Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Mediaperson is an Indian journalism award named after Chameli Devi Jain, an Indian independence activist who became the first Jain woman to go to prison during India's independence struggle. The award was instituted in 1980 by The Media Foundation and is given to women in the field of journalism. According to Business Standard, the award is "perhaps India's longest running media award for women".
The Media Foundation was founded in 1979 by B. G. Verghese, Lakshmi Chand Jain, Prabhash Joshi, Ajit Bhattacharjea and N. S. Jagannathan. The award was instituted in 1980 by Verghese and the family of Chameli Devi. The criteria for selection include social concern, dedication, courage and compassion in the individual's work. Journalists in print, digital and broadcast are eligible including photographers, cartoonists and newspaper designers; the entries are judged by an independent jury. Preference is given to rural or small-town journalists and journalists in regional Indian languages.
Neerja Chowdhury won the inaugural award in 1981. In 2015, Supriya Sharma of Scroll.in became the first online journalist to receive the award.
Recipients
Year Recipient(s) Associated media house(s)/notes1981 The StatesmanThe Indian Express1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 HimmatThe Indian ExpressThe Times of India1987 No winner1988 India TodayThe Indian Express1989 India Today1990 1991 Mediastorm Collective1992 The Times of IndiaThe Indian Express1993 ManimalaIndia Today1994 The TelegraphThe PioneerThe Khaleej Times1995 The Shillong Times1996 1997 CNNTime1998 1999 NDTVThe Times of IndiaPrabhat Khabar2000 Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan 2001 Eastern Mirror2002 2003 Chitrakoot Rural Women's CollectiveThe Indian ExpressKhabar Lahariya2004 Down to Earth magazine2005 2006 CNN-IBNVanitha2007 CNN-IBN2008 The Hindu2009 Nagaland PageTehelka2010 Open2011 Tehelka2012 IBN Lokmat2013 CNN-News182014 Scroll.in2015 The Times of India2016 2017 NDTV2018 BBC2019 The Wire2020 Gaon Connection2021 Scroll.in2022The News Minute2024 Greeshma Kuthar The Indian Express
Note that before 2024 the award made in one year was named for the previous year, thus the award made in March 2023 was the 2022 award, but in 2024 the system changed and the award made in March 2024 was called the 2024 award.
See also Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards
References Notes
Citations
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