New Delhi: India magazine The Caravan, known for its investigative reportage and in-depth political analysis, has won the 2021 Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism. The winner was chosen by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism’s class of 2021 at Harvard University.
According to a statement put out by the Nieman Foundation, the magazine was chosen “in recognition of its unique and uncompromising coverage of the erosion of human rights, social justice, and democracy in India”.
The journalism students were also impressed with how reporters and editors at The Caravan have carried on with their work despite pressures and threats from the Central government, including multiple FIRs.
“The Caravan’s recent coverage of nationwide farmers’ protests has drawn the ire of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which has attempted to shut down the magazine’s social media accounts and brought sedition charges against multiple Caravan employees. Under such intimidation, The Caravan embodies an urgent commitment to conscience and integrity.”
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The Caravan‘s work, according to the statement, “is another chapter in a legacy of indispensable reporting in the world’s most populous democracy”.
The Louis M. Lyons Award was established in 1964, and is named after a Nieman Foundation curator. This is the first time an Indian publication has received the honour.