Somini Sengupta has been a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reporter for over 20 years. She has written about conflicts, diplomacy, humanitarian crises and as of 2023 is covering climate. In particular, she has reported on the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

and the Syrian civil war. Her flak jacket is in the ''Times'' museum. Since February 2022, she has been the lead writer for the ''Times'' Climate Forward newsletter, sharing the National Press Club Journalism Award in 2023 for Newsletter Journalism with fellow reporter Manuela Andreoni. Born in India, Sengupta was raised in Canada and the United States and graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

Career and awards

In 2003 and 2004, Somini Sengupta covered west and central Africa as the Dakar bureau chief for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', including the conflict in

Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...

. She won the

George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...

on "foreign reporting for her articles from Congo, Liberia and other war-torn areas of West Africa" in 2003. In 2005, Sengupta became the first

Indian American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from India. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans in the United States, who ar ...

to serve as the

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

bureau chief for ''The New York Times''. Her climate reporting has been recognized and has led to several journalism awards. The

United Nations Correspondents Association The United Nations Correspondents Association (U.N. Correspondents Association), or UNCA, was founded in New York City in 1948. It has over 250 members today . It presents the annual UNCA Excellence in Journalism Awards. The purpose of the awards ...

recognized her reporting on

West African West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ma ...

climate refugees with its 2017 "UNCA Global Prize for coverage of Climate Change". In 2021, she received an award for her environmental reporting from the

Newswomen's Club of New York The Newswomen's Club of New York is a nonprofit organization that focuses on women working in the media in the New York City metropolitan area. Founded in 1922 as the New York Newspaper Woman's Club, it included Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Rogers R ...

. Also in 2021, the

Women's Media Center Women's Media Center (WMC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit women's organization in the United States founded in 2005 by writers and activists Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem.

recognized her with one of their "Exceptional Journalism Awards" in her role as an "International Climate Correspondent" for the ''Times''. Her coverage of lithium mining in Chile was cited as part of a ''Times'' team which shared the

Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

Whitman Bassow Award in 2021. She is the winner of the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Newswomens Club of New York.

Works

Sengupta has written one book, ''The End of Karma: Hope and Fury Among India's Young'', published by W. W. Norton & Company. It was recognized by ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' as one of their Books of the Year in 2016, and was also reviewed by ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

'' and ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sengupta, Somini Living people Indian emigrants to the United States The New York Times journalists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American women journalists University of California, Berkeley alumni Environmental journalists George Polk Award recipients American non-fiction environmental writers American women writers of Indian descent Year of birth missing (living people)