Five journalists shine at Danish Siddiqui Awards

Five journalists received the Danish Siddiqui Journalism Awards 2025 for their impactful reporting across print, digital, broadcast, and photojournalism.

The awards ceremony, held at the India International Centre (IIC) on Sunday, honours the legacy of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Danish Siddiqui and celebrates journalism rooted in integrity, courage, and service to the public.

The list of winners included Meghna Bali of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for her investigation into visa fraud affecting Indian students in Australia and Sarvapriya Sangwan of BBC News India for her Hindi series "The Last Man" on India's most marginalised communities.

Saumya Khandelwal, contributing photojournalist for The New York Times, was recognised for her visual story on the exploitation of women in Maharashtra’s sugar industry.

Among the winners were also independent journalist Greeshma Kuthar, who received the award for her investigative report on vigilante groups in Manipur, published in The Caravan, and Vaishnavi Rathore of Scroll.in for her detailed coverage of the environmental and social impact of development on Great Nicobar Island.

The winners were selected by a jury comprising senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, Frontline editor Vaishna Roy, journalism academic Kishalay Bhattacharjee, and Reuters Pictures' Gabrielle Fonseca.

Former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi, who was the chief guest at the event, stressed on the importance of independent journalism in a democracy and praised the awardees for bringing marginalised voices to the forefront.

Siddiqui, who won the Pulitzer Prize twice, was Reuters' chief photographer and headed its multimedia team in India.

He was killed in July 2021 while covering clashes between Afghan soldiers and Taliban fighters in Kandahar's Spin Boldak district.