Women's Media Awards Announce 2017 Honorees

The Women's Media Center announces our host and honorees for the 2017 Women's Media Awards, to be held on October 26, at Capitale in New York City.

We will be giving awards to Maria Hinojosa, April Ryan, María Elena Salinas, and Gail Tifford, and also recognizing the film "Hidden Figures." And we will be celebrating the landmark 80th birthday of our co-founder Jane Fonda.

Maya L. Harris, lawyer, MSNBC analyst, senior policy adviser to the 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, and former board co-chair of the Women's Media Center, will host this event for the first time.

"Women's Media Awards recognize and honor game-changers for women in media. By deciding who gets to talk, what creates debate, who writes, and what is made visible, media shape our understanding of who we are and what we can become. We are grateful for these 2017 awardees who are creating a better future," said Pat Mitchell, board chair of the Women's Media Center:

Jane Fonda, two-time Academy Award-winning, three-time Golden Globe-winning, Tony Award-nominated actor, and Emmy Award-nominated actor, recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award, producer, bestselling author, advocate, and Women's Media Center co-founder, will be celebrated for her milestone 80th birthday - and for her lifetime of achievements in media, in front of and behind the camera, as a writer, an innovator and an activist.

Maria Hinojosa, four-time Emmy-winning journalist, anchor and executive producer of the Peabody Award-winning "Latino USA" on NPR and of PBS' "America by the Numbers," as well as the founder of the Futuro Media Group, will receive the Women's Media Center Carol Jenkins Award.

April Ryan, White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks, news blogger for "Fabric of America," CNN political analyst, and award-winning author, will receive the Women's Media Center She Persisted Award.

María Elena Salinas, Peabody, Walter Cronkite, Emmy, and Gracie Award-winning long-time anchor of "Noticiero Univision," author, philanthropist, and spokesperson for "Ya Es Hora," will receive the Women's Media Center Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award.

Gail Tifford, vice president of Media NA and global digital innovation for Unilever, co-founder and executive sponsor of GALvanize@ Unilever Women's Network, and co-founder of #Seeher, will receive the Women's Media Center Marketing for Change Award.

And we will also be celebrating the historic 2016 Oscar-nominated and SAG Award-winning feature film "Hidden Figures."

Lauren Embrey is chair of the Women's Media Awards. Co-chairs are: Loreen Arbus, Abigail Disney, Jane Fonda, Mellody Hobson, Victoria Jackson, Pat Mitchell, Robin Morgan, Susan Pritzker, Bonnie Schaefer, Regina K. Scully, Gloria Steinem, and Mary & Steven Swig. Proceeds from these awards support the work of the Women's Media Center.

"It has never been more clear that media shape our world - by fact-checking or not, by choosing what to report, by deciding who gets to talk, by assuming there are two sides to every issue even when there are more, by employing or not paying writers, by going for numbers and advertisers instead of quality and credibility - and much more," said Gloria Steinem, co-founder of the Women's Media Center. "Media have a lot of power over who we are, what we can become, how we live, and who governs us. That's why the work of the Women's Media Center is even more important than it was a decade ago at our founding."

Julie Burton, president of the Women's Media Center, said: "At a time of political attacks on women's rights and opportunities - and when the important role of the news media is being undermined at the highest level of government - our honorees represent trust, truth, and excellence. Whether in front of the camera or behind it, they tell the real stories of our lives and are champions for all women. We are proud to celebrate them at the Women's Media Awards."

Past WMC honorees include Luvvie Ajayi, Christiane Amanpour, Amma Asante, Laura Bates, Samantha Bee, Ursula Burns, Katie Couric, Sady Doyle, Mona Eltahawy, Sarah Hoye, Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff, Sheila C. Johnson, Maria Teresa Kumar, Laura Ling and Lisa Ling, Lara Logan, Pat Mitchell, Martha Nelson, Soledad O'Brien, Salma Hayek Pinault, Elianne Ramos, Joy Reid, Yanique Richards, Anita Sarkeesian, Regina K. Scully, Mary Thom (posthumously), Marlo Thomas, Barbara Walters, Padmasree Warrior, Lindy West, and Maggie Wilderotter.

Co-founded by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem, The WMC works to make women visible and powerful in media. We train women leaders to be in the media; promote women experts to the media through WMC SheSource; and conduct groundbreaking research and reporting on media inclusion and accuracy. We also feature women's voices and stories on our award-winning radio broadcast and podcast, "Women's Media Center Live with Robin Morgan," and through WMC Features, WMC Fbomb, WMC Speech Project and WMC Women Under Siege.

To buy tickets or for more information about the 2017 Women's Media Awards and the ongoing work of the Women's Media Center, go to www.womensmediacenter.com.