Best newspaper or wire service interpretation of international affairs
AWARD YEAR: 2007
AWARD NAME: The Bob Considine Award 2007
RECIPIENTS: Paul Beckett, Eric Bellman, Krishna Pokharel, Yaroslav Trofimov, Peter Wonacott
AFFILIATION: The Wall Street Journal
HONORED WORK: “India’s Great Leap Upward”
That India’s economy is growing exponentially is well known. What The Wall Street Journal staff writers analyze is the impact of that growth story. Sudden strong demand for educated workers is breaking ancient caste barriers. Even Dalits, or untouchables, can now dream of the middle class life. The articles document the complexity of discrimination in rural India, the entrenched impunity of local corrupt legislators charged with fixing public education, and the new aspirations of the poorest as they clash with the powerful interests of the moneyed elite. How India’s democracy copes with both the demands of new wealth and worsening poverty for those left behind will keep the world watching keenly.
Citation for Excellence:
Trudy Rubin
Philadelphia Inquirer
“Worldview”