Media Reporting on Development - IDS announce winner of new journalism competition

The winners of a new journalism competition sponsored by the Institute of Development Studies have been announced.

First prize is awarded to Nilanjana Bhowmick with an article originally published on Time.com entitled, ‘India Under Pressure to Do More to Stop Child Labour’. The piece focused on the employment of children as domestic workers when they should be in school.

The competition, run by the Institute of Development Studies with assistance from the Communication Initiative, is aimed at journalists operating in low income countries whose writing focuses on poverty alleviation, democracy and governance, rights, health, and other Millennium Development Goals.

James Georgalakis, Communications Manager at IDS and one of the panel of judges, said:
“The winner produced a very well crafted piece of journalism that conveys the complexities of the issues whilst staying grounded in the experiences and words of real people directly caught up in the situation. Nilanjana Bhowmick engages the reader immediately and provides real voice to those affected by child labour and to civil society organisations. This is a really excellent example of development journalism on people’s rights and the need for political and social change.”

The two runners up were:

* Bamuturaki Musinguzi with ‘Evicted from Forests, the Batwa are destitute’, published in The East African. The article focused on the plight of the Batwa Pygmies or ‘Twa’ who have been driven out of their traditional home sin the forests of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
* Teresa Rehman with ‘Young girls face trafficking as lack of rain drives worsening rural poverty’ published by Reuters Alertnet. The article examined the unforeseen effects of climate change in India, as poverty drives the illegal trafficking of young women.

A special mention also went to:

Manshi Asheri with ‘Towering blots on the peaks’ which looks at the effects of hydroelectric constructions in India and was published in The India Tribune.

Journalists were asked to submit pieces that were provocative and original, and that demonstrated alternative narratives on development. Particular weight was given to pieces which showcased the voices of those affected by or engaged in development.

The competition forms part of an ongoing programme of work carried out by IDS to support and encourage quality development journalism both in the UK and elsewhere. In recent months IDS has sponsored the Special Award at the One World Media Awards and hosted a debate event examining the difficulties of covering development stories as a European journalist.