New Delhi: Soumya Pillai, a senior assistant editor covering science and environment at ThePrint, has won the Journalist of the Year Award at the 10th Indian Institute of Mass Communication Alumni Association (IIMCAA) Awards.
She won the prize for her investigative report that showed a surge in requests for high-resolution satellite images of Pahalgam two months before the deadly 22 April terrorist attack.
Her report of 9 May—‘Orders for Pahalgam satellite images from US firm peaked two months before attack’—was perhaps the only story in the news media to provide proof of the planning behind the Pahalgam attack, and to link it to Pakistan.
To quote from the story: “Two months before terrorists killed 26 people in Kashmir, a top US-based space tech company saw an unprecedented spike in orders for high-resolution satellite images of Pahalgam and its surrounding areas… These high-resolution images are often used by defence agencies for monitoring troop movements, weapon installations, and infrastructure development…”
Pillai wrote that the company, Maxar Technologies, first received orders for images of Pahalgam in June 2024 “…just months after Maxar acquired a new partner: a Pakistan-based geo-spatial company linked to federal crimes in the US.”
IIMCAA congratulates Ms. Soumya Pillai on winning the Journalist of the Year at the 10th IIMCAA Awards.@soumya_pillai #IIMCAA #IIMCAAAwards2026 pic.twitter.com/7yRUbM9bWa
— IIMC Alumni Association (@IIMCAA) February 28, 2026
The IMCAA award was presented by the IIMC Alumni Association (IIMCAA), the official alumni body of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication that organises annual events, scholarships and awards to recognise excellence in mass communication.
The IIMCAA said its awards honour journalists, communicators and media professionals across a range of categories and that the annual ceremony is part of its broader alumni engagement and professional-support activities.
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