Aferdita S. Kelmendi and her family were cornered by police in a field in Kosovo early this year. After three days without food, they fled to neighboring Albania, where Kelmendi continued to report on the violence in her native Kosovo.

Last evening, Kelmendi, Kim R. Bolan and Sharifa Ahklas, winners of the Courage in Journalism Award this year, were featured in a panel discussion at the Kennedy School of Government.

The three women were honored by the International Women's Media Federation (IWMF) in October.

"They are telling people what is going on places where it is forbidden to report the truth, they are covering stories that get you imprisoned," said Ellen H. Goodman '63, Boston Globe columnist and moderator for the discussion. The panel was sponsored by the Women and Public Policy Program.

In 1985, Bolan covered the bombing of an Air India flight, which killed 329 people and has not yet been solved.

"I didn't set out to get death threats," Bolan said. "I did feel strongly about a story that had been dropped from the media radar screen." And two years ago, she said, "I decided to go hard after the case."

Under the threat of death, she continues to investigate all corruption associated with the Sikh extremists, seeking to shed light on the 1985 bombing and to uncover other acts of violence.

All of these journalists feel that they must continue the work despite threats to themselves and to their family.