Events

Kazhakstan journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov, 2012 Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism, will be here to talk about investigative journalism and his recent near-fatal assault in retribution for his reporting. Lukpan is an investigative reporter whose stories into official corruption and human rights abuses have made him the target of intimidation. In April of this year, he was badly beaten and stabbed eight times. Though the case is being investigated as an attempted murder, no arrests have been made.

Akhmedyarov's talk at the Journalism School is free and open to the
public. Translation will be provided by M.S. student Anastassia Smorodinskaya. Lukpan's visit to the United States is part of a two-city tour: after his talk at Columbia, he'll travel to Washington DC where he'll receive the Peter Mackler Award at the National Press Club. The Award is sponsored by the Peter Mackler Foundation, the US branch of Reporters Without Borders and the Global Media Forum.