The Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) will honor noted journalist, writer, and editor Jose Kavi by conferring its prestigious annual Louis Careno Award for Excellence in Journalism, according to a press release.
The jury that decided the award commended him for being an example of "crusading independent journalism in the cause of truth."
The award will be conferred on Kavi during the 28th National Convention of Christian Journalists, organized by the ICPA, scheduled to be held in Kochi on September 23, 2023.
Scores of cub journalists have benefited from his teaching and mentoring, making him one of the most beloved veteran journalists in the national capital.
Kavi has played a crucial role in professionalizing church-based news agencies.
In the last four decades, he has made a mark in both secular journalism and reporting on the Christian world.
As an in-service trainee journalist at the ICPA-run SAR-News (South Asian Religious News), Kavi entered the media industry.
The three phases of his professional life have been with the UNI, a major news agency of its time; the UCAN, a pioneering Catholic News Service; and now Matters India, a news portal of great credibility that was launched 11 years ago. Matters India is seen as a window to the Christian world by secular observers.
As India Editor of UCAN (Union of Catholic Asian News), for about 25 years, he single-handedly built up a network of professional journalists covering the whole of India and even Nepal. UCAN-India had links to Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Hong Kong. UCAN’s Hong Kong reporters used to sneak into mainland China, scouting for stories, especially on the "underground church" there. UCAN-India used to contextualize these stories from the Indian angle.
Periodic, ongoing training was part of the UCAN culture. No wonder, many UCAN journalists became internationally reputed investigative journalists, and many migrated to secular media, with the gospel values alive in their hearts.
Matters India was a heroic attempt on his part to redefine church media, regardless of personal pain and suffering. At a time when church media used to be dubbed singing hosanna to priests and the hierarchy, Kavi dared to correct it without ever coming to the limelight.
The news portal makes special efforts to bring to the world the atrocities committed against the Church, its institutions, Dalits, tribals, and the marginalized. But for its coverage, many such incidents and instances would have gone unknown to the public.
Kavi is married to Rosamma, a senior nursing tutor. They have two children. Ashish, the eldest, is an engineer. Award-winning Malayalam movie actress Archana Kavi is the daughter. He is an unassuming, modest person who shuns the limelight, a rare quality among professional journalists. - Santosh Digal
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
Latest News
