Rusbridger (pictured), 58, was the first non-North American to win the award, which was established in 1992 by the Joan Shorenstein Center, part of the university's Kennedy School and one of the US's leading institutions for the press, politics and public policy.
Many of America's leading journalists and broadcasters have previously won the award, including reporters Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, Seymour Hersh of the New Yorker and Christiane Amanpour of ABC News. Broadcasters whose work has been recognised include Barbara Walters, Peter Jennings, Jim Lehrer and Ted Turner. Last year the award was given to Frank Rich, the former New York Times columnist and drama critic.
Alex S. Jones, Director of the Shorenstein Center at Harvard, said: "Alan Rusbridger has been one of the world's most innovative leaders in news for decades, and he has paired that vision with courage. The combination has been dazzling."
Rusbridger said he was immensely honoured to be bracketed with so many distinguished American journalists, many of whom were personal heroes. He said any careers depend on luck. His own two main pieces of good fortune had been to work for the Scott Trust-owned Guardian and to work with so many immensely talented colleagues. "Someone once likened the job of editing to that of a conductor," he said. "You wave you arms and hope you make a difference – but you're nothing without the musicianship, talent and skill of the individual players."
Rusbridger paid particular tribute to Nick Davies, who doggedly pursued the phone-hacking scandal over several years, and to the New York Times, for putting its own investigative muscle behind the story in 2010 at a time when police, parliament, the regulator and several British newspapers were downplaying the nature of the events and cover-up at News International.
He said: "A colleague on the Guardian recently wrote a book called "A World without Bees" – a warning that we should pay more attention to the health and well being of bees because – were we to lose them – our planet would be done for. I feel the same about reporters. Reporters are the bees of the world's information systems. Without reporters like Nick Davies, like the late Anthony Shadid of the NYT or Marie Colvin of the Sunday Times, both of whom recently died trying to keep the world's eyes focused on things that matter – we're in serious trouble."
But Rusbridger added that reporters were only part of the story of news media today. Newspapers faced a choice about the degree to which they were open to the new ecosystem of information. Being open to the new platforms, ways of distribution and content creation was essential.
He said: "Open versus closed is not just a debate about newspapers. It is a fundamental choice in every corner of our public life and business world. You see it in academic study; in pharmaceuticals and research; in how governments handle data and information. In journalism, it's not about displanting or replacing the skills of a reporter or an editor. It is about understanding how life has changed and how we can harness the revolution we're living through to produce a better account of the world around us.
"The Guardian's rapid growth of global traffic – up over 75 per cent overall year on year - doesn't translate into instant cash, any more than it does for Twitter or Facebook itself. But doing things which are editorially better, which build engagement and trust, and for which there is a large, growing and appreciative appetite (only this week we were rated the most viral newspaper site in the world) seem to me essential first steps on the road to sustainability. The news organizations which understand this new context of information and journalism can increase their reach and influence beyond imagining."
