Sixth Edition of Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards given away

The awards acknowledged the outstanding contributions of 29 of the country's finest journalists for their work in 2010

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | July 25, 2013

The awardees of the Ramnath Goenka Awards with Shekhar Gupta, Editor in Chief of The Express group and Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam. (Express photo by Neeraj Priyadarshi). Click on the image to enlarge.

The sixth Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards were presented today at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi, presided over by Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam. Celebrating excellence, courage and commitment of print and broadcast journalists, the awards acknowledged the outstanding contributions of 29 of the country's finest journalists.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Justice P Sathasivam said “The momentum of journalism is due to two reasons – one, the award is in the name of a kingpin of journalism and two, the prominence of the awards is because of the winners.” A free and strong media is indispensable and journalism “empowers people with information and keeps the democratic process going on,” he added.

As part of the centenary celebration of its founder Ramnath Goenka, the Express Group instituted the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2006. The Awards, the most prestigious event in the Indian media calendar, stand for the highest standards of accuracy, fairness and ethics in reportage.

The stories that were honoured with the Ramnath Goenka Awards came from many corners of the world and India. Stories that came from corners that have been overlooked in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh and from corners that squirm under a constant global media gaze in Kabul, Pakistan, Delhi and Mumbai. Stories that also blew the lids off scams and scandals, and stories of triumph, protests, and long waits for justice.

The Journalist of the Year Award for print went to Josy Joseph of The Times of India, for his expose of the Adarsh Housing Society scam, which forced a chief minister out of office and the government to order a probe.

Ravish Kumar of NDTV India won the Journalist of the Year Award for broadcast journalism. His programmes, Ravish Ki Report and Hum Log, stood out for their sensitivity, seriousness and research.

Speaking on 3 awards won by CNN-IBN, Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, CNN-IBN, IBN7 & IBN-Lokmat said, “Once again we are the proud recipients of three prestigious Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the team at CNN-IBN for their undying efforts and also to our viewers whose undoubted faith has made our channel what it is today.”

Hindi news channel IBN7's Smita Sharma received the award in the Reporting on Politics and Government category. Commenting on the award, Ashutosh, Managing Editor, IBN7 said, “It gives us great pride to have become a recipient of a Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to Smita Sharma for her undying efforts and encourage all our reporters to continue their excellent work and to strive for the best.”

The awards were given for work done in 2010. The winners were handpicked by a 10-member jury. Jury member Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC said, “I have been associated with the Ramnath Goenka Awards for many years.   It has been a great initiative.  My best wishes to all the awardees and also the nominees as it was very difficult to choose the winners.  I am sure this great and fearless responsibility is carried forward by media as our country probably needs it more than ever before.”

The jury also included N R Narayana Murthy, Executive Chairman and Founder, Infosys; N. Chandra, leading civil servant; Dr M S Swaminathan, agricultural scientist and Rajya Sabha MP; Shobhana Bhartia, Vice-Chairperson and Editorial Director, HT Media Limited; Bakul Dholakia, former IIM-A Director; Rama Bijapurkar, leading management consultant; Shyam Benegal, filmmaker; legal luminary Fali S Nariman and Keshub Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra & Mahindra.

The Express Group also released 'The Prize Stories' on the occasion – featuring stories and reports that won the fixth Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards. The book showcases some of the best journalism on politics, environment and business, sports and films, reports from conflict zones and 'invisible' India; stories that helped shape public opinion.

The presentation ceremony was followed by a panel discussion on 'Who's afraid of social media?'

List of the winners:

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