Barkha Dutt bags Commonwealth award

New Delhi, Feb 20 (UNI) Barkha Dutt, the acclaimed journalist and Managing Editor of NDTV 24X7, has been honoured with the prestigious Commonwealth Broadcasting Association-Thomson Foundation, 'Journalist of the Year Award'.

Ms Dutt won in a category which included nominations from 53 Commonwealth countries, including the BBC and Channel 4.

In a career spanning over the past 13 years, she has reported on stories that have become an indispensable part of India's consciousness, ranging from the Kargil war to the Tsunami of 2004.

''This award is specifically for her stellar reporting in the last one year, from the Kashmir earthquake which united the two countries in tragedy, to the campaign for Justice for the Jessica Lall Murder case and the communal violence in Vadodara,'' NDTV said in a statement.

''This award means more than any other because you know that you are up against the best in the business. It's a great honour and I thank CBA for this recognition,'' says Ms Dutt.

The CBA was founded in February 1945 as the Commonwealth Broadcasting Conference. The first meeting, held in London, brought together representatives of a number of broadcasting organisations that had co-operated closely in reporting the Second World War. It began with only six members but today it is an association of more than 100 broadcasting organisations in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Australasia, the Pacific, North and South America.