SAJA: Making the Presence Felt

The South Asian Journalists Association annual convention, July 13-16, at the Columbia University School of Journalism in New York City had significant participation by Nepali journalists.Newslook would like to congratulate its founder Dharma Adhikari [3 rd from right] for a SAJA Journalism Award he received (for an op-ed piece he wrote last year). There were several others who got awards in news reporting and commentary, etc, presented by Tom Curley, the head of Associated Press. 

SAJA, not long ago, would be seen more as a forum dominated by Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi professionals. This year, some emerging, young Nepali journalists made their presence felt. The Nepali bloggger Paramendra Bhagat, as a panel member, spoke on press freedom in Nepal; Anup Kaphle [1st from right], a journalism student interning at Newsweek International, blogged on the convention website; Sumit Dayal, a photo jouralist from KTM, had a series of photos from Nepal shown as part of the gala dinner slides. Sumit was also given a scholarship. And then, there was-- who else-- Kashish Das Shrestha [2nd from left], the editor of NYC-based newsmagazine NepaliAawaz. 

No doubt, he was there to get the story out. You also can see Rumee Singh [1st from L), a graduate broadcast student from Boston. The list does not end there. The Kathmandu Post's Ghanashyam Ojha, and journalist John Narayan Parajuli were there, too. In fact, they were among a group of 4-5 Nepalis, who clobbered Richard A. Boucher, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, with a number of questions on Nepal on July 14. There were more Nepalis participating, truly. A similar lineup next July would help to enhance Nepal’s profile at SAJA.