2022 Fourth Estate Award Gala

Ticket sales have ended and the event is at capacity. You can learn more about the program in this visual guide, which includes information about the evening, honorees, and sponsors. Please email us at [email protected] for more information.

Clarissa Ward, CNN's multi-award winning chief international correspondent based in London, will receive the National Press Club’s most esteemed prize, the Fourth Estate Award, at a gala in her honor on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022.

The award recognizes journalists who have made significant contributions to the field.

The 2022 Fourth Estate Award Gala will take place at the National Press Club, with Ward joining us to accept her award. Guests in the Washington, D.C., area can join us in person for an elegant dinner and black-tie celebration in the ballroom of the National Press Club. Tickets are available for purchase here.

Doors will open at 6:30. Dinner and program will begin at 7:30 p.m. Ticket-holders will receive information and updates via email prior to the event.

The gala promises to be a special night to celebrate and support great journalism. Ward will be the 50th recipient of the Fourth Estate Award, which recognizes journalists who have made significant contributions to the field. Previous winners include Lester Holt, Susan Zirinsky, Marty Baron, Dean Baquet, Wolf Blitzer, Gwen Ifill, Andrea Mitchell, Amanda Bennett, Walter Cronkite, Christiane Amanpour, and many others.

The evening also will honor the winners of the John Aubuchon Press Freedom Awards, Rana Ayyub and Josh Renaud. Ayyub is an investigative journalist living in India and a Washington Post Global Opinions contributor. Her journalistic work and criticism of the Indian government has been met with an assault on her rights and freedom of expression. Renaud is a Missouri reporter who designs interactive journalism projects for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He was threatened by the Missouri governor with criminal charges for uncovering a security flaw in a state database.

PBS Frontline will be recognized as the 2022 Neil and Susan Sheehan Award for Investigative Journalism honoree.

The fundraiser, attended by hundreds of journalists and media luminaries, raises a large portion of the operating expenses for the National Press Club Journalism Institute, the Club’s nonprofit affiliate. The Institute provides training, promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy.

About the gala

Tickets are sold out. Please email us at [email protected] to be placed on a waitlist.

Tickets to the in-person gala at the National Press Club are:

• $150 for National Press Club members (maximum four per member)
• $300 for the public (no maximum)

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., with dinner and the program starting at 7:30 p.m.

COVID-19 Safety Guidelines

The National Press Club wants to ensure the evening is comfortable and safe. We encourage everyone attending, if possible, to administer an at-home COVID-19 test before coming to the event. We will not ask to see a negative test at the door, but we believe this will give everyone additional peace of mind before enjoying an evening of delicious food, drinks and socializing. Masks are optional. The Club will update these guidelines as needed.

Getting to the National Press Club

The National Press Club is located at 529 14th St. NW, the entrance at the corner of F & 14th Streets NW, in downtown Washington. The club is upstairs on the 13th floor of the National Press Building.

Thank you to our generous sponsors

Platinum Sponsor

CNN

Gold Sponsors

Al Jazeera | Bloomberg | Spectrum News

Silver Sponsor

Northrop Grumman

Bronze Sponsors

American Press Institute | Bell | Bloomberg Government | Toyota | UPS | The Washington Post

Patron Sponsors

Axios | Ballard Spahr | CRAFT Media | Digital | E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University | Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma | Global Situation Room | GM Defense | L3Harris Technologies | SKDK | Syngenta

For information on sponsorship opportunities, please email [email protected].