Celebrating our 2023 News Literacy Change-Makers

In recognition of their commitment to news literacy education and contributions to quality journalism, the News Literacy Project has named the recipients of its 2023 educator, journalist and student of the year awards. These exceptional individuals have distinguished themselves as champions for a more news-literate nation and a resilient free press — both of which are essential to protecting our democracy.

Please join us in celebrating our 2023 honorees by exploring the videos, articles and related material on this page to learn more about the those who are leading the way in news literacy.

About Alan C. Miller

Alan C. Miller is the founder and CEO of the News Literacy Project, the largest provider of news literacy education in the country. He was a reporter with the Los Angeles Times for 21 years, spending 19 of them in the paper’s Washington bureau before leaving in 2008 to establish NLP. He has won more than a dozen national reporting honors, including the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. In 2020, Miller was named a Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian magazine. In 2021, he won the AARP Purpose Prize.

About John S. Carroll 

Named for one of the most revered newspaper editors of his generation, the John S. Carroll Journalist of the Year Award is given annually to journalists who have contributed significantly to NLP and its mission. The honorees, who receive $500 and a glass plaque with an etched photo of Carroll, are selected by a committee of NLP board members and staff. During an acclaimed journalism career spanning four decades, Carroll was the editor of three major U.S. newspapers: the Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader, The Baltimore Sun and the Los Angeles Times. He was a founding member of NLP’s board and served as its chair until shortly before his death in 2015.

 About Gwen Ifill 

The Gwen Ifill Student of the Year Award honors the trailblazing journalist — and longtime NLP supporter and board member — who died in 2016. It is presented to female students of color who represent the values Ifill brought to journalism. A highly respected, award-winning journalist, Ifill was the first Black woman to host a national political talk show on television as moderator of Washington Week, and she was a member (with Judy Woodruff) of the first female co-anchor team of a national news broadcast, on PBS NewsHour.

Past honorees 

NLP has honored a journalist each year since 2016, a student annually since 2017 and an educator annually since 2020. Learn more about our previous honorees.

Educator of the Year

• Jamie Gregory, Christ Church Episcopal School, Greenville, South Carolina, 2022
• Kelly Vikstrom-Hoyt, The Overlake School, Redmond, Washington, 2021
• Patricia Hunt, Wakefield High School, Arlington, Virginia, 2020

John S. Carroll Journalist of the Year

• Pierre Thomas, ABC News, 2022
• Alisyn Camerota, CNN, 2021
• Indira Lakshmanan, National Geographic, 2020
• Enrique Acevedo, Univision, 2019
• Wes Lowery, The Washington Post, 2018
• Paul Saltzman, Chicago Sun-Times, 2017
• Tracie Potts, NBC News Washington correspondent, 2017
• David Gonzalez, The New York Times, and Matea Gold, Washington Post national correspondent, 2016

Gwen Ifill Student of the Year

• Alysa Baltimore, Station Camp High School, Gallatin, Tennessee, 2022
• Ana Rodriguez, Archie Williams High School, San Anselmo, California, 2021
• Mirudulaa Suginathan Yamini, Central Middle School, Quincy, Massachusetts, 2021
• Kristen Locker, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, Florida, 2020
• Valeria Luquin, Daniel Pearl Magnet High School, Van Nuys, California, 2019
• Paige Rodriguez and Sophia Fiallo, The Young Women Leadership School of Astoria, New York City, 2018
• Jenari Mitchell, KIPP DC College Preparatory, Washington, D.C., 2017

Related stories:

• Celebrating 2022 News Literacy Change-Makers
• Celebrating 2021 News Literacy Change-Makers
• Celebrating 2020 News Literacy Change-Makers
• NLP’s Journalist of the Year has witnessed harm misinformation can inflict
• News literacy skills help student better understand harm of bias, misinformation
• Student gains knowledge, confidence to help stop misinformation’s spread
• Meet our impressive student of the year finalists