New York, NY, January 20, 2026 — The Journalism Protection Initiative at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY announced that distinguished journalist Mohammed R. Mhawish has been named a Knight Press Freedom Fellow.
Mohammed R. Mhawish is an award-winning Palestinian writer and journalist from Gaza City. He is a contributor to The New Yorker and New York Magazine, a fellow at Type Media Center, and a contributing reporter to the Palestine Reporting Lab. His reporting and essays have appeared in MSNBC, This American Life, The Economist, The Nation, and Al Jazeera English.
Mhawish’s journalism has provided essential documentation of life in Gaza. His investigation for New York Magazine examining a pervasive surveillance apparatus represents a groundbreaking work of investigative journalism, documenting how technology has transformed daily life in Gaza. He has reported extensively for The New Yorker on the humanitarian crisis, including a detailed account discussed on The New Yorker Radio Hour that highlighted the dangers journalists face while covering the conflict.
“Mohammed Mhawish has produced extraordinary journalism under the most trying circumstances imaginable,” said Joel Simon, the founding director of the Journalism Protection Initiative. “We are delighted to be able to support his ongoing work and welcome him into our community.”
Mhawhish is a recipient of several journalism awards, including the Izzy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Independent Media, the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism, the Neal Conan Prize for Excellence in Journalism, and two awards from the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association. In 2025, he was named Storyteller of the Year by the Institute for Middle East Understanding.
The Knight Press Freedom Fellowship program assists exceptional journalists facing censorship, repression, or threats of violence, with the goal of helping them continue their vital work. During his fellowship, Mhawish will:
- Teach and collaborate with students on investigative projects
- Deliver public talks on press freedom and journalism in conflict zones
- Share expertise on reporting from areas of crisis
- Work with U.S. partners on enhancing physical and digital security measures for journalists
The fellowship program partners with leading journalism institutions including the Knight-Wallace Fellowships at the University of Michigan, the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford, and the Missouri School of Journalism. Mhawish will be hosted at Newmark J-School. Previous Knight Press Freedom Fellows include Gustavo Gorriti (2025), Baktygul Chynybaeva (2024), and inaugural fellow Mikhail Zygar (2023).
The Knight Press Freedom Fellowship program is made possible with support from the Knight Foundation.
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The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY is a public graduate journalism school that prepares students from diverse economic, racial, and cultural backgrounds to produce high-quality journalism. In 2024, the school launched a campaign to provide free tuition, in perpetuity, to all of its students. Established in February 2023 at the Newmark J-School, the Journalism Protection Initiative works to ensure journalists can operate safely and that their reporting reaches the communities they serve through research, convenings, and improved journalism education around safety.