Indian news channel NDTV is the recipient of the International Press Institute’s Excellence in Journalism Award for the year 2019. The award is presented every year by the Indian chapter of the International Press Institute (IPI), a global association of media professionals from digital, print and broadcast news outlets across nearly 100 countries.

It was established in 2003 to commend exceptional work done by Indian media organizations or journalists. 

The national committee of IPI India is headed by N. Ravi, the former editor-in-chief of The Hindu, and the selection this year was made by a jury of editors headed by Soli Sorabjee, the former Attorney-General of India. NDTV was the jury’s unanimous choice.

“The Award is for the expose of the conspiracy to scuttle probe into the heinous Kathua rape and murder: and a strong expose of the political hypocrisy across the political spectrum represented Excellence in Journalism, anchored by Nidhi Razdan,” IPI-India said in a press release.

The channel announced the development on Twitter on November 27:

NDTV won the award for an episode from Razdan’s show Left, Right and Centre on the Kathua child rape case, which involved the abduction, rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Jammu’s Kathua district in January 2018. 

“In the episode, we really went after the crime that was so horrific, and that you had BJP ministers in the government at the time who took out rallies in support of the accused. That made the story even more outrageous,” Razdan told Newslaundry.

Nazir Masoodi, the channel’s Bureau Chief in Srinagar, had reported on the case from Jammu. “Nazir followed the story doggedly from the ground and he deserves a lot of credit for this,” Razdan said.

The award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, as well as a trophy and a citation. In 2018, the award has been won by Namrata Biji Ahuja of The Week magazine for her story on Naga underground camps.