2008 SAJA Journalism Award Winners
Winners for work executed in calendar year 2007. Each person/team below will receive a certificate at the SAJA Annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, June 20, 2008, at Columbia University.
The student winners will receive an additional cash prize.
SAJA Hall of Fame Inductee
Gopal Raju, founder of India Abroad and a leading South Asian journalist for several decades.
CATEGORIES FOR US/CANADIAN MEDIA OUTLETS
I. The Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding story about South Asia, or South Asians in North America: Print
Winner: Yaroslav Trofimov, Staff Reporter, The Wall Street Journal, for Untouchable
Finalist: Scott Carney, Investigative Journalist, WIRED, for The Bone Factory: Inside India's Underground Trade in Human Remains
II. Outstanding story about South Asia, or South Asians in North America: Broadcast (TV/Radio)
Winner: Sujata Berry, TV Producer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, for Who Speaks For Islam
Finalist: Philip Reeves, South Asia Correspondent, National Public Radio, for The Ganges: A Journey Into India Part 5; Where the Ganges Meets the Sea, A Journey Ends
Who Speaks for Islam
III. Outstanding story about South Asia, or South Asians in North America: New Media
Winner: Neil Katz, Producer, Frontline World Rough Cuts, for India: The Missing Girls (Frontline link, High resolution video)
Finalist: (Note: need to get individual names), CNN, for CNN Uncovering America: The Asian-American Journey
IV. Outstanding editorial/commentary on South Asia, or South Asians in North America: All media
Winner: Amar Bakshi, Online Correspondent, The Washington Post for Hate America; Hate Amar Too?
Finalist: Meenakshi Verma Agrawal, ABCDLady, for Riding the Mumbai Locals-Ladies Style
V. Outstanding photograph about South Asia, or South Asians in North America (single or series)
Winner: Daniel Acker, Adam Dean, Adam Ferguson, Warrick Page & Asad Zaidi, Bloomberg , for a series of photos of "Bhutto's Final Days."
Finalist: Jay Mandal, Photographer, The Indian Star/On Line News, U.S-India Ties: Yawn of a New Era
Click to view slideshow
CATEGORIES FOR SOUTH ASIAN JOURNALISTS BASED IN THE US OR CANADA
VI. Outstanding story on any subject: Print
Winner: Bobby Ghosh; TIME Magazine, for Behind the Sunni-Shi'ite Divide
Finalist: Jay Dixit, Senior Editor; Psychology Today, for The Ideological Animal
VII. Outstanding story on any subject: Broadcast/Radio
Winner: Mayank Bubna, Dan Rather Reports on HDNet, for Burma's Ethnic Crisis
Finalist: Sujata Berry, TV Producer; Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, for Benazir Bhutto - Feature interview
Burma's ethnic crisis
VIII. Outstanding story on any subject: New Media
Winner: Sachi Cunningham, Producer/Reporter/Videographer; Frontline/World, for Nepal: A Girl's Life
Finalist: Amar Bakshi, Online Correspondent; washingtonpost.com, for Begum Nawazish Ali - Drag Queen Defies U.S.
Nepal: A Girl's Life
Winner: Subrata Chakravarty, Journalist; India Abroad (Oct. 19, 2007); Rediff.com (Nov. 19, 2007), for The man who broke the story of the Mahatma's assassination
Finalist: Sandeep Jauhar, Doctor/Journalist; The New York Times, for Break a Confidence? Never. Well, Hardly Ever.
X. Outstanding photograph on ANY SUBJECT (SINGLE OR SERIES)
Winner: Sumit Dayal; Photojournalist, www.eurasianet.org, for Afghanistan: The New National Army Strives to Professionalize
No Finalist
Click to view
CATEGORIES FOR STUDENTS OF SOUTH ASIAN ORIGIN IN US OR CANADA
XI. Outstanding story on any subject by a South Asian STUDENT in the US or Canada: All media, including photography.
The student winners receive a certificate, plus a cash award as indicated below.
1st Prize: Mrinalini Reddy, Student; Medill School of Journalism, for Muslims on TV, No Terror in Sight ($500.00)
2nd Prize: Sidra Khatkaty, Student; Radio Rootz, for Hate Crime? Exploring Conflict in the South Asian Community ($300.00)
3rd Prize: Nayna Sasidharan, Graduate student; Emerson College, for Saving a Life with a Swab ($200.00)
SPECIAL ONE-TIME CATEGORY
XII. Outstanding piece covering the political turmoil in Pakistan: All media, including photography
1st Place: Anil Kalhan, Visiting Professor, Fordham University Law School; AsiaMedia & Dorf on Law, for Musharraf's Global War on Journalism (Part 1 & Part 2)
Finalist: CNN (Carolyn Stidham, Awards Manager), for Coverage of Pakistan's State of Emergency
Notes: The awards were judged by journalists drawn from various newsrooms in New York and Washington, DC and the faculty of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in New York. Our thanks to all the judges.