Charles M. Sennott '84 to Receive World Press Freedom Award from James W. Foley Legacy Foundation
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A version of this story originally appeared on the GroundTruth Project website.
Charles M. Sennott '84 will be honored with the World Press Freedom Award by the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation on May 1 in Washington, D.C during the 2024 Foley Freedom Awards.
The ceremony will celebrate the Foundation’s 10-year anniversary honoring the legacy of James Foley '03MFA, a conflict journalist murdered by ISIS in Syria in 2014. Awards are given to honor those who demonstrate moral courage and who share the Foundation’s commitment to free Americans held unjustly captive abroad and to prevent future hostage-taking.
Sennott, founder and editor-in-chief of the GroundTruth Project, worked with Foley as the Executive Editor and co-founder of GlobalPost. Foley was also a student at the UMass Amherst from 1999 to 2003 in the MFA Program for Poets and Writers in the English Department.
In a story on the GroundTruth Project website regarding Sennott's honor, Sennott said, "This is a deep and humbling honor. Jim was an extraordinary journalist and an even better human being who was always focused on compassion for the people who were caught in the middle of the wars he covered in Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere."
Sennott, who has remained close with the Foley family through the last ten years since Foley's death, is an award-winning journalist, best-selling author, and editor with 40 years of experience in international, national, and local journalism.
GroundTruth is dedicated to advancing sustainability, innovation, and equity in journalism worldwide. It launched Report for America and Report for the World, which place reporters in local newsrooms where lack of coverage endangers our democratic system. His career included co-founding GlobalPost, an international news website that included Jim Foley among its correspondents. The organization also celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
“Jim Foley’s dedication to service and to being there on the ground to cover some of the most difficult and dangerous stories in the world has always served as a true North for us at GroundTruth throughout our journey," Sennott said. "I cannot think of a more personally meaningful recognition in journalism than to be part of Jim’s enduring legacy."