Recipient of Barbara Adams Investigative Journalism Award announced

Dilip Paudel picked winner of Barbara Adams Investigative Journalism Award; Kalpana Bhattarai awarded ‘Honourable Mention’

Journalist Dilip Paudel of Nagarik Daily has been named the recipient of the Barbara Adams Investigative Journalism Award 2017. The meeting of the Judge Committee, Barbara Adams Investigative Journalism Award, held on April 16, 2018 picked Paudel as the winner. The award carries a prize money of Rs 1,00,001. The award will be handed over by Rt. Hon. Former President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav amid a program on the occasion of Republic Day and birthday of the late Barbara Adams on Baisakh 11, 2075 (April 24, 2018).

A total of 45 applications were received after Barbara Foundation called for submissions of investigative reports published, aired or broadcasted in 2017. The Judge Committee went through three rounds of selection process to pick Paudel’s report on the series of corruptions and irregularities by the leadership of the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) as the winning report. The issues raised by the reports, the depth of their investigations, and the scale and reach of the impact they made in 2017 were the core criteria used by the selection committee to pick the winner.

Beginning this year, Barbara Foundation has also decided to pick as Honourable Mention one of the top five applicants selected by the Judge Committee. Kalpana Bhattarai has been selected as the winner for 2017 for her investigative report on the dons’ engagement in crusher industries. This award carries a purse of Rs 10,001.

The top five reports from ten shortlisted reports were Paudel’s report; series of reports on NCELL tax scam by Krishna Acharya of Kantipur Daily; report on irregularities and misuse in the purchase of vehicles by the officials of the constitutional bodies by Rameshwor Bohara of Himal Khabarpatrika; report on copyright violations and plagiarism in medical sector in Nepal by Nagarik Daily’s Bishnu Prasad Aryal; and, Kalpana Bhattarai’s report.

Barbara Adams was a journalist and writer. She instituted the Barbara Adams Investigative Journalism Award on May 16, 2013 with the endowment fund of Rupees Ten lakhs (US $ 10,000) with the goals of promoting investigative journalism, and through it, good governance and democratic norms and values in the Nepali society. Born in New York City in 1931, Barbara Adams came to Nepal in 1961, and lived here until her death on April 22, 2016, two days short of her 85^th birthday. She had founded Barbara Foundation in 2010.

Surendra Poudel, correspondent of the Nagarik Daily, became the first recipient of the award in 2014. Krishna Gyawali, correspondent of the Kantipur Daily, was awarded the Award’s second edition in 2016.