International PhD Student awarded Pulitzer Grant for Journalism

19 December 2022

Syeda Sana Batool
Syeda Sana Batool
Type: Text
Category: Student stories

Falmouth University PhD student, Syeda Sana Batool, has been awarded a prestigious Pulitzer Centre Grant to bring to light the devastating impact of the water crisis and ongoing conflicts in Pakistan and India.  

Sana is an experienced freelance journalist and reporter based in Pakistan, currently studying a PhD at Falmouth’s School of Communication, and has been awarded the grant to continue her focus on important collaborative projects such as the Pakistan/India water crisis and ongoing conflicts, alongside fellow journalist Safina Nabi.  

I’m delighted that I’ve been awarded this grant to continue telling important stories from Pakistan.

From her base in Pakistan, Sana’s professional practice focuses in the often-underreported issues in the country. Through her PhD project at Falmouth University, she is examining why media in Pakistan may underreport violence against the Shia Muslim population.  

This isn’t the first award for Sana this year. On the back of her reporting focused on marginalised groups, the environment, the water crisis, and women's reproductive health in Pakistan, she was awarded a fellowship as part of the UK Government’s Chevening South-Asia Journalism Award in May. 

I hope, by publishing these stories, we can bring light to the issues affecting people that otherwise wouldn’t have a voice.

About Sana

Sana has worked as a freelance journalist since 2005, documenting projects including the water crisis in Pakistan, sectarian tensions in Iraq and Syria, the killing of Hazaras in Quetta, Balochistan, cross-border issues between India and Pakistan, the environmental crisis in South Asia, and a travelogue on Syria. Sana’s work has been widely published in Pakistani local newspapers and her international clients include Al Jazeera, The Diplomat, BBC Urdu, TRT World, and DW.  

Sana received her BA and MA from the University of Karachi, and an MS in Journalism from the Center for Excellence in Journalism, Karachi, Pakistan. 

Syeda Sana Batool,
Syeda Sana Batool,

You might also like