(Our Bureau, June 12) Indian American journalists Megha Rajagopalan and Neil Bedi have won the prestigious Pulitzer for their investigative journalism. Megha, who currently works as a senior correspondent at BuzzFeed News, won the award for innovative investigative reports that used satellite technology to expose China’s detention camps for Uighurs. The award in the international category is shared with Megha’s two colleagues Alison Killing and Christo Buschek; the trio identified 260 detention camps comparing censored Chinese images with uncensored mapping software, stated a report in the Business Standard.
Neil, who holds a degree in computer science, won the award in the local reporting category for the investigative stories he wrote at Tampa Bay Times exposing a Sheriff’s Office initiative that used computer modeling to identify people believed to be future crime suspects. Over 1,000 people were tracked using the program, including children. He shared the award with Kathleen McGrory, with whom he worked for four years. The two were on the Pulitzer finalists list two years ago for publishing stories on surgical mistakes that led to crippling outcomes at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.
Following her reports Megha, who studied journalism at the University of Maryland College Park, had been barred by the Chinese government in 2018. Despite this, she continued to report from Kazakhstan throwing light on the violation of the Uighurs’ human rights.
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