Why so serious? Let’s have some fun

Every year, the Redink awards, organised by the Mumbai Press Club, honours the best in journalism. Ten days before this year’s edition, in a first-time event, the press corps in Mumbai decided to have some fun. From giving Anand J Bodas the Best Science Reporting award for bringing to light the aeronautical achievements in Vedic India to giving Arvind Kejriwal an award for Transparency in Public Life, with special mention of his “loose motion” tweet, the event celebrated the most embarrassing and outrageous moments in the media, just like the razzies preceding the Oscars.

Known as the Ouch awards, it was held at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh’s premises. “Usually, journalists are perceived to be serious and who can’t make fun of themselves. We wanted to break that stereotype by doing this as a precursor to the more serious Redink awards,”says Bachi Karkaria, senior journalist and member of the Press Club, who is the organiser of the event.

Stand-up comedian Anuvab Pal, the host for the evening, took the audience on a journey through the “achievements” of the nominees with the help of audio-visual clips and images on a projector.

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Some of the winners included Rahul Gandhi (For Leadership by Absence), Subramaniam Swamy (Lifetime Achievement) and Markandey Katju (Most Non-violent Statement). Although the awards didn’t lampoon any journalist and focused on the “craziest and embarrassing moments in media”, it plans to do so in the future. The organizers plan to make the Ouch awards an annual fixture.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com