Reem Khalifa, Bahrain, has braved her country’s difficult media environment to pursue her belief that true journalism "separates fact from fiction." A founder and former senior editor of the Al‐Wasat newspaper, she has faced the possibility of a prison sentence on charges of defamation and physical assault in a well‐known case that challenged media freedom in Bahrain. She has denied the accusations, and characterized the case as part of a systematic campaign designed by the government to smear independent journalists who covered the Bahraini uprising. She now writes on Bahrain for The Associated Press, Al‐Wasat and Al Raya in Qatar. On March 31, she was recognized as a distinguished media figure in Bahrain for her courage in covering the ongoing democracy movement there.