KOZHIKODE: Ambika Raja, trainee reporter at The New Indian Express, Kozhikode, has been awarded the second edition of the Network of Women in Media-India (NWMi) Fellowship for the year 2018-19 instituted by NWMi. The fellowship consists of an annual stipend of Rs 60,000, professional equipment and mentorship.
The fellowship is given to women journalists working in challenging situations, remote areas or conflict zones. Ambika has been wheelchair-bound since 2014 when she sustained a spinal cord injury in an accident. Despite the major setback leaving her paraplegic, she went on to study at the Asian College of Journalism (Chennai) and pursue a career in journalism.
The NWMi Fellowship selection committee decided to confer this year’s fellowship on Ambika as a tribute to her strength, courage and determination in the face of adversity. She won the fellowship from
among the 16 women journalists from Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir (including Ladakh), Jharkhand, Karnataka and Kerala. Applicants belonged to various minorities, marginalised communities who represented print, online, television and radio. The first recipient of the NWMi fellowship was Jayanti Buruda, a journalist from Malkangiri, Odisha.