CSE annouces media fellows

http://www.cseindia.org/content/12-fellows-selected-eleventh-cse-media-fellowship-justice-bay-forest-rights-act

12 Fellows selected for the Eleventh CSE Media Fellowship - Justice at Bay : The Forest Rights Act

February 10, 2011 – April 10, 2011

Millions of people are linked to forests, some derive their livelihoods from them, others call them home. The forests, however, are subjected to continuous exploitation due to varied reasons beyond the realm of sustenance, rendering the forest dwellers most vulnerable.

To protect these communities against harassment, eviction, displacement and encroachment, the Forest Rights Act was introduced in December 2006. For the first time in history, these villagers got recognition of their rights to their homeland and awarded the responsibility of managing the forests and forest resources.

Industry and the state, however, continue to have a vested interest in forests. Corporates entice the state with their ambitious proposals and dreams of development, fell the forests, dig out the minerals and leave without reclamation displacing the entire forest community.

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) offers a media fellowship to Indian journalists to study, investigate and report on the implementation, violation and drawbacks of the act and its fallout on the forest dwelling communities.

Selection procedure
Applications accompanied by their resumes, samples of work and letter of support from their editors were received from across the country. A total of 54 applications were received out of which 39 were shortlisted for final selection.

A jury comprising of legal experts and senior media professionals was constituted to select the fellows. The jury members were

* Mr Sanjay Upadhyay: Managing Partner, Enviro Legal Defense Firm, NOIDA
* Mr Manish Mitta: Senior Editor -Legal, Times of India, Delhi
* Mr Pankaj Pachauri: Senior Desk Editor (Hindi) - NDTV, Delhi
* Ms Sunita Narain: Director, CSE
* Ms Lata Jishnu, Senior Editor, Down To Earth
* Mr Richard Mahapatra, Senior Editor, Down To Earth

The parameters for assessing the candidates included originality of ideas; grasp of issues covered; relevance of the issues covered; range of the issues covered; analytical skills; writing skills; and initiative. The jury was requested to finalise the selection of journalists for the fellowship, enrich proposed story ideas with fresh perspectives and suggest ways to make future fellowships more challenging and meaningful.

The jury selected the 12 most promising candidates for awarding the fellowship grant. The fellows are given from february 10 - April 2011 for working on their subjects. We present to you the fellows and their proposals.

The reports and articles published by our fellows are available as an exposé of the ground reality of the plans.

Fellows



Abhijeet Anand
Deputy Chief Reporter
The Statesman, New Delhi


Aloka
Freelance Journalist
Nai Dunia
Ranchi, Jharkhand



Anil S
Senior Reporter
The New Indian Express
Kochi, Kerala


Atul Kumar Singh
Sr Sub Editor
Hindustan
New Delhi


Baba Mayaram
Freelance Reporter
Daily Chhattisgarh
Madhya Pradesh


G Srinivas
Freelance Journalist
Dhimsa, Visakhapatnam
Andhra Pradesh


Jupinderjit Singh
Bureau Chief
The Tribune, Jammu
Jammu & Kashmir



Rajnish Gambhir
Freelance Journalist
Chauthi Duniya
Uttar Pradesh



Rajkumar Robindro
Production Assistant
Doordarshan Kendra, Imphal
Manipur



Reshma S Jathar
Freelance Reporter
Lokprabha, Mumbai
Maharashtra

Shalini Singh
Senior Reporter
The Hindustan Times
New Delhi-________________________________________________________________________

Soma Basu
Staff Reporter
The Statesman,Kolkata
West Bengal