Charles Lewis receives I.F. Stone medal

The Investigative Reporting Workshop’s own Charles Lewis is receiving a major award for his support of investigative journalism.

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University is honoring Lewis, IRW’s founding executive editor, with the 2018 I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence. The award honors investigative reporter I.F. Stone and goes out annually to a journalist whose work captures the spirit of journalistic independence, integrity and courage that characterized I.F. Stone’s Weekly.

“For nearly four decades, Chuck Lewis has worked to uncover government corruption, cronyism cover-ups and crimes,” said Florence Graves, chair of the medal selection committee, in a press release. “He has worked tirelessly to raise funds to help others do the same and to protect the independence of their work, free from the constraints of news organizations beholden to special interests.”

Lewis said he was grateful for the award.

“I am deeply honored to receive the I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence,” he said. “Special thanks to the distinguished members of the selection committee, chaired by the great journalist Florence Graves, and to the sponsoring institution for the award, the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University.”

Lewis got his start in TV as a producer at ABC News and CBS News’ “60 Minutes.” He went on to found two Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit news organizations, the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity in 1989, and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in 1997.

Lewis also has written multiple books on corruption, including “The Buying of the President 2004,” a New York Times bestseller. His most recent book is “935 Lies: The Future of Truth and the Decline of America’s Moral Integrity,” which explores the ways the government and corporations manipulate the truth.

Lewis’ work carries on the proud tradition of I.F. Stone, speaking truth to power, and prompting fact-finding hearings and important reforms, Graves noted.

“I’ve always regretted that I never met I.F. Stone,” Lewis said. “As long as I’ve been a professional journalist, I have always admired his fiercely independent, courageous truth-telling. So this award is very, very special to me.”

Lewis will receive the award at a ceremony in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 3.