Amplifier to be Honored with Lorraine Branham IDEA Award at Mirror Awards Ceremony June 12
Amplifier will be honored with the Lorraine Branham IDEA Award from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications June 12. The award, presented as part of the 17th annual Mirror Awards ceremony, will be accepted by executive director Emily Goulding.
Amplifier describes itself as a nonprofit media lab that designs and distributes work intended to engage people in the creation of a more just, inclusive and sustainable future. Drawing from a diverse portfolio of artists to commission visual storytelling, the lab builds art and media experiments and campaigns with the goal of influencing culture and the national narrative.
“As an organization whose mandate is to amplify voices and movements that may otherwise go unheard, Amplifier could not be more thrilled to receive the 2023 Lorraine Branham IDEA Award from the Newhouse School,” Goulding says.
Amplifier says their experiments are built on a foundation of free and open-source art, the unlimited possibilities within the human-centered design process and the potentials of merging analog and digital technology.
“This recognition by our peers in the media space is deeply gratifying, and furthers our commitment to telling stories that matter, by any medium necessary,” adds Goulding. She will be introduced at the Mirror Awards ceremony by Amplifier board member Anjali Kumar, an advisor, author and attorney.
Amplifier, which is supported by philanthropic partnerships and small donors from across the world, was founded in 2014 by award-winning National Geographic photojournalist Aaron Huey. He has created over 30 stories for the magazine, including several cover stories. Huey’s work has also appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, Smithsonian, and dozens of other publications.
About the IDEA Award
The IDEA Award recognizes a media organization that has worked to promote inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility over the previous year. Specifically, the award acknowledges the hiring and development of leadership talent who create change, both to the organizations they oversee and the content they produce. The award was established in honor of the late Lorraine Branham, the first Black woman to serve as dean of the Newhouse School, who died in 2019.
About the Mirror Awards
The Mirror Awards are the most important awards for recognizing excellence in media industry reporting. Established by the Newhouse School in 2006, the awards honor the reporters, editors and writers who hold a mirror to their own industry for the public’s benefit. Finalists for the competition were announced earlier this month.
The 2023 Mirror Awards ceremony will be held Monday, June 12, at the Edison Ballroom in New York City. Newhouse Dean Mark J. Lodato will preside over the ceremony, which includes the presentation of five juried journalism awards. In addition to the IDEA Award, the Newhouse School will present the Fred Dressler Leadership Award to veteran journalist Judy Woodruff, former anchor and managing editor of the “PBS NewsHour” and now a senior correspondent.