Fordham University celebrated the recipients of the 25th Ann M. Sperber Book Prize on Nov. 11. The prize was awarded to journalists Connie Chung and Ali Velshi. Chung was honored for her book, “Connie: A Memoir,” and Velshi for his, “Small Acts of Courage: A Legacy of Endurance and the Fight for Democracy.”
The Sperber Book Prize is awarded to authors of outstanding biographies relating to media and journalism. Amy Aronson, Ph.D., director of the Sperber Prize and a professor of journalism and media studies at Fordham University, said that this year, Fordham presented a Special Career Achievement Award as a way to recognize the prize’s larger story of journalism in the world.
“We wanted to honor the prize’s history while expanding its reach,” Aronson said. “That rigorous, truth-telling journalism is essential to a healthy democracy — and that the ideals embodied by the Sperber Prize are worth championing.”
Velshi’s book told the story of his family’s journey through numerous countries, eventually ending in Canada and the United States. He wrote about the ways that migration shaped his values in journalism and how his upbringing sparked his passion for democracy.
“That is how a Muslim immigrant of Indian origin whose family made a stop in Africa before finding a home in North America ends up not as an outsider to the story of democracy, but as proof of what it can become,” Velshi said.“This is how we outlive ourselves … by showing up, by speaking truth, by standing up for one another, simply because we can.”
He also described how covering the 2020 civil unrest after the murder of George Floyd, and being shot by a rubber bullet, transformed his understanding of journalism’s role in public life.
“The rubber bullet told me, now you are in this fight. You are not just covering it. You are in the arena,” he said. Velshi told students in the audience that journalism is “the act of standing up for democracy, of bearing truth,” adding, “Our calling as journalists is clear to keep the public properly and honestly and reliably informed so that democracy can stand upright even when everything else seems to be falling apart.”
Chung’s memoir told the story of being a woman in the news industry in the 1960s and facing the discrimination that kept women from moving up as journalists. However, when the 1964 civil rights laws were passed and created the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, women were able to break glass ceilings that were unbreakable before.
“And that’s what changed the tide in the late ’60s. And that’s the wave that I came in on,” Chung said.
Reflecting on the pressures she faced, Chung said she often compensated by mirroring the confidence of men around her. She recalled deciding, early in her career, “I am going to be a white male, too.”
She described wearing four-inch heels to meet men eye to eye, using humor to undercut sexism and developing what she called “a bad potty mouth” as armour against belittlement in the newsroom.
Chung also warned that the journalism industry faces a crisis of trust and corporate interference.
“I am mortified. I am horrified with all the opinion that is expressed that we are not respected as journalists because we do not deserve it,” she said. “These greedy corporations have taken over. The bottom line is the most important thing to them.”
She urged young journalists not to buckle under pressure.
“It is time for us in the news not to kowtow to those who are trying to muzzle us. Truth is important, and there is no value in truth today, except for those who speak out,” she said.
During a Q&A, both honorees emphasized the importance of transparency and moral clarity in service reporting. Velshi encouraged aspiring journalists to focus on the fundamentals.
“To the next generation of journalists who are in this room, your work is to find the human element, to listen more than you talk, to keep learning and to ask the hard questions,” he said.
The ceremony reaffirmed the values that Ann M. Sperber championed, honoring two journalists who have shaped public understanding for decades while underscoring the ongoing fight to preserve a free and trusted press.
