Astor Award

The Astor Award

The Astor Award is the Commonwealth’s longest-standing honour recognising exceptional contributions to media freedom, press integrity, and the strengthening of independent journalism across the Commonwealth.

Created by the former Commonwealth Press Union (CPU), the Award has been presented since 1970 to journalists, editors, publishers, organisations, and activists who have demonstrated outstanding courage, service, or leadership in defending free expression.

Today, under the stewardship of the Commonwealth Media Freedom Trust (CMFT), the Astor Award continues to celebrate individuals and organisations whose work embodies the values of free, fair, and independent media. Many recipients have stood up to censorship, challenged injustice, exposed corruption, or strengthened the institutions that protect press freedom at national and Commonwealth levels.

The Astor Award remains a central pillar of CMFT’s mission: to honour those who safeguard the right to know, often at significant personal risk, and to keep alive a legacy of media freedom that spans more than half a century.

Astor Award Recipients

(1970–2023)

1970 — John Spicer, UK

1971 — Mabel Strickland, Malta

1972 — Eugene Watson, UK (Ulster)

1973 — Sir Harry Brittain, UK
Founder of the Commonwealth Press Union

1974 — Sir Vincent Fairfax, Australia
Distinguished service to the Commonwealth Press

1975 — Sepala Gunasena, Sri Lanka
Notable contribution to Freedom of Information

1976 — St Clair Balfour, Canada
Distinguished service to the Commonwealth Press

1977 — C.R. Irani, India
Distinguished service in the cause of Press Freedom in India and globally

1978 — Derek Ingram, UK
Outstanding contribution to Commonwealth understanding

1979 — Donald Tyerman, UK
Distinguished service to the Commonwealth Press

1980 — J.F.W. Hardingham, New Zealand
Distinguished service to the Commonwealth Press

1982 — Glanvill Benn, UK
Outstanding contribution to Commonwealth understanding

1983 — Hon. Leslie Ashenheim, Jamaica
Distinguished services to the Commonwealth Press

1984 — Lyle Turnbull, Australia
Distinguished services to the Commonwealth Press

1985 — Kenneth Gordon, Trinidad & Tobago
Distinguished service in the cause of Press Freedom

1986 — Sir Edward Pickering, UK
Distinguished services to the Commonwealth Press

1987 — Terry Pierce-Goulding, Canada
Devoted service to the Commonwealth Press (Presented posthumously)

1988 — Patsy Robertson, Jamaica
Outstanding contribution to Commonwealth understanding

1989 — Arun Shourie, India
Distinguished service in the cause of Press Freedom

1992 — David de Caires, Guyana
Notable contribution to Commonwealth Press Freedom

1993 — Arnold Raphael, UK
Distinguished service to the Commonwealth Press

1994 — Bayo Onanuga, Nigeria
Outstanding contribution to Commonwealth Press Freedom

1996 — Fred M’membe, Zambia
Outstanding contribution to Commonwealth Press Freedom

1998 — Sano Malifa, Samoa
Outstanding contribution to Press Freedom in the Pacific Islands

2000 — Gilbert Ahnee, Mauritius
Commitment to press freedom in Mauritius

2003 — Kuldip Nayar, India
Legendary journalist and activist in press freedom

2005 — Gavin Ellis, New Zealand
Outstanding commitment to press freedom in New Zealand and the Pacific

2016 — Human Rights Network for Journalists – Uganda
Unstinting support for media freedom

2017 — Pakistan Press Foundation, Pakistan
Five decades fighting for press freedom

2018 — Daphne Caruana Galizia, Malta
Courageous fight against corruption (Presented posthumously)

2021 — Professor Robert Pinker, UK
Outstanding contribution to press freedom across the Commonwealth

2023 — Khabar Lahariya, India
Contribution to media freedom and investigative journalism; commitment to diversity and equality