Deadline: 25-Jul-2025
The Indian American Muslim Council is excited to invite nominations for its Human Rights and Religious Freedom Journalism Awards to recognize outstanding stories that explore the questions of human rights and the lived reality of religious minorities and marginalized communities in India.
The stories that the award seeks to recognize are those that reflect the high standards of reporting. Candidates will be shortlisted based on the relevance of their work- their stories should highlight unreported and under-reported issues; explore new angles on familiar topics, challenge misconceptions and counter stereotypes about the marginalized communities.
Categories
- Best Text Reporting on Human Rights & Religious Freedom (English): This category honors the best text reportage (1000 words or longer) in English that sheds light on unreported or under-reported human rights and religious freedom issues in India.
- Best Text Reporting on Human Rights & Religious Freedom (Hindi): This category honors the best text reportage (1000 words or longer) in Hindi that sheds light on unreported or under-reported human rights and religious freedom issues in India.
- Best Text Reporting on Human Rights & Religious Freedom (Urdu): This category honors the best text reportage (1000 words or longer) in Urdu that sheds light on unreported or under-reported human rights and religious freedom issues in India.
- Best Video Story on Human Rights and Religious Freedom: This category is for the best video report on human rights and religious freedom issues in India. The video story must be of 4 minutes to 25 minutes in duration.
- Best Story on Human Solidarity: This award honors a powerful piece of journalism that captures acts of unity, solidarity and compassion across religious, ethnic, or cultural divides. It recognizes storytelling that uplifts shared humanity and promotes hope in the face of injustice or adversity.
- HRRF Young Journalist of the Year Award 2025: The Human Rights & Religious Freedom Young Journalist of the Year Award recognizes a young journalist (30 years of age or under as of July 1, 2025) in any medium (text, photo, video, or multimedia) who has made a substantial contribution to Indian journalism during 2024 in defense of human rights and religious freedom. Journalists can submit three to five best stories. All media formats are acceptable.
Prize Information
- All the award categories include a cash prize of INR 50,000 and a plaque.
Eligibility Criteria
- The award is open to journalists of any nationality who have reported on the human rights and religious freedom issues in India.
- The stories must be published either in newspapers (local, regional, national or international), magazines (online and print) or news websites. Stories published on personal blogs are not eligible for the award.
- Each category may be single-authored or multi-authored.
- All entries must have been published between June 30, 2024, and June 30, 2025.
- Journalists can apply for awards in multiple categories.
- Journalists may submit a single piece or a published series on the same topic or issue.
Evaluation Criteria
- All submitted works will be evaluated based on the overall merit of the piece. It will be judged not only on quality of reporting but also on investigative effort, informational value, resourcefulness, accuracy and contribution to the overall understanding of the issue being discussed.
For more information, visit HRRF Journalism Awards.