These days it, sometimes, takes a lot of courage to be a journalist. And not just in Iraq. Awards to some of today’s most heroic women reporters and editors were handed out at a ceremony Wednesday at the Waldorf-Astoria. The International Women’s Media Foundation “Courage in Journalism” Awards went to women from the Middle East, Africa, and South America who have withstood imprisonment and defied death threats.

Recipients were the founder and editor of the Namibian newspaper in Windhoek, Namibia, Gwen Lister; an investigative editor for a Paraguayan weekly, Mabel Rehnfeltd; and Salima Tlemcani, which is a pen name for an Algerian journalist who reports on the terror inflicted on her country by fanatic Muslim fundamentalists.

Pioneering California journalist Belva Davis, who became the first African-American television reporter on the West Coast and has had a 30-year career covering urban affairs, received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The International Women’s Media Foundation is a network of several thousand women journalists who work internationally to elevate the status of women in the media. The foundation’s co-chair, Marcy McGinnis of CBS News, said, “The Courage in Journalism Award recognizes the bravery of women journalists and shines a light on the lack of press freedom around the world.”

CNN’s Judy Woodruff, an IWMF board member and chair of the luncheon, was the master of ceremonies. She noted that women in media in America “fret when a telephone call isn’t re turned.” In contrast, the women being honored have been the target of million-dollar libel suits, attacked by assailants, and faced threats to themselves and their families. The Namibian editor, Gwen Lister, named her daughter “Liberty” because she was imprisoned while she was pregnant. For Ms. Reinheldt, her most terrifying moment was when her 11-year-old daughter was nearly kidnapped on her way home from school. And Ms. Tlemcani has found herself on a list of journalists marked for death. Ten of the journalists on the list have already been assassinated. To protect her, the IWMF asked that no pictures be taken or published.

Bill Cosby introduced Belva Davis, 72, a longtime friend. He recalled that he and his wife watched Ms. Davis on television in the 1960s, and admired her not only for being a role model, but for being a relaxed one. During a reception before the luncheon the old friends hugged, and Mr. Cosby declared, “Belva, you’re still cute!”

Also at the luncheon were the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, Karen Elliot House; the managing editor of the New York Times, Jill Abramson; Patricia Sellers of Fortune magazine, and Connie Chung who was, briefly, Dan Rather’s co-anchor in the mid-1990’s. She joked she would like to be in charge of the internal investigation at CBS of the Bush National Guard documents.

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PUBLISHERS IN THE SUN

The MPA, the Magazine Publishers of America association, is holding its annual meeting this weekend at the Boca Raton Resort and Country Club in Florida. More than 500 publishing executives and editors are anticipated to attend the three-day conference, which is usually made up, in equal parts, of seminars on the state of the magazine industry, golf, and tennis tournaments, plus lots of seemingly good-humored schmoozing between usually fierce competitors.

The theme this year is “Mastering New Realities,” which for the magazine publishing business too often today means coping with stagnating ad pages and the loss of newsstand readers. The president of Time and chair of the conference, Elaine Naughton, said, “We look to this year’s noteworthy speakers to provide perspective on our vibrant – but often tumultuous – business.”

The program includes sessions with Jeff Bezos of Amazon, hip hop impresario Russell Simmons, advertising guru and talk-show host Donny Deutsch, and Jack Potter, the postmaster general. Magazine editors Bonnie Fuller of American Media, Kate White of Cosmopolitan, and Betty Cortina of Latina will talk about the power of the cover and how they create ones that sell. Longtime magazine superstar Helen Gurley Brown will be the guest speaker at a luncheon for foreign publishers.

Also at the meeting a new initiative will be introduced that has as its goal boosting awareness in the advertising community about the effectiveness of magazines. Traditionally magazines have worked against each other to win advertising dollars. This three-year, $40 million marketing effort will try to sell magazines, collectively, as an attractive media category for ad spending. The initiative, called the Magazine Marketing Coalition, is overseen by two dozen executives from MPA companies and industries that work closely with them and is headed by the president of Hachette Filipacchi Media, Jack Kliger.

A week before the election, there will be the inevitable session on politics. Jeff Greenfield of CNN will moderate a discussion between Joe Klein of Time magazine and Howard Fineman of Newsweek. The attendees, through a survey, will have the chance to make their own political preference clear. In 2000, conference-goers were asked to vote for Vice President Gore, President Bush, or President Josiah Bartlet of The West Wing. Josiah Bartlet won! Taking no chances, this year the choices are limited to Senator Kerry and Mr. Bush.

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RED-HOT GOSSIP

If you want to hear the very latest dish on Ashton Kutcher, J.Lo, or Paris Hilton, a new textmessaging service offered by US Weekly is just the thing. US Weekly readers who subscribe to “Up to the Minute,” which launches at the end of the month, will receive breaking headlines about celebs on their cell phones free of charge. But if you are desperate for all the juicy details and can’t wait to read the magazine, you’ll have to pay 50 cents for the whole story or $3.95 for a monthly service. Verizon Wireless, Cingular Wireless AT &T Wireless, and several other carriers have already signed on.

According to publisher Vicci Lasdon Rose, the service would have special appeal to the typical US reader, who is a 32-year-old, affluent, educated woman – with a great, one might say obsessive, interest in celebrities. Said Ms. Rose “She is the early technology adopter and the alpha shopper who has got to get it now.” Obviously, the kind of woman who has learned that when there is nothing else to talk about, she’ll always have Paris.