(WASHINGTON, D.C. – Feb. 6, 2022) – The White House News Photographers Association® announced they will present Joni Mazer Field, a recently retired video editor for the BBC, with the association’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 ‘Eyes of History®’ awards gala which will be held later this year in Washington.
Whitney Shefte, WHNPA president, commenting about the award, said, “The board is so thrilled to award Joni with this prestigious honor. She has given so much time and energy to WHNPA beyond her incredible work as a video editor. We’ll miss having her in DC, and love that this is a way to keep her in the WHNPA family.” Joni Mazer Field has volunteered her time to the WHNPA over the years and for nearly the last twenty, with the Broadcast Contest committee for the annual ‘Eyes of History®’ visual journalism contests.
Mazer Field began her career in June 1980 when only five people worked in the Washington office. Mazer Field covered the Falklands war from Buenos Aires in 1982, for two months, and then returned the following year for the “dirty war” story, told by the mothers, of mostly sons, who ‘disappeared’ during the military junta rule. Mazer Field’s team covered the violence in El Salvador and Nicaragua. She was rescued by a Chilean family after being tear gassed and separated from her colleagues in Santiago during a Pinochet protest.
On Jan. 28,1986, Mazer Field raced to Florida soon after the space shuttle Challenger explosion. Two years later she was back at Cape Canaveral, covering the launch of Discovery and NASA’s return to the space program. In Barrow, Alaska, three trapped gray whales spawned “Operation Breakthrough” as the Soviets broke through the ice to free them. In 1991 Mazer Field’s team in Russia witnessed the failed coup attempt to oust Soviet President Gorbachev. It was the first time Mazer field crossed in front of tanks to get the news story out.
During her career at the BBC, Mazer Field covered 8 U.S. presidential campaigns, met the British Royals, while on assignment and celebrated her numerous first-place wins in the WHNPA ‘Eyes of History®’ visual journalism contests including meeting Presidents Clinton and Obama in the Oval Office.
On the eve of her retirement, Mazer Field said “The one constant has been the high caliber of journalists who passed through the Washington bureau. Every person added to the dimension and richness of my career. I am forever grateful to those colleagues, who are now friends.” After learning of being named as the WHNPA 2022 Lifetime Recipient, Mazer Field said, “I am shocked to receive this honor and so appreciate being asked to join this esteemed ‘club’ of respected journalists.”
The top winners of the still, video, multimedia and student contests will be honored at the annual ‘Eyes of History®’ gala to be held later in 2022. The black-tie event celebrates all the winning photojournalists and the President of the United States. Nearly 1,000 guests, including government dignitaries and industry celebrities, attend.
The White House News Photographers Association is a 101-year-old non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the efforts of Washington’s professional photojournalists. The WHNPA aims to provide professional and educational outreach to its members and the community through scholarships, programming, an annual competition, and a celebration of the industry at the annual ‘Eyes of History®’ gala.
For more information, please contact Whitney Shefte at president@54.85.141.172 or executive director Heidi Elswick at heidi@54.85.141.172 (301-606-8251). For further information about ‘The Eyes of History®’ and to view the winning images and videos, visit the WHNPA website at www.whnpa.org.
