Josy Joseph

Josy Joseph
Born (1974-05-06) 6 May 1974
Cherthala, Alapuzha District, Kerala, India
EducationFletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University NSS College, Cherthala, University of Kerala, Sainik School Kazhakootam[1]
OccupationJournalist
Notable workA Feast of Vultures: The Hidden Business of Democracy in India
SpousePriya Solomon[2]
ChildrenSupriya Ann Joseph [3]
Websitehttp://josyjoseph.in

Josy Joseph is an Indian investigative journalist and author. He is the founder of Confluence Media, a platform-agnostic investigative journalism organization. He is an adjunt faculty at O. P. Jindal Global University[4]

Early life and education

He graduated from NSS College, Cherthala, affiliated to the University of Kerala, in Mathematics, Physics, and Statistics, and holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism. Joseph received his master's degree in International Relations in 2007 from the Global Master of Arts Program (GMAP) at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.[5]

Career

Joseph worked for The Hindu, Times of India, DNA (newspaper) and Rediff.com. His major works include news breaks on Leave Travel Allowance (LTA), published in Times of India in August 2013, on members of the Indian Parliament and government employees defrauding the government with false bills to claim undue benefits [6][7][8] and on 2G spectrum case during 2010-11.[9][10]

He reported on the questionable role of many sports administrators's in the 2010 Commonwealth Games.[11] He also reported on the Adarsh Housing Society scandal which dealt with alleged irregularities in the construction of the Adarsh apartment complex in Mumbai meant for war widows and battle heroes.[12] Joseph was part of the Times of India team that reported on BJP president Nitin Gadkari's Purti group receiving investments from over 100 companies, many of which were controlled by his close aides. Later, investigative agencies probed the group for money laundering and various criminal acts.[13][14]

In July 2005, he reported on the alleged leakage of sensitive information from the War Room of the Government of India. It resulted in probes and consequent overhaul of security in military installations.[15] In May 2003, he wrote for Rediff.com a five-part series on the long-term outlook for security issues in Pakistan.[16] Joseph also interviewed Abdul Majid Dar, the chief commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, Kashmir's militant group.[17]

In October 2016, Joseph and Vijaita Singh, published details of Operation Ginger that followed 2011 India–Pakistan border skirmish, one of the deadliest cross-border surgical strikes carried out in Pakistan by the Indian Army. [18] In February 2018, Joseph and Khadija Sharife, in a joint investigation by The Hindu and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), reported on India's state-owned Bank of Baroda's role in the financial machinations of South Africa's politically influential Gupta family, which led to the resignation of South African President Jacob Zuma.[19][20]

Books

In 2016, HarperCollins published his first book titled A Feast of Vultures: The Hidden Business of Democracy in India. The book was published Malayalam in 2021, translated by K.N. Ashok, a noted journalist and author.

The second book, The Silent Coup: A History of India’s Deep State was published in August 2021 by Context, an imprint of Westland Books. It deals with political corruption, money laundering, systemic issues within India’s security establishment and the alleged threats to democracy by India’s ruling elite."[21] Business Standard found in the book multiple tales of how India’s security establishment and intelligence agencies have played an indelible role in weakening the democratic fabric of the country[22]

Confluence Media

In November 2019, Joseph received commitments for a seed-funding round from Accel founder Jim Swartz for his digital media startup, Confluence Media. Confluence Media bought the rights of the book 'Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer by Sunetra Choudhury and adapted it into a web series titled Black Warrant (TV series), co-created and co-directed by Vikramaditya Motwane[23]

Awards

2011: The Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust[24] selected Josy Joseph for 'Outstanding Political Reporting of The Year for investigative reports, including the Adarsh scam, and corrupt decisions in organising the 2010 Commonwealth Games.[25]'

2013: In July, he was also awarded the "Journalist of the Year (Print)" for 2010 at the Sixth Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards.[26]

2018: Joseph's book A Feast of Vultures, was named the best book for 2017 by the jury in the non-fiction category of the Crossword Book Award.[27]

2019: Recipient of India Press Club of North America's Madhyamasree Puraskaram.

Controversies

In December 2016, Jet Airways and its founder-chairman Naresh Goyal filed a civil defamation suit seeking ₹1,000 crore in damages from Joseph, for references in the book A Feast of Vultures: The Hidden Business of Democracy in India alleging Goyal's connections with gangster Dawood Ibrahim[28]

References

  1. ↑ "Josy Joseph". TEDX. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  2. ↑ "Josy Joseph : Author Details - HarperCollins India".
  3. ↑ "Leading investigative journalist wins India's "Booker Prize"". 20 January 2018.
  4. ↑ "JJ -".
  5. ↑ "GMAP Graduate Josy Joseph Awarded Prem Bhatia Award for Journalism | Tufts Fletcher School". fletcher.tufts.edu. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "Lid off leave travel concession racket: Govt, PSU employees to face CBI heat". The Times of India. 22 August 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  7. ↑ "Leave travel concession scam: Delhi to Jaipur via Brazil". The Times of India. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  8. ↑ "Revise LTC norms, punish all guilty, CVC tells govt". The Times of India. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  9. ↑ "Most 2G licences given by Raja illegal, says CAG". The Times of India. 27 September 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "Controversial 2G note issued at PMO's behest: Pranab Mukherjee". The Times of India. November 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  11. ↑ "Key investors in top CWG supplier have fictitious village addresses". The Times of India. 12 August 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  12. ↑ "Top generals, babus & netas in land-grab". The Times of India. 24 October 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  13. ↑ "Questions swirl around source of funding of Gadkari's firm". The Times of India. 23 October 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  14. ↑ "Funds flow via maze into Gadkari firms". The Times of India. 25 October 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  15. ↑ "Navy indicts three for war secrets theft | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". 23 September 2005. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  16. ↑ "US charts the road to peace in J&K". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  17. ↑ "rediff.com: The Rediff Interview/Abdul Majid Dar, Chief Commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  18. ↑ Singh, Vijaita; Joseph, Josy (9 October 2016). "Operation Ginger: Tit-for-tat across the Line of Control". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  19. ↑ Joseph, Josy; Sharife, Khadija (27 February 2018). "Bank of Baroda's role in South Africa's Gupta scandal". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  20. ↑ Sharife, Khadija; Joseph (The, Josy. "India's Bank of Baroda Played a Key Role in South Africa's Gupta Scandal". www.occrp.org. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  21. ↑ "Josy Joseph on narco tests and the bogus industry of informants in the Indian security establishment". Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  22. ↑ "India's trysts with authoritarianism". 6 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  23. ↑ "Exclusive: Accel founder Jim Swartz backs journalist Josy Joseph's stealth mode media startup". Techcircle. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  24. ↑ "Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust". www.prembhatiatrust.com. Archived from the original on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  25. ↑ "Outstanding Political Reporting of The Year". Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust. Archived from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  26. ↑ "Sixth Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards :The Winners". Indianexpress. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  27. ↑ "Crossword book awards: Karan Johar, Sudha Murty, Sadhguru win big!". Rediff. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  28. ↑ Scroll Staff (14 December 2016). "Jet Airways files civil defamation suit against journalist Josy Joseph". Scroll.in. Retrieved 17 January 2019.