New York - 5 May 2015

1. Exterior of Manhattan's American Museum of Natural History

2. Security guards standing outside event with dogs as guests arrive

3. Author Salman Rushdie talking to reporter

4. Charlie Hebdo Editor-in-Chief Gerard Biard and magazine film critic Jean-Baptiste Thoret walk on stage to accept award UPSOUND: Applause

5. Crowd applauding

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Gerard Biard, Charlie Hebdo Editor-in-Chief:

"Jean-Baptiste and I are very proud to be here and to receive this prestigious award even if some seem to think that giving this award is an outrage. Thank you so much so much for those who support us."

7. Biard and Thoret at podium

8. Pan down from dinosaur skeleton to crowd

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Salman Rushdie, author, English PEN member:

"If you're a free expression organisation, if you believe in the value of free speech, then you must believe in the value of free speech that you don't like. If you only defend free speech that conforms to your own moral framework that's what is normally called censorship."

10. PEN American Centre Executive Director Suzanne Nossel (right)

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director of PEN American Centre:

"They're defending terrain that few want to tread in because it's dangerous physically. It's also dangerous to reputations. It's a place where people can become offended, where there's plenty of room for misinterpretation when you're saying things that are provocative, outlandish, disrespectful, but that's the tradition of satire, very powerfully so in France and they've sort of staked out that territory."

12. Author and PEN member Neil Gaiman speaking (left)

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Neil Gaiman, author, English PEN member:

"Their offices were firebombed in 2011 and they kept working. Twelve of them were murdered - six cartoonist and six people in the office - were murdered and they kept working and they put out the next issue. I think that's so - that's courageous, it's brave, it's so worthy of an award and it's what we're doing here."

14. Biard walking in crowd.

The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has been presented a freedom of expression award from the PEN American Centre.

Its representatives received a standing ovation Tuesday night after an emotional week-long debate over whether the honour was deserved.

Charlie Hebdo Editor-in-Chief Gerard Biard said he was proud to accept the award and used his speech to thank those who had supported the magazine.

Security was heavy as Salman Rushdie, Neil Gaiman and hundreds of writers, editors and others from the publishing world attended PEN's gala at the American Museum of Natural History.

PEN describes itself as a 'global literary network'.

Michael Ondaatje, Peter Carey and four other authors withdrew from the event because of objections to what they considered the magazine's offensive cartoons of Islam and Muslims.

Those who did not attend came in for criticism from Rushdie, who said only defending free speech that you agree with is what is "normally called censorship."

Hebdo was given the prize in the wake of the shootings in January at the magazine's offices that killed 12 people.