Neha Dixit
Neha Dixit is an Indian freelance journalist, covering politics, gender and social justice.[1] She is a visiting faculty at Ashoka University and has been awarded with the Chameli Devi Jain Award (2016) as well as CPJ International Press Freedom Award (2019).[1][2]
Neha Dixit | |
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![]() Neha Dixit in 2016 | |
Nationality | Indian |
Alma mater | Jamia Millia Islamia |
Occupation(s) | Journalist, Author |
Early life
Dixit attended school in Lucknow, and graduated in English Literature from Miranda House, University of Delhi. Thereafter, she pursued a Masters in Convergent Journalism from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Milia Islamia in New Delhi.[3]
Career
Dixit began her career as an investigative journalist with Tehelka, before switching to the Special Investigation Team of India Today.[1] Since 2013, she has been a freelancer.[4] Her works have been published in The Wire, Al Jazeera, Outlook, The New York Times, The Caravan, Himal Southasian, and The Washington Post among others.[1][5]
Notable reports and awards
In August 2014, Dixit detailed the circumstances faced by seven rape survivors of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.[3] This won her the 2014 Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism and the 2015 Press Institute of India-Red Cross award.[3]
In 2016, Dixit chronicled (for Outlook) the abduction of 31 girls from Assam by a Hindu nationalist organization to infuse them with "nationalist ideologies" — a criminal defamation suit was subsequently filed against Dixit, in what was condemned by Committee to Protect Journalists as a tool of intimidation.[1][5] The same year, she was conferred with the Chameli Devi Jain Award, the highest honor for women journalists in India: her meticulous nature of coverage and cross-checking of involved facts were admired in particular.[5]
In 2018, she reported on poor Indians, who were unethically drawn into participating in illegal drug-trials by pharma giants.[1] In 2019, Dixit documented a range of extrajudicial killings by police forces in Uttar Pradesh and other states, getting threats from high-ranked police officials, in the process.[1] Her reports prompted a note of concern by Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.[1][6] The same year, she received the CPJ International Press Freedom Award.[1]
She has been recognised as one of the most credible Indian journalists in India because of her painstaking in-depth ground, intersectional reporting that steers clear of binary, opinionated, formulaic mainstream coverage of news.recognised
Books
In 2016, Dixit was one of the first Indian journalists to use a graphic format for reportage. She contributed a story "The Girl Not from Madras" to the comic book anthology 'First Hand: Graphic Non-fiction from India', about the exploitation of women in India.[7][8] Dixit contributed a chapter on Sexual violence during sectarian violence in India to Breaching the Citadel, an anthology of sexual violence in South Asia 2016 by Zubaan Books.[9]
Personal life
Dixit is married to Nakul Singh Sawhney, an Indian documentary filmmaker.[10]
Dixit has been charged with "inciting hatred" by the Government of India, a move that has been criticized by the Committee to Protect Journalists.[11] Because of her reporting, she has been subjected to threatening calls and an attempted acid attack and a break attempt in her house.[12]
Year | Award |
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2020 | One Young World Journalist of the Year |
2019 | International Press Freedom Award 2019, Committee To Protect Journalists |
2019 | 23rd Human Rights Press Awards, Hong Kong Press Association |
2019 | Special Mention, ACJ Award for Investigative Journalism |
2017 | Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Journalist |
2015 | PII-ICRC Award for Best report on Humanitarian Subject |
2014 | Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism |
2013 | UNFPA-Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity. Best Investigative Feature |
2013 | Trust Women Honorary Journalist of the Year, Thomson Reuters Foundation |
2013 | Thomson Foundation-Foreign Press Association Young Journalist Award |
2012 | Best TV News reporter, News Television Awards |
2011 | Lorenzo Natali Prize for Journalism, Asia-Pacific Region |
2010 | News Television Award for Best Investigative Feature |
2010 | UNFPA-Laadli Media Award for Best Investigative Feature |
2009 | Anupama Jayaraman Memorial Award for Young Women Journalists |
References
- "Neha Dixit, India". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- "Faculty/Staff". Ashoka University. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- "Neha Dixit wins Red Cross award for writing on women raped during 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots". TwoCircles, 1 December 2015
- "Two Girls in a Tree: Why the Indian Rape Photos Are Inexcusable". Huffington Post, 4 August 2014. by Sandip Roy.
- "Neha Dixit Wins Chameli Devi Award for Outstanding Woman Journalist for 2016". The Wire. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- "UN Rights Body 'Extremely Concerned' About Fake Encounters in Yogi Adityanath's UP". The Wire. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- "Comic book sheds light on untold stories of trafficking, poverty and prejudice in India". Reuters, 10 June 2016. By Anuradha Nagaraj. vis Euronews.
- "One-of-a-kind graphic anthology on contemporary India". Kanika Sharma, Hindustan Times 16 May 2016
- "Zubaan- Feminist Independent Publishing". Retrieved 10 April 2019.
- "RSF Demands Police Protection for Journalist Neha Dixit". The Wire. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
- "CPJ condemns criminal complaint filed against Outlook magazine and journalist Neha Dixit". 12 August 2016.
- "Indian journalist Neha Dixit receives threatening calls, break-in attempt". 27 January 2021.