Diageo, a premium drinks company, has recognized and honoured five winning journalists from across Asia-Pacific for their outstanding reporting of women’s issues at the inaugural 2014 Women’s Empowerment (WE) Journalism Awards ceremony in Singapore. The winners from India were Sumnima Udas of CNN and Nilanjana Bhowmick of Time Magazine. “The incredible response we received to our call for nominations for the WE Journalism Awards was very inspiring and reaffirmed Diageo’s commitment to our women’s empowerment initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Managing Director, Diageo India Pvt Ltd. “We received more than 300 entries from 11 different countries across print, online and broadcast media, proving that women’s issues are all of our issues.”

“I am exceedingly proud that we had two winning entries from India, Nilanjana Bhowmick and Sumnima Udas who are not only excellent journalists but role models and advocates for women across India and the region,” Ms Sankaranarayanan added. CNN’s Sumnima Udas was named Journalist of the Year for her razor-sharp yet thoughtful reporting on gender issues in India, including the December 2012 New Delhi rape and murder of a young medical student. The incident, which shocked the entire nation and garnered attention from around the world, led to change in how Indian society handles sexual crimes and violence against women. Nearly a full year of reporting led to the documentary film “Nirbhaya: The Fearless One,” which featured Ms Udas’ in-depth interview with the victim’s parents.

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