Dhanya Rajendran, co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of The News Minute, has been declared the winner of the Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Mediaperson for 2022, the Media Foundation announced on Wednesday.
A three-member jury comprising Nirmal Pathak, Editor, PTI Bhasha; columnist Nidhi Razdan, and Harish Damodaran, National Rural Affairs and Agriculture Editor, The Indian Express, said that Ms. Rajendran's work "showed a blend of meticulous reportage and data reflecting not only individual merit, but the pursuit of committed journalism".
"Rajendran's reportage is an outstanding example of how good journalism can impact democracy," Harish Khare, chair of the Media Foundation, said in a statement.
The prestigious annual award, administered by the Media Foundation, consistently recognises the presence of a vibrant, independent media. This year, the Media Foundation received over 70 entries from women journalists located all over India and representing the print, digital and broadcast media, according to the statement.
The award will be presented on March 21 at the India International Centre in New Delhi. The ceremony will be followed by the B.G. Verghese Memorial Lecture by Prof. Purushottam Agrawal, an eminent scholar of cultural studies.
Prof. Agrawal will be speaking on Naphrat se Itni Mohabbat Kyon?– Why Everyone Loves to Hate? Instituted in 1982, the annual Chameli Devi Jain Award is a recognition for women mediapersons in India who have reported on themes such as social development, politics, equity, gender justice, health, war and conflict, consumer values and democratic rights.
The annual award was named after Chameli Devi Jain, a freedom fighter and a community reformer who went to jail during the freedom movement.
Last year, Aarefa Johari of Scroll.in received the award.
