Rupert Cornwell Prize 2025: Trisha Mukherjee named as this year’s winner
The fifth Rupert Cornwell Journalism Award was awarded to Trisha Mukherjee, a freelance journalist based in New York.
The annual award is aimed at young journalists at the beginning of their careers. Ms. Mukherjee beat out an exceptionally talented group of applicants with her proposed story line about the US-Mexico border.
The award was established in memory of the distinguished foreign correspondent and writer Rupert Cornwell, who died in 2017. The goal is to help fund a suitable journalism project in any of the broad regions where Cornwell spent most of his career: North America, Europe and the Soviet Union.
The £5,000 prize is supported by The Independent and awarded by the Rupert Cornwell Trust.
“It is a true honor to be recognized with this year’s Rupert Cornwell award. I am deeply inspired by Mr. Cornwell’s tenacious, incisive journalism. While reporting from everywhere, he knew how to make every sentence sing. I hope to carry his unique spirit into my own reporting at the U.S.-Mexico border and beyond.” Ms Mukherjee said.
On behalf of the judges and the foundation, Cornwell’s widow Susan, a former US Congressional correspondent, praised Ms Mukherjee’s proposal as “up-to-date, detailed and well-researched”.
Cornwell said, “Trisha’s presentation demonstrated that she is a talented and sensitive writer. The jury was also impressed by her focus on global human rights and her desire to create a more compassionate world through stories.” he said.
Ms Mukherjee contributed New York Times and Business Insider.
The jury also praised Antonia Langford’s innovative proposal on climate change, ecological degradation and historical legacies in Central Asia.
Rupert Cornwell was one of the most elegant writers of recent times and embodied the pioneering spirit of The Independent when he joined The Independent in 1986 as one of its first to join. He remained one of the group’s most influential voices, writing for the title until his death in 2017.
From his reporting for the Financial Times in Rome to his years at The Independent covering the decline of the USSR and the Trump phenomenon in the United States, he was an inspiration to his colleagues and now to a new generation of journalists.
