The Ridenhour Book Prize
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Prizes
- Courage Prize
- Book Prize
- Prize for Truth-Telling
- Documentary Film Prize
- Prize for Reportorial Distinction
Book Prize Recipients
Seth Rosenfeld
Seth Rosenfeld has been awarded the 2013 Ridenhour Book Prize for Subversives: The FBI’s War on Student Radicals, and Reagan’s Rise to Power. Rosenfeld has won the Ridenhour Book Prize for his masterful and seamless braiding of investigative research and storytelling dexterity to depict an American government that used its vast resources for partisan political gain under the cloak of protecting the nation from a nebulous external threat. Read more
Ali H. Soufan
Ali H. Soufan has been awarded the 2012 Ridenhour Book Prize for The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda. Soufan is one of America’s leading counterterrorism investigators; with The Black Banners, he has written the definitive history of al-Qaeda, and provides irrefutable evidence that torture is not only antithetical to American values, but produces false and dangerous information. Read more
Wendell Potter
Wendell Potter, the 2011 recipient of The Ridenhour Book Prize, won for Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR is Killing Healthcare and Deceiving Americans, his damning account of how America's health insurance industry manufactures distortion and fear. Potter, who walked away from his lucrative job as head of communications for healthcare giant CIGNA in May 2008, found he could no longer participate in a system that placed profits ahead of patient care, and courageously spoke out against what he had seen and participated in during his thirty-year career. Read more
Joe Sacco
Joe Sacco, 2010 recipient of The Ridenhour Book Prize, won for Footnotes in Gaza, a work of profound social significance, and one that explores the complex continuum of history. At a time when peace in the Middle East has never seemed more elusive, Sacco's illustrations bear witness to the lives of those who are trapped by the conflict. This marks the first time that the Ridenhour judges have awarded the prize to an illustrated book. Read more
Jane Mayer
Jane Mayer, 2009 recipient of the 2009 Ridenhour Book Prize, won for The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into A War on American Ideals, a damning indictment of how the United States made self-destructive decisions in the wake of 9/11 that not only violated the Constitution and American values, but actually hindered the pursuit of Al Qaeda. Read more
James D. Scurlock
James D. Scurlock, 2008 recipient of the Ridenhour Book Prize, is the author of Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit, his disturbing account of America's unsustainable relationship with debt, revealing the vulnerability of the average person to the predatory and unethical lending methods of banks and credit card companies. Read more
ABOUT THE PRIZES
The annual Ridenhour Prizes recognize acts of truth-telling that protect the public interest, promote social justice or illuminate a more just vision of society. These prizes memorialize the spirit of fearless truth-telling that whistleblower and investigative journalist Ron Ridenhour reflected throughout his extraordinary life and career. Each prize carries a $10,000 stipend. For more information, call Taya Kitman at 212-822-0252.
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