The South Asian Times, a leading newspaper for the Indian community in the US, has bagged an Ippies award given to the ethnic and community press for “Best Investigative/In Depth Story”. The Ippies Awards are given by the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School of Journalism.
Jinal Shah (Associate Editor) won the third place in the most competitive and prestigious category for her three page report – ‘Languishing in the golden cage’ at the Ippies Awards 2014 held June 5 at the CUNY. The special report, published last November in The South Asian Times, brings to light the plight of H4 visa holders – individuals who come on H1B1 dependent visa, mostly women, highly qualified and experienced.
The article talks about their miseries – that ranges from being totally dependent to being subjected to domestic violence – while trapped in a golden cage.
It also highlights the efforts both from the community as well as legal sources to bring to table the less controversial piece of the immigration reform bill.
Organized by the Centre for Community and Ethnic Media (CCEM) at the CUNY Journalism School, Ippies are the only awards that pay tribute to excellence in journalism in the ethnic and community press in the New York City area.
According to CCEM census of New York City’s ethnic and community media, there are 270 publications that serve the immigrant and minority populations, published in 36 languages.
Former CBS Correspondent Randall Pinkston, now with Al Jazeera America, emceed the ceremony and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist turned filmmaker and immigration activist Jose Antonio Vargas delivered keynote address.
The Ippies competition attracted 158 entries this year across 10 categories from 46 community and ethnic news organizations.
The citations were given away by Jehangir Khattak, Communications Director, CCEM.