'A beacon of moral clarity': Caravan wins Louis M Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism

Caravan magazine won the Louis M Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism for the year 2021. Caravan was selected by fellows of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism's class of 2021 at Harvard University. The award was instituted in 1964 in honour of Louis M Lyons, the curator of the Nieman Foundation at the time.

According to a statement, the magazine was chosen for "its unique and uncompromising coverage of the erosion of human rights, social justice, and democracy in India".

The statement noted that Caravan's recent coverage of the farmer protests at Delhi's borders "drew the ire" of the Modi government, which "attempted to shut down the magazine's social media accounts and brought sedition charges against multiple Caravan employees".

"Under such intimidation," the statement said, "the Caravan embodies an urgent commitment to conscience and integrity...The Caravan has repeatedly demonstrated that it represents a beacon of moral clarity in Indian public life."