SAJA is excited to once again recognize and award some of the great journalism produced last year! Many of our awards focus on reporting about South Asia or the South Asian diaspora. Other awards recognize the tremendous work produced by journalists of South Asian backgrounds. Together, these awards help further our mission of supporting newsroom diversity and promoting better coverage of issues related to South Asia worldwide.

See below for details on this year's SAJA awards! Questions? Email president@saja.org.

Make your submissions here.

Deadline (new!): September 22, 2022 at 11:59 p.m.

Eligibility Criteria

The submitted piece(s) of work must have:

• Appeared in a U.S. or Canadian news outlet between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021. Work published in a media outlet based in South Asia is NOT eligible for entry.
• Most awards require the submissions to be focused on subjects about one or more than one South Asian countries or the South Asian worldwide diaspora. Read the descriptions carefully. Two awards recognize broader work produced by journalists and student journalists of South Asian backgrounds.
• Branded content is not eligible for an award -- submissions must be examples of independent journalism.

Other criteria:

• Awards are open to all US and Canadian media: national newspapers/TV channels, local/regional newspapers/TV channels, news and features websites, and other online platforms that DO NOT include personal or professional blogs.
• Freelancers and journalists employed by newsrooms are both eligible to apply by submitting a story published in a North American publication.
• Individuals may submit entries or organizations may enter the contest on behalf of their journalists.
• Organizations and individuals can make multiple entries. BUT the same entry/story cannot be submitted in different categories.
• Former SAJA board members are eligible to apply but they must not have served on the board since the past two years (2020).
• The countries that we consider as part of "South Asia" are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Bhutan and Afghanistan.
• No award will be presented in any category that does not receive a minimum of 3 quality submissions.

Fee

SAJA levies a non-refundable application fee to help cover some of the costs of the awards process. The fee is $75 per entry for companies who are making submissions on behalf of employees, $25 per entry for individual journalists submitting on behalf of themselves and $15 per entry for students.

Judging

SAJA will select a pool of volunteer judges for each award, who will rate each submission on a number of factors including: 

• News Value: insight, informative qualities and durability.
• Originality and/or Exclusivity: enterprise and discovery.
• Reportorial Quality: thoroughness and balance.
• Writing and Production Quality (where applicable): clarity in dealing with description, concepts, findings and complex issues.

Awards Categories

SAJA this year is recognizing journalism in a number of different categories: business, arts and culture, health, opinion and commentary and photography. Here is a full list:

1. The Daniel Pearl Award for outstanding reporting about South Asia

Established in honor of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was killed while reporting in Pakistan, this award recognizes outstanding investigative reporting that exhibits courage under difficult circumstances and exposes important public issues. See, for example, a previous Daniel Pearl award winning story about Kashmir during the recent military takeover by Modi’s government for the GroundTruth Project.

All media formats are allowed. The reporting can be a single piece or a series on a specific topic. Please be considerate of the volunteer judges' time when submitting large entries.

2. Outstanding business story about South Asia, or the worldwide South Asian diaspora

This award recognizes outstanding news, feature or explanatory reporting in business, technology and economics.

The story should not be an opinion piece. All media formats are allowed, though video or audio submissions must not be longer than 30 minutes. The reporting can be a single piece or a series on a specific topic.

3. Outstanding arts, culture, and lifestyle reporting about South Asia, or the worldwide South Asian diaspora

This award recognizes outstanding reporting about arts, culture or lifestyle.

The story should not be an opinion piece. All media formats are allowed, though video or audio submissions must not be longer than 30 minutes. The reporting can be a single piece or a series on a specific topic.

4. Outstanding health reporting about South Asia, or the worldwide South Asian diaspora

This award recognizes outstanding reporting about health, science, public health and the coronavirus pandemic.

The story should not be an opinion piece. All media formats are allowed, though video or audio submissions must not be longer than 30 minutes. The reporting can be a single piece or a series on a specific topic.

5. Outstanding commentary, editorial, opinion piece or personal essay about South Asia, or the worldwide South Asians diaspora

This award recognizes outstanding creative writing, use of language, quality of articulation and coherence that covers news, sports, business, entertainment or any other aspect relating to South Asia or South Asians.

All media formats are allowed, though video or audio submissions must not be longer than 30 minutes. Books are ineligible for this awards. The reporting can be a single piece or a series on a specific topic.

6. Outstanding photography about South Asia, or the worldwide South Asian diaspora

This award recognizes outstanding feature or breaking news photography in black and white or color in newspapers, magazines or digital publications.

This category can be a single photo, or a photo series.

CATEGORIES FOR SOUTH ASIAN JOURNALISTS WORKING IN NORTH AMERICA

7. Outstanding story on any subject

This award recognizes outstanding reporting on any subject.

The story should not be an opinion piece. All media formats are allowed, though video or audio submissions must not be longer than 30 minutes. The reporting can be a single piece or a series on a specific topic.

CATEGORY FOR SOUTH ASIAN STUDENTS IN U.S.A OR CANADA

8. Outstanding story on any subject by a South Asian student in the US or Canada

This award recognizes outstanding reporting on any subject by a South Asian student studying in North America. Reporting can be in any field or medium, and can include reported opinion pieces or essays.

This category is for students of South Asian origin studying in North America. All media formats are allowed, though video or audio submissions must not be longer than 30 minutes. The reporting can be a single piece or a series on a specific topic.

On March 8, SAJA Board Member Masuma Ahuja spoke with member and freelancer Lakshmi Gandhi about her new book Girlhood: Teens Around The World In Their Own Voices, what it was like working girls from around the world, and the ins and outs of writing a book as a journalist.  

Click here to watch the program

Watch the full event here.

Watch here: SAJA Journalists' Briefing

#SAJA2020

Watch this talk HERE

AAJA & SAJA Issue Guidance on Coverage of

VP Nominee Sen. Kamala Harris and Her Racial Identity

August 19, 2020

The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) urge contextualized and comprehensive news coverage around the racial identity of Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris.

The proper way of characterizing someone’s racial or ethnic background, particularly when that background is of national interest, is a complex matter of identity and culture. The question has emerged again with the selection of Harris.

AAJA and SAJA urge newsrooms to be mindful in their language of Harris’ multifaceted racial identity and the ways she has described her own upbringing and background.

• Her mother was from India and her father was from Jamaica. Harris was born in California.
  
  
• In her 2019 memoir, “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey,” Harris wrote that she identified as Black while growing up: “My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters. She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls, and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud black women.” 
  
  
• Harris has also publicly embraced her Indian descent, identified as an Indian American, and described herself as being of South Asian descent. In her Senate bio, she also describes herself as “South Asian-American”, a less common term.
  
  
• “Asian American” is an accurate and encompassing term to describe Harris, as it applies to those from the continent of Asia, including the subcontinent of India. 
  
  
• Harris is the first woman of color nominated for a presidential ticket by a major party. That includes being the first Black woman, first Asian American woman, first South Asian American woman and first Indian American woman to be nominated for a presidential ticket by a major party. She is the fourth woman in U.S. history to be a nominee for the presidential ticket of a major party. 

We advise news organizations to consider the point of the story as well as the target audience when writing headlines and articles about the groundbreaking nature of Harris’ candidacy. 

Over the coming weeks, AAJA and SAJA will work to provide more guidance and conversation on this subject. In the meantime, here is some background reading to help inform the reporting and writing about her:

• The Other Kamala: Kamala Harris and the History of South Asian America, South Asian American Digital Archive

• Kamala Harris’s 2009 interview with Aziz Haniffa and her 2018 speech at Pratham New York Gala

-- South Asian Journalists Association and Asian American Journalists Association  

Contacts:

Mihir Zaveri, President

South Asian Journalists Association

president@saja.org 

Michelle Ye Hee Lee, President

Asian American Journalists Association

michellel@aaja.org

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RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP 

Watch this talk HERE. 

Georgetown's journalism program called this a "terrific event and a thread to read through". WATCH journalist Aneri Pattani and Clinical Psychologist Dr. Sumi Raghavan discuss mental health issues for journalists and tools to help navigate the uncertainty of this period. You may also READ the twitter thread.

WATCH THIS TALK HERE