Gvantsa Jobava, President of the International Publishers Association said: The freedom of expression, the freedom to publish and the freedom to read are a trinity of freedoms that unite everyone in the book sector and it is fitting to be celebrating our first IPA Freedom of Expression Defenders Award winner surrounded by our book sector peers at the Frankfurt Book Fair. We must all bring the inspiration of the Media Coalition and the other shortlisted nominees back home with us and redouble our efforts to stand up for the freedoms that are important not only to the book sector but for our societies.
Jessica Sänger, Chair of the IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee said: The Media Coalition exemplifies the kind of initiative we are looking to celebrate with this prize. It is established in a country with strong constitutional protections but brings together a broad array of organisations to remain vigilant and resist erosion of the freedom of expression when necessary. Their long-standing commitment, diligent work and consistent success are phenomenal. They have not sought the limelight, but we believe that the Media Coalition should serve as an inspiration for others.
Commenting on the win, David Horowitz, Executive Director of the Media Coalition said: On behalf of the members of Media Coalition, it is a great honor to accept the first ever Freedom of Expression Defenders Award. I extend my deep gratitude to International Publishers Association for recognizing our work, and I send a very special thank you to coalition member Association of American Publishers, and it’s President and CEO Maria Pallante, for nominating us. Our coalition was founded in 1973 to bring together organizations representing publishers, booksellers, authors, librarians and other media, to work with a single voice to fight censorship. This commitment to act as a united force, combined with the expertise and experience of our staff, has allowed us to achieve an outstanding record of success in the many lawsuits we have brought defend free expression. Today’s honor is a testament to the strength of this enduring and evolving coalition, and provides welcome encouragement as we continue this critically important fight in an increasingly difficult environment.
About the Media Coalition, United States of America
The Media Coalition is a small, nonprofit legal organization in the United States that has been enormously instrumental to defending freedom of expression in U.S. courts, including the Supreme Court, since 1973. In recent years, it has become even more indispensable as insidious and frequent challenges have emerged, many of them at the state level, that would constrain the constitutional trifecta of the First Amendment: the freedoms to publish, write, and read.
The Media Coalition organises and brings litigation with and on behalf of its members, which include the Association of American Publishers (AAP); Independent Book Publishers Association, American Booksellers for Free Expression; Authors Guild; Comic Book Legal Defense Fund; Entertainment Software Association; Freedom to Read Foundation (a group representing libraries and librarians); and the Motion Picture Association. The Media Coalition is also a frontline advocate in monitoring and opposing state and federal legislation that would undermine freedom of expression, from prior restraint of publication to censorship of reading.
The succinct mission of the Media Coalition is to defend “the American public’s First Amendment right to have access to the broadest possible range of information, opinion, and entertainment.” Its Executive Director David Horowitz, an expert attorney in the field, works closely with the attorneys of the Coalition’s member organizations—and with law firms across the country—to strategically file and respond to lawsuits that frontally affect publishers, authors, bookstores, libraries, filmmakers, students, and other stakeholders in the business of human expression.
The Media Coalition’s small stature and nonprofit budget make its exceptional contributions even more remarkable.
Examples of their work include:
– securing the dismissal of petitions to classify A Court of Mist & Fury (Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury) and Gender Queer (Maia Kobabe, Simon & Schuster) as obscene under state law (the first such petitions filed in the U.S. in decades. The court dismissed the petitions, declaring the two books not obscene and further holding that the Virginia law is unconstitutional as a prior restraint and for violating due process protections. The Association of American Publishers comment on this critical win can be found here.
– in the 2023 case of Book People v. Morath (formerly Book People v. Wong), the Media Coalition partnered with two Texas book stores to challenge a vast and burdensome state law that would require book vendors and publishers to review and rate millions of books and other library materials according to sexual content if those books are sold to school libraries, and to do so according to vague labels dictated by the state without any process for judicial review. The judgement, under appeal, held that the law unconstitutionally compels speech, is void for vagueness, and acts as a prior restraint.
– In the 2023 case Fayetteville Public Library v. Murray (formerly Fayetteville Public Library v. Crawford County, Arkansas), the Media Coalition challenged a state law that would have subjected librarians and bookstore owners to criminal prosecution for making materials available on library and bookstore shelves that could be deemed harmful to younger minors and mandated a library book challenge procedure in public libraries whereby individuals may challenge books based on “appropriateness.” The Media Coalition’s legal leadership led the court to declare the law unconstitutional, permanently enjoining it as it is overbroad and void for vagueness. The state has now appealed the decision, and the MC is actively defending the lower court’s definitive and clearly worded opinion.
The other shortlisted nominees, announced in September were:
Penguin Random House Intellectual Freedom Taskforce, United States of America
Founded in May 2023 with CEO Nihar Malaviya’s sponsorship and chaired by Skip Dye, SVP Institutional Markets and Digital Strategy, the Penguin Random House Intellectual Freedom Taskforce brings together twenty-five employees across divisions to address growing threats to intellectual freedom across the publishing landscape. The taskforce covers legal strategy, legislative engagement, public awareness, and author support, and has spearheaded initiatives like the annual Banned Wagon, bringing banned books and resources to bookstores and libraries across the U.S.
Sovlab (Soviet Past Research Laboratory), Georgia
Since 2010, Sovlab, or the Soviet Past Research Laboratory, has remained a leading Georgian Organization dedicated to researching Georgia’s Soviet totalitarian past and countering the weaponization of memory by Russian disinformation. Despite political pressure, Sovlab has conducted independent research, organized public events, and published over twenty books and articles to challenge misinformation about anti-communist resistance, political repression, and the Soviet occupation of Georgia.
StraightForward Foundation / ”Geradeaus” e.V., Germany
“Geradeaus” e.V., also known as StraightForward, was founded in 2023 to support persecuted Russian artists, particularly those affected by censorship, forced displacement, or loss of professional livelihood, and of promoting freedom of expression, human rights, intercultural understanding, and civic engagement through literature, education, and cultural production. StraightForward helps artists develop new manuscripts on topics banned by the Kremlin and has produced nine books translated in eleven languages.
Turkish Journalists Association, Türkiye
Founded on June 10, 1946, as the country’s first professional press organization, the Turkish Journalists Association is a public-interest professional body with nearly 4,000 members. Since its inception, the Association has worked to remove obstacles to freedom of the press and freedom of expression, and to safeguard the public’s right to access news and learn the truth. It defends the professional rights of journalists, fosters solidarity against rights violations and aims to enable journalists of all political persuasions to practice their profession and deliver news to citizens.
About IPA’s Freedom to Publish Awards
The IPA Freedom of Expression Defenders Award is one of three IPA awards managed by the IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee.
The IPA Freedom of Expression Defenders Award
The IPA Freedom of Expression Defenders Award recognizes companies or organisations related to the book sector who have demonstrated their commitment to the freedom of expression, the freedom to publish and the freedom to read in their activities. An example might be a coalition who fought against restrictive laws, or an organization that organizes an event to raise awareness about the above-mentioned freedoms.
The IPA Prix Voltaire
Prix Voltaire nominees are publishers – individuals, groups or organizations – who have typically published controversial works amid pressure, threats, intimidation or harassment, be it from governments, other authorities or private interests. Alternatively, they may be publishers with a distinguished record of upholding the values of freedom to publish and freedom of expression. For the purposes of the IPA Prix Voltaire, the definition of ‘publisher’ is an individual, collective or organization that provides others with the means to share their ideas in written form, including via digital platforms.
The IPA Prix Voltaire Special Award
Periodically, the IPA Freedom to Publish Committee may confer the Prix Voltaire Special Award, a posthumous honour for individuals who have died recently for exercising their freedom of expression. The aim of the award is to give visibility to the laureate’s exceptional engagement for freedom of expression and expose how he or she was silenced. The award should promote the laureate’s legacy and support their family, friends and supporters, if necessary, by helping to ensure that the laureate and their case are not forgotten.
Recipients have typically demonstrated a courageous commitment to freedom of speech through lives spent writing, publishing, or in activism, and have been murdered, put to death, or lost their life in prison.
