‘Cutting South 2023’ to celebrate journalism in the Global South

‘Cutting South 2023’, a global media festival to celebrate good journalism with focus on South India and the Global South, will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday at the Ernakulam Town Hall.

‘Cutting South 2023’, a global media festival to celebrate good journalism with focus on South India and the Global South, will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday at the Ernakulam Town Hall.

The festival is being organised by the Kerala Media Academy in association with Newslaundry, The News Minute, Confluence Media, and the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ). The six-month long festival will begin with an international photo festival by legendary photographer Raghu Rai.

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan will be among those present at the inaugural event where the winners of the media academy’s top three awards — Global Photography Prize (Raghu Rai), Media Person of the Year 2022 (Pavla Holcova), and the Global Media Book Award (Josy Joseph) will be presented.

Pavla Holcova, who was selected Media Person of the Year by the Kerala Media Academy, is a legendary journalist from Czech Republic whose innovative investigative journalism response to the killing of her colleague Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnirová brought down the Slovak Government. ‘The Killing of a Journalist’, the feature documentary on the killing of Mr. Jan and Ms. Martina, and Mr. Pavla’s courageous response, will be screened at the inaugural event.

Among the major attractions of the inaugural event will be a session on ‘Journalism according to Gabriel Garcia Marquez’. The event is envisaged as a global media conclave that will bring together the greatest of living journalists, finest long form writers, documentary makers, podcasters, and other practitioners of the craft of journalism. Its focus will be firmly on the Global South.

The event will have a session with Chitra Subramaniam on how she uncovered Bofors scandal that had a dramatic impact on Indian politics. Another will put special focus on issues faced by women journalists and other marginalised groups in the media space. Cutting South 2023 will culminate in August-September in Kochi.