The Sidney Hillman Foundation, renowned for honoring journalists who embody investigative rigor and deep storytelling in service of the common good, celebrated its 75th anniversary by awarding the 2025 Hillman Prizes at the Times Center in New York City on May 13, 2025.
Since 1950, the Hillman Prizes have recognized exceptional journalistic work demonstrating discernment, resourcefulness, courage, skill, and impact. This year’s awards showcased some of the most compelling and courageous voices shaping today’s media landscape.
Winners Across Key Journalism Categories
- Book Journalism: Jonathan Blitzer earned top honors for Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America and the Making of a Crisis (Penguin Press), a profound examination of geopolitical dynamics shaping migration and crisis.
- Newspaper Journalism: Jennifer Gollan and Susie Neilson’s gripping investigation, Fast and Fatal, published in the San Francisco Chronicle, took home the prize.
- Magazine Journalism: Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti won for their hard-hitting piece, The Unpunished: How Extremists Took Over Israel, featured in The New York Times Magazine.
- Broadcast Journalism: The Sing Sing Chronicles, a collaboration by Dan Slepian, Dawn Porter, and Kimberley Ferdinando for NBC News Studios & MSNBC Films, was recognized for its powerful storytelling.
- SEIU Award for Reporting on Racial and Economic Justice: Robin McDowell and Margie Mason were honored for Prison to Plate (Associated Press), a revealing investigation into systemic injustices.
- Opinion & Analysis Journalism: Elie Mystal of The Nation won for his Justice Correspondent column, noted for its incisive commentary.
Elie Mystal’s Powerful Acceptance Speech
In his acceptance speech, Mystal captured the essence of journalism’s demands in turbulent times:
“If you feel like you can go to Washington, DC right now and have no chance of getting into a fight, you’re doing it wrong. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the acceptance of fear and doing what we must do anyway. And so I want to thank the Hillman people very much again for this honor.”
The 2025 Hillman Prizes reaffirm the enduring importance of fearless, insightful journalism that challenges power and champions truth—values the Sidney Hillman Foundation has upheld for 75 years.
