The Lowell Thomas Award 2021

Clockwise from upper left: Lauren Frayer, Sushmita Pathak, Didrik Schanche and Nishant Dahiya

Best radio, audio or podcast coverage of international affairs

AWARD DATE: 2021

AWARD NAME: The Lowell Thomas Award 2021

AWARD RECIPIENTS: Lauren Frayer, Sushmita Pathak, Didrik Schanche and Nishant Dahiya

AWARD RECIPIENT AFFILIATION: National Public Radio (NPR)

AWARD HONORED WORK: “India’s Spring 2021 COVID-19 Wave”

AWARD SPONSOR: Deborah Amos

In their sustained COVID-19 coverage, reporter Lauren Frayer and producer Sushmita Pathak took listeners into the everyday anguish of Indians living through a pandemic made worse by massive health care shortcomings. Their very human stories also illuminated the politics and scientific issues affecting India’s response. Despite living under extraordinary lockdown conditions, the NPR journalists regularly delivered deep, nuanced stories, told through the voices of ordinary Indians and the health care professionals seeking to help them.

Links to the winning work:

1 – The Mystery Of India’s Plummeting COVID-19 Cases
2 – How Do You Vaccinate 300 Million People By August? Ask India
3 – The World’s Largest Vaccine Maker Took A Multimillion Dollar Pandemic Gamble
4 – How India Went From A Ray Of Hope To A World Record For Most COVID Cases In A Day
5 – India Is Counting Thousands Of Daily COVID Deaths. How Many Is It Missing?
6 – Why Is India Running Out Of Oxygen?
7 – ‘This Government Has Failed Us’: Anger Rises In India Over PM Modi’s COVID Response
8 – In Rural India, Less COVID-19 Testing, More Fear — And A Few Ventilators For Millions
9 – They Returned To India To Be Near Their Fathers, But Lost Them Both To COVID-19
10 – COVID-19 Has Pushed India’s Junior Doctors To Their Limits
11 – ‘Everyone I Know Has Lost Someone’: An Update From India
12 – How COVID Spiraled Out Of Control In Nepal

Citation for Excellence:
Staff
Bloomberg Podcasts
“Foundering: The TikTok Story”