Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor of The Wire, has been named the 2017 recipient of the Shorenstein Journalism Award. The award, given annually by Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), is conferred upon a journalist who has produced outstanding reporting on Asia and has contributed significantly to Western understanding of the region. Varadarajan will headline a panel discusson on April 16, 2018, at Stanford.

"Siddharth Varadarajan’s insightful reporting and analysis of strategic policy issues have made him a leading journalist and commentator," said Nayan Chanda, jury member for the award, and founder and former editor-in-chief of YaleGlobal Online Magazine. "His original perspective and courageous accounts of India’s domestic and foreign policies have for years received high acclaim, informing readers in India, the United States, and around the world. His initiative in independent, web-based journalism as founding editor of The Wire, his distinguished body of well-researched reports, and his profound commentaries exemplify journalism excellence and innovation."

Fifteen journalists have previously received the Shorenstein award. Originally designed to honor distinguished American journalists, in 2011, the award's scope expanded to encompass Asian journalists who pave the way for press freedom, and have aided in the growth of mutual understanding between Asia and the United States.

Among the award’s most recent recipients are Ian Johnson, a veteran journalist with a focus on Chinese society, religion and history; Yoichi Funabashi, former editor-in-chief of the Asahi Shimbun; and Jacob Schlesinger, a senior foreign correspondent covering economics at the Wall Street Journal’s Tokyo bureau.

Prior to founding The Wire, Varadarajan was the editor of The Hindu, the second-largest circulated English daily in India.

Varadarajan has taught Economics at New York University and Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, in addition to working at the Times of India and the Centre for Public Affairs and Critical Theory, Shiv Nadar University.

Varadarajan is the editor of a book on the 2002 anti-Muslim violence and co-author of Nonalignment 2.0: A Foreign and Strategic Policy for India in the 21st Century (Penguin, 2014). He can be followed on twitter at @svaradarajan.

Additional details about the panel discussion and the award are listed below.

About the Panel Discussion and Award Ceremony

Shorenstein Journalism Award winner Siddharth Varadarajan will join a panel discussion including Nayan Chanda, jury member for the award, and founder and former editor-in-chief of YaleGlobal Online Magazine; Thomas Fingar, Shorenstein APARC Fellow; and Shalendra Sharma, professor in the Department of Politics at the University of San Francisco. The panel will be chaired by Daniel C. Sneider, Visiting Scholar at Shorenstein APARC.

April 16, 2017, from 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. (PDT)

Paul Brest Hall East, 555 Salvatierra Walk, Stanford, CA 94305

The panel discussion is open to the public. The award ceremony will take place in the evening for a private audience.

RSVPs for the panel discussion are requested.

Media related questions may be directed to Noa Ronkin, noa.ronkin@stanford.edu or (650) 724-5667.