. Representative Schroeder spoke with students, alumni and community members about the relationships between media and politics.

  Representative Schroeder represented Colorado’s First Congressional District in the House of Representatives from 1973–1997. During her tenure in the House, she became the Dean of Congressional Women, co-chaired the Congressional Caucus on Women′s Issues for 10 years, and served on the House Judiciary Committee, the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, and was the first woman to serve on the House Armed Services Committee. Representative Schroeder continued her advocacy for protecting intellectual property rights after leaving Congress as President and CEO of the American Association of Publishers from 1997–2008.

  2019-2020: Cindy Carcamo

  

  The 2019-2020 Anvil of Freedom Award was presented to Cindy Carcamo at the first ever Colorado Migrahack. Carcamo spoke to almost 200 attendees at the kickoff breakfast for the Migrahack about her experiences reporting on immigration and the immigrant experience. 

  Cindy Carcamo is a journalist with the Los Angeles Times covering immigration issues. Previously, she was Arizona bureau chief and a national correspondent for The Times, focusing on border and immigration issues in the Southwest. A Los Angeles native, she has reported in Argentina and Mexico during her time as an Inter American Press Assn. scholar and as a reporter for the Orange County Register. She's also reported from Guatemala and Honduras where her coverage was part of a team Overseas Press Club Award. She is also the recipient of the French-American Foundation's 2012 Immigration Journalism Award and was a finalist for the 2012 PEN Center USA Literary Award in Journalism and 2011 Livingston Award. 

  2018-19: Alexander Heffner

  

  The Estlow Center hosted Alexander Heffner as the 2018-2019 Anvil of Freedom honoree and lecturer. Heffner spoke twice to students, faculty and DU community members, lecturing and hosting discussions on "Civil Discourse in an Uncivil Age: The Quest for a Post-Partisan Citizenship" and "The Twitter Effect: Seeing Donald Trump's Tweets in Historical Perspective." Mr. Heffner also signed copies of his most recent edition of A Documentary History of the United States at a reception in his honor. 

  Heffner is host of "The Open Mind" on PBS. He has covered American politics, civic life and Millennials since the 2008 presidential campaign. His work has been profiled in The Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Des Moines Register, Christian Science Monitor, Variety, Medium, and on NBC News, MSNBC, C-SPAN, NPR CNN, BBC and ABC, among other media outlets. His writing has appeared in Time, USA TODAY, Daily Beast, Reuters, RealClearPolitics, NYT's Room for Debate, The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe and Philadelphia Inquirer, among other publications.

  2017–18: Kimberly Kindy

  

  The 25th Anniversary Anvil of Freedom Award was presented to Washington Post investigative reporter Kimberly Kindy. Kindy's name initially came to the attention of the Estlow Center as a news leader in the Post's 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning series on police shootings. The award in the "National Reporting" category — which the Post has won three times in the past three years — recognized the newspaper for "its revelatory initiative in creating and using a national database to illustrate how often and why the police shoot to kill and who the victims are most likely to be."

  Kindy spoke at the Anvil of Freedom luncheon during Real News Day, a day of programming to celebrate journalism and journalists put on by the University of Denver and the Denver Press Club and recognized in a proclamation marking the event by Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. She spoke to a crowd of students, faculty, staff, alumni, community members and representatives of the Denver Post about telling the truth in news, and the fight to keep local, fact-based news alive.

  Recently, Kindy has covered for the Post former congressional staffers who are calling for policy changes and for sexual-harassment training in the U.S. Capitol. She has also reported on the ongoing climate-related crises in Florida and Houston, holding the Federal Emergency Management Agency accountable for keeping its promises to flood and hurricane victims, as well as the scrutiny of Confederate monuments and the rise of white-nationalist movements.

  2016–17: Julianne Malveaux

  

  Julianne Malveaux was selected as the Estlow lecturer and recipient of the University of Denver's 2017 Anvil of Freedom award in recognition of the publication of her book Are we better off? Race, Obama and Public Policy, published in February 2016. This book is a compilation of Malveaux's columns that offer a review of the highs and lows of the Obama presidency from an African American perspective.

  Malveaux gave the breakfast keynote speech at DU's 2017 Diversity Summit. She spoke about the economic outcomes we can expect from the current administration and calling upon journalists to speak for the underrepresented and to aspire to honesty in each publication. She tied the discussion back to the theme of the Diversity Summit, encouraging students and other attendees to speak out and to seek out new voices, asserting that we cannot build better communities if we do not work to communicate better with one another.

  Malveaux is a journalist, author and economist, and has been a regular commentator on CNN, PBS, NBC, BET and FOX, among others, and her columns have appeared in USA Today, Ms. Magazine and more. Her writings provide insights on a range of topics, including the merits of minority-owned businesses and black entrepreneurship, the payday-loan debt system that traps many moderate- and low-income people in poverty, and the societal benefits of a livable minimum wage. For five years Malveaux served as president of Bennett College, which, along with Spelman College, is one of only two historically black all-women colleges. During the election season, Malveaux called for both presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, to address the nation's poor and hungry in their debates.

  2015–16: Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

  

  NPR South America correspondent Lourdes Garcia-Navarro was the recipient of the 2016 Estlow Anvil of Freedom Award for her multimedia piece Look at This: Rain Forest Was Here, which includes photo and audio coverage of how deforestation in the Amazon rainforest might be linked to São Paulo's drought and to worldwide climate change. She served as a keynote speaker for the University of Denver's third annual Internationalization Summit.

  Garcia-Navarro presented Parallel Lives: Stories From an Interconnected World, touching on many of the discussions she had had with students during her visit and speaking of the power of dissent, changing systems the potential impeachment of Dilma Roussef (then Brazil's president), the Zika virus, the Panama Papers leaks and the role of the journalist in it all.

  Garcia-Navarro is based in São Paulo, Brazil. Previously, she served as NPR's correspondent in Israel, reporting on stories throughout the Middle East. Garcia-Navarro received several awards for her work covering the Arab Spring.

Innovative Digital Journalism

Across the United States and around the world, journalism is making strides toward new and innovative democratic engagements, many of which are planned and designed by young people invested in the future of media.

• Journalism Showcase

  New and innovative work in journalism is always happening across the United States and the world. Listed below are some pioneering journalistic ventures that have come to our attention: 

  ProPublica

  ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. ProPublica's Sheri Fink won a 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for her coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina at New Orleans' Memorial Medical Center.

  Open Media Foundation

  The Open Media Foundation exists to put the power of the media and technology in the hands of the people in order to enable every person to engage actively in their community and bring about the change they wish to see in the world. Additionally, it empowers organizations working for social change to leverage new media
 and carry out their mission and vision, providing the classes, personalized training and state-of-the-art equipment necessary to be effective in all areas of media.

  Colorado Media Project

  Colorado Media Project works to better meet the information needs of all Coloradans, by acting as a catalyst and advocate for innovations that make Colorado's local news ecosystem more sustainable, collaborative, and accountable to the public it serves. They develop partnerships and programs designed to increase newsroom capacity, support collaboration, and engage community in the journalism that strengthens our democracy.

  Colorado Public News

  CPN is a donor-funded PBS broadcaster that reports on "Colorado news and issues that are essential for informed citizens to run a healthy democracy and thriving economy." The Colorado Trust has granted Colorado Public News $386,250 over three years for health care reporting and support.

  Project Epic

  Project Epic is a multidisciplinary, multi-university, multilingual research effort to support the information needs by members of the public during times of mass emergency. It brings behavioral and technical knowledge of "computer mediated communication" to the world of crisis studies and emergency response. The project is committed to careful study of socio-technical transformation and building human-centered computation.

• Youth and News

  This list highlights innovative approaches that have been either designed by media organizations to reach out to youth, or planned and designed by young people themselves.

  The Youth Channel

  The Youth Channel is a division of Manhattan Neighborhood Network targeting those younger than 25. It is an alternative to mass media, providing equal access to all young people, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation or social status.

  Manhattan Neighborhood Network's Youth Channel was established in March 2000 to provide disadvantaged, low-income and minority youth access to a quality media forum through which to express creativity, foster dialogue and encourage social and civic participation.

  The Youth Channel strives to build confidence, establish role models, inform, educate and entertain. It empowers youth to create change within their communities and the world. The Youth Channel is run by adults and youth who want to make a difference.

  Youth News Network

  Youth News Network is an Internet-based television program for youth promoting science, technology, nature, history, language, sports and the arts. It is produced by youth for youth. Children and youth learn valuable skills as they contribute as producers, news reporters, researchers, editors, business managers, illustrators, technicians and more. Mentored by experienced instructors, professional journalists and broadcasters, YNN Youth Reporter Teams develop a wide variety of stories.

  Media Justice

  Founded in 2002, Media Justice (formerly the Center for Media Justice) is a national movement-building intermediary to strengthen the communications effectiveness of grassroots social-justice sectors and sustain a powerful local-to-local movement for media rights and access.

  Its mission is to create media and cultural conditions that strengthen movements for racial justice, economic equity and human rights.

  With an office in Oakland, California, and staff in Chicago and New York, CMJ is the only group in the nation that both develops a new generation of leaders and strategies for a 21st-century progressive movement and organizes nationally for media policy solutions to end racism and poverty.

  Center for Parent/Youth Understanding "Youth Culture News" Page

  At a time when an already-confusing youth culture is changing quickly, CPYU helps parents, youth workers, educators and others understand teenagers and their culture so that they will be better-equipped to help children and teens navigate the challenging world of adolescence. The latest news and issues related to youth culture are updated regularly on CPYU's Youth Culture News page. They are posted for purpose of keeping parents and informed as to what is happening in the world of youth culture. Each day, staff scours the Internet and a variety of publications from around the world in order to find the most relevant items.

  Educational Video Center

  The Educational Video Center is a nonprofit youth-media organization dedicated to teaching documentary video as a means to develop the artistic, critical literacy and career skills of young people while nurturing their idealism and commitment to social change. Founded in 1984, EVC has evolved from a single video workshop for teenagers from Manhattan's Lower East Side to become an internationally acclaimed leader in youth media education. EVC's teaching methodology brings together the powerful traditions of student-centered progressive education and independent community documentary.