Neha Dixit

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Neha Dixit
Neha CPJ Award (cropped).jpg
Dixit in 2019
Years active20067-present
EmployerIndependent Journalist
Spouse(s)Nakul Singh Sawhney

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]

Early life[]

She 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 working as a freelancer.[4]

Dixit has 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]

Attacks[]

She has faced incessant attacks for her investigative reportage.[7] Apart from facing online threats and bullying, she is also facing legal cases for her reportage[8] on far right Hindu nationalists. In 2020, she faced five months of physical stalking[9] and an attempted break[10] in Jan 2021 with a threat of rape[11] and acid attack.[12]


Year Award
2020 Journalist of the year Award-One Young World
2019 International Press Freedom Award, 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 Best Investigative Feature, UNFPA-Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity
2013 Trust Women Honorary Journalist of the Year, Thomson Reuters Foundation
2013 London 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

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 exploitation of women in India.[13][14]

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.[15]

Personal life[]

Dixit is married to Nakul Singh Sawhney, an Indian documentary filmmaker.[16]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i "Neha Dixit, India". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  2. ^ University, Ashoka. "Faculty/Staff". Ashoka University. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Neha Dixit wins Red Cross award for writing on women raped during 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots". TwoCircles, 1 December 2015
  4. ^ "Two Girls in a Tree: Why the Indian Rape Photos Are Inexcusable". Huffington Post, 4 August 2014. by Sandip Roy.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Neha Dixit Wins Chameli Devi Award for Outstanding Woman Journalist for 2016". The Wire. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  6. ^ "UN Rights Body 'Extremely Concerned' About Fake Encounters in Yogi Adityanath's UP". The Wire. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  7. ^ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/09/blood-and-soil-in-narendra-modis-india
  8. ^ https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-india-press-freedom-20160815-snap-story.html
  9. ^ https://scroll.in/latest/985253/journalist-neha-dixit-says-she-has-been-stalked-for-months-received-rape-and-death-threats
  10. ^ https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/01/27/she-says-someone-tried-to-break-into-her-house-earlier-this-month
  11. ^ https://www.ifj.org/es/centro-de-medios/noticias/detalle/category/press-releases/article/india-attempted-break-in-at-journalist-neha-dixits-home.html
  12. ^ https://cpj.org/2021/01/indian-journalist-neha-dixit-receives-threatening-calls-break-in-attempt/
  13. ^ "Comic book sheds light on untold stories of trafficking, poverty and prejudice in India". Reuters, 10 June 2016. By Anuradha Nagaraj. vis Euronews.
  14. ^ "One-of-a-kind graphic anthology on contemporary India". Kanika Sharma, Hindustan Times 16 May 2016
  15. ^ "Zubaan- Feminist Independent Publishing". Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  16. ^ "RSF Demands Police Protection for Journalist Neha Dixit". The Wire. Retrieved 15 September 2021.

External links[]

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