Westminster alumna and former PhD researcher at Westminster’s Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) Manisha Ganguly recently jointly won the Anthem Award 2025, which honours the purpose and mission-driven social impact work of people, companies and organisations worldwide. She was also nominated for several prestigious journalism prizes, including two categories in the Foreign Press Association Awards and the Daphne Caruana Galizia Award, for her work on a range of projects that are dedicated to uncovering the truth and pursuing justice.
Manisha was one of the key ideators for the Gaza Project, which was a collaborative cross-border investigation speaheaded by Forbidden Stories. The project won the Silver award in the Human and Civil Rights category of the Anthem Awards as well as the European Investigative Journalism Impact Award. The collaboration involved over 40 journalists from 12 media organisations, investigating the attacks on journalists in Gaza. The project examined whether these deaths and attacks were the result of deliberate targeting by the Israeli military. The project’s findings challenge the consistent claims by Israel’s government that their military operations never target the press.
The Gaza Project also received a nomination from the Global Investigative Journalism Network’s Global Shining Light Award 2025, which honours investigative journalism in a developing or transitioning country, done under threat, duress or in tough conditions.
Manisha also received two nominations from the Foreign Press Association Awards (FPA) 2025. Known as the Oscars of journalism, the FPA Awards present an opportunity for journalists to be celebrated and recognised by their international peers. Manisha’s story named A Deadly Scheme: Palestinians Face Indiscriminate Gunfire at Food Sites was nominated in the News and Web Story of the Year category, and another collaborative investigation where she led the open source research exposing how the European missile group MBDA sold parts for bombs that killed children in Gaza. This was nominated in the Financial Story of the Year category.
Manisha’s story on the MBDA also received a nomination for the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism 2025, which was endorsed by the European Parliament in 2020 and rewards outstanding journalism that promotes or defends the core principles and values of the European Union such as human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law and human rights. Also nominated was her work on The Viktoriia Project, which is the continued work by 45 journalists of Viktoriia Roshchyna’s investigation into the thousands of Ukrainian civilians illegally detained by Russia, which cost her life.
Manisha’s PhD thesis, titled The Future of Investigative Journalism in the Age of Automation, Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), has been included and quoted in a UNESCO manual for investigative journalism called Story Based Inquiry. The open access manual, written by Mark Lee Hunter, aims to help train journalists across the globe and is full of practical tips on investigating, project management, media law and risk assessment. Manisha contributed to the chapter on open-source investigations for the UNESCO manual using findings from her doctoral dissertation.
Manisha said: “I'm really honoured and grateful to see my solo and joint investigations being recognised by the international community. Press freedom is in dangerous decline, with more journalists being targeted, threatened and killed than ever before. As a journalist who has previously faced threats, I am deeply worried about the normalisation of attacks on the press at all levels. The last year of investigating war crimes in Gaza and Ukraine have been difficult because as journalists we are bearing witness to destruction, death and impunity on a daily basis. I'm grateful to have received the support of editors and cross-border collaborations willing to pursue dangerous truths.”
Manisha Ganguly’s work directly contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.
Learn more about Media and Communication courses at the University of Westminster.
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