$2,500 AWARD
W.M. Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award
Award Established 1983

Dorothy Butler Gilliam, the first African American woman reporter at The Washington Post and a long-time mentor in the journalism industry, has won the 2023 W.M. Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award from the National Press Foundation.

The NPF judging panel said Gilliam, 87, “cracked glass ceilings” and fought her entire life “to preserve the values and the virtues of journalism.”

Gilliam started her career at Black weeklies, including the Louisville Defender, the Tri-State Defender and JET magazine, before joining the Washington Post in 1961 as a reporter on the city desk.

She served as the president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) from 1993 to 1995 and taught journalism at American University and Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Gilliam accepted the award and $2,500 prize at the National Press Foundation’s 41st Annual Awards Dinner on Feb. 15, 2024.


During more than 50 years of reporting, editing and publishing, W. M. Kiplinger (1891-1967) maintained the highest standards of journalistic integrity, performance and dedication to his profession. He was a pioneer of modern newsletter journalism and economic and political forecasting (in The Kiplinger Washington Letter, 1923), and personal-finance advice (in the Kiplinger Magazine, 1947).

W.M. Kiplinger ~ 1923

Kiplinger was passionate about reader engagement and service, and his analysis was nonpartisan and devoid of wishful thinking. He believed that “a good reporter is the noblest work of God.”

Today, the Kiplinger organization, a division of Future LLC in the U.K., publishes business forecasts and personal finance advice in The Kiplinger Letters, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine and on Kiplinger.com.

The W. M. Kiplinger Award, named in his honor in 2002, recognizes persons who have, through their vision and leadership, strengthened American journalism and furthered the efforts to establish the highest quality in American journalism. The award winner participates in NPF’s annual awards event. Applications are not accepted for this award.


Scott Simon, host of National Public Radio’s “Weekend Edition Saturday” and one of the nation’s most-admired broadcasters, accepted the 2022 W.M. Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award at NPF’s annual awards dinner in Washington, D.C. February 23, 2023.

NPF’s judges noted Simon’s lifetime achievements in journalism. The Chicago native has reported from all 50 states and five continents, covered 10 wars and published both nonfiction books and novels. He has won Emmy and Peabody awards and is a special contributor to CBS Sunday Morning.

Simon has also mastered the transition to digital media, writing the “Simon Says” blog and acquiring more than a million Twitter followers.


Paul E. Steiger and Richard Tofel were winners of the 2021 W.M. Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award creating a new model of nonprofit journalism at ProPublica.

W.M. Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award
Award value
$2,500
Award established
1983