UK national newspapers are well represented overall, with the Telegraph's Kate Day and the Times' Tom Whitwell also nominated.
Asad, editor of India's Okhla Times, and Nathalie McDermott, founder of community engagement media group On the Road Media make up the final two nominees.
The award, in its inaugural year, aims to recognise excellence and innovation in journalism and carries a £500 prize.
The winner will be announced on City University's XCity Online magazine on Monday (21 March)
XCity Online has gradually been releasing details of the finalists. The six journalists shortlisted are:
Simon Rogers, editor of the Guardian's Datastore and Datablog. Rogers studied on the newspaper journalism course at City University in 1991.
Kate Day, the Telegraph's social media and engagement editor, shortlisted for her work on the Debate2010 project. Day graduated from City's newspaper course in 2007.
Tom Whitwell from the Times Digital was nominated for developing and launching the first national newspaper behind a paywall. Whitwell left City in 1996 with an MA in newspaper journalism.
James Ball, a data journalist for the investigations team at the Guardian who was nominated for his work in data journalism during the last year. Ball was first at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which launched in April 2010, then went to WikiLeaks where he worked alongside Julian Assange. Ball is the most recent City graduate of the nominees, completing City's investigative journalism course in 2008.
Asad, editor of the India's Okhla Times, a community portal launched six months ago which has attracted attention from the US, Canada and Middle East. Asad graduated from City University’s International Journalism MA in 2002.
Nathalie McDermott, founder of On the Road Media, which was set up in 2005 with the aim of advising marginalised groups on how to use social media for community engagement. One project which has attracted attention is www.savvychavvy.com, a social network set up for young gypsies and travellers. McDermott graduated from City’s international journalism course in 2002.
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