The winners of PII-ICRC media awards. (From left) Pattabi Raman, Manob Chowdhury, Pervez M Lone, Lakshmi Subramanian, Sohini Chattopadhyay, Sumir Karmakar. @ICRC

The Annual Awards for Best Article and Best Photograph on a humanitarian subject were announced in November last year. Organised jointly by the Press Institute of India and the International Committee of the Red Cross, New Delhi, the theme of the media awards was ‘Reporting on the Fate of Victims of Armed Violence’. In the print category, Sohini Chattopadhyay of the Open magazine won the first prize, while Lakshmi

Subramanian of The Week magazine was awarded the second prize. Pervez Majeed Lone of Sahara Times and Sumir Karmakar from The Telegraph shared the third prize. In the Photograph category, photojournalist Pattabi Raman won the second prize while the third prize went to Manob Chowdhury of The Hindu newspaper. The first prize in the photograph category was not awarded this year.

In a panel discussion held during the media awards ceremony discussants drove home the point that journalists face clear and present danger while reporting during situations of armed violence. With humanitarian   workers and journalists, across the world, increasingly coming under attack in the line of work on the frontlines, jury member and panelist Pamela Philipose pointed out that journalists on dangerous professional missions often become “collateral damage” in such situations.

The ICRC and the PII started the annual competition in 2008 in an effort to recognize the work of Indian journalists in the field of humanitarian reporting, where they focus the spotlight on the human suffering caused by armed violence and the extraordinary resilience shown by people affected by such situations.