P. Sainath
P. Sainath
Guest Professor
- BA: Loyola College, Madras, 1977
- MA: Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1979
- PhD: University of Alberta at Edmonton, Canada
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Selected Publications
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Book: Everybody Loves a Good Drought. Stories from India’s poorest districts Penguin, India 1996. UK edition, Headline, 1998. Also published in Odiya, Marathi, Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Swedish, Finnish and German.
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In 2012, the publishers declared the book a ‘Penguin Classic’ and issued a special edition with the old classic Penguin cover of the 1960s. Meanwhile, the book is in its 43rd print and remains a big seller.
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Chapter: Mass Media - but where are the masses? In book: Bridging the gap. Eds: Latha Pillai & Babu P. Remesh. SAGE, New Delhi, UK, USA 2011.
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Chapter: Why the United States got it wrong. In book: Mumbai Post 26/11. An alternate perspective. Eds: Ram Puniyani & Shabnam Hashmi. SAGE, New Delhi 2010
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Published Lecture: India in the Age of Inequality: Farm crisis, food crisis and the media.
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Second B.M. Pugh Memorial Lecture 2009. National Council for Educational Research & Training (NCERT), New Delhi.
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Work Experience
- Adjunct Faculty, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, India, (2000-present)
- Trained large numbers of rural journalists in very backward districts of India and continue to hold regular workshops for stringers and reporters in such regions. Focus in recent years has been on in-the-field training of rural journalists, for instance in Kalahandi, Bolangir and Nuapada (among many other places), (Since 1993)
- Journalism Professor (Visiting) at Sophia Polytechnic,
Mumbai, India. Over 1,000 students from that institution alone presently in
diverse branches of the media, (1986-87- present)
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Awards
Year
Institution
Name of Award
(and criteria as stated in the official citations)2015
Coady Chair in Social Justice
University of St. Francis Xavier, Antigonish,Nova Scotia
Distinguished contribution to Social Justice as a journalist
2015
The Loyola Prize, Loyola College, Chennai
Most distinguished alumnus
2015
ThoughtWorks Chair Professor in Rural India & Journalism, Chennai
Bringing rural reporting to digital platforms2015
World Media Summit Global Award for Excellence for exemplary news professionalsFor outstanding reporting on the water crisis2015
Visiting Professor South Asian Studies Princeton UniversityTo teach special courses on Development and Inequality2012
University of Princeton, NJ, USA
McGraw Professor of Writing, Fall Semester
2012
The Malati and N.R. Chendur Trust
N.R. Chendur Jagati award for pioneering contribution to journalism
2011
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt), the University’s highest honour
2011
Amnesty International
Movies that Matter Festival Honour for “human rights defenders who have made extraordinary contributions and sacrifices.”
2010
Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi Trust, Rae Bareilly
Ram Manohar Tripathi Prize for Public Service Journalism
2010
MIT Group, Pune
Bharat Asmita Award
For outstanding contribution in the field of journalism
2009
The Ramnath Goenka Awards for Excellence in Journalism
Journalist of the Year
For reporting on India’s Agrarian Crisis
2009
Samaj Prabodhan Sanstha
(Institute for Social Awakening)
Krantiagrani Puraskar
For outstanding contribution in the field of journalism
2008
Graduate School of Journalism, Berkeley, California
The Nirupama Chatterjee Fellowship
2008
The Dada Undalkar Foundation
From Maharashtra’s last living freedom fighters for “putting agrarian distress on the national agenda.”
2007
Ramon Magsaysay Foundation. Manila Literature & the Creative Communication Arts
Ramon Magsaysay Prize for Journalism, Literature and Communication
For “passionate commitment as a journalist to restore India’s rural poor to national consciousness.”
2006
Harry Chapin Media Award: Judge’s Prize, New York, U.S.A.
For work “that focuses on the causes of hunger and poverty,” including “work on economic inequality and insecurity, unemployment, homelessness, domestic and international policies and their reform…”
2004
Chattisgarh Labour Institute & Chattisgarh Mukti Morcha
Shaheed Niyogi Memorial Journalism Award for writings on Labour & Working People
2004
Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust
Prem Bhatia Journalism Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting & Analysis
2003
“Grassroots Story of the Month” prize from Press Institute of India
For reporting on migrant labourers
2003
Asian Leadership Programme of the
International House of Japan and Japan Foundation Asia Centre
Asian Leadership Fellow
2002
Global Visions Film Festival. Edmonton, Canada
Global Vision’s Inspiration Award (with filmmaker Joe Moulins)
2002
Trinity College, Hartford Ct. U.S.A.
Visiting McGill Professor Spring 2002
2001
Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations
The A.H. Boerma Prize for “work of international importance in addressing the issues of hunger.”
2000
Amnesty International
Global Human Rights Journalism Prize. First winner, inaugural year of the prize.
2000
B. D. Goenka Foundation (Indian Express Group of newspapers)
B. D. Goenka Prize for Excellence in Journalism
2000
Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships
Eisenhower Fellowship
1999
SAIS-Novartis Award
SAIS-Novartis award for Excellence in International Journalism (given to those in the top ten shortlist made by a panel at the SAIS, Johns Hopkins).
1998
Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund
Nehru Fellowship for work on Dalits
1998
University of Iowa
Distinguished Visiting Professional
1998
Human Rights Education Movement of India, Chennai
Human Rights Award: for Journalism strengthening Dalit Human Rights
1996
Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia
Senior Divisional Fellow. Division of Humanities. In recognition of work on rural India
1995
European Commission, Brussels
EC’s Lorenzo Natali prize for journalism “that stands out for its defence of human rights and of democracy as vital elements of social and economic development”
1995
National Centre for South Asian Studies, Melbourne
National Media Fellow. In recognition of journalistic work on rural India
1995
People’s Union for Civil Liberties, New Delhi
PUCL Journalism for Human Rights Award .for work appearing in The Times of India in 1994. Awarded for stories on “ecological refugees”
1995
V.V.Giri Centenary Award, New Delhi
For “outstanding work on rural unorganised labour”
1995
Ashoka Foundation International
In recognition of work — and to promote new ideas in journalism
1994
The Statesman, Calcutta
The Statesman Award for Rural Reporting. For work appearing in The Times of India in 1993
1994
Foundation for Humanization, Bombay (publishers of Humanscape magazine)
Humanscape Award for outstanding achievement in the field of journalism
1993
Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation, Madras ( A four-award combination: one presented in India, three in the USA)
Raja-Lakshmi Award in recognition of “forceful contribution to the profession, versatility and for representing the finest values in Indian journalism, humanism, democracy and social justice”
1992
Times of India Fellowships Council
Times Fellowship Journalism Award for project on India’s ten poorest districts
1991
All India Small & Medium Newspapers Federation, New Delhi
National Media Award for outstanding achievement in journalism
1991
L.V. Ramaiah Foundation, Madras
L.V.R. Award for professional excellence
1984
Graduate School of Journalism, University of W. Ontario, Canada
Distinguished International Visitor at the Graduate School of Journalism
1981
United News of India, New Delhi
Reporter of the month