CWN contributor wins international award for human rights in journalism
By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Jul 02, 2013
Anto Akkara, who has been working with CWN for over a decade as a correspondent in India, has been awarded the Titus Brandsma award for journalism by the International Christian Organization of the Media (ICOM).
The Titus Brandsma award recognizes a journalist who has made a major contribution to the struggle for human rights. Akkara has exposed the brutal persecution of Christians in India’s Kandhamal region, particularly in his books, Shining Faith in Kandhamal and Early Christians of the 21st Century. In its award citation, ICOM praised Akkara for “the stellar role you have played in highlighting the gross denial of fundamental rights and freedom of religion in the Kandhamal jungles of Orissa.”
The annual award from ICOM, which will be formally conferred on Akkara in October at a conference in Panama City, is named for Blessed Titus Brandsma, a Dutch journalist and Carmelite priest who courageously resisted Nazi ideology and died at Dachau in 1942.
Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.
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