Ramnath Goenka Awards for Excellence in Journalism: If citizens not well informed, democratic processes lose meaning, says President

Murmu also said that the news media “plays a vital role in a modern state”. “As such, all of us have stakes in the health of this sector,” she said.

The 19th edition of the awards honoured 27 journalists across print and digital formats in 13 categories, including investigative journalism, sports, politics and government, books, feature writing and regional languages.

Ramnath Goenka Awards: President Droupadi Murmu with Viveck Goenka and Anant Goenka.

Underlining that a “thriving newsroom full of ideas is essential for the business of news”, Murmu said it was “satisfying to know that The Indian Express has a vibrant newsroom with a research team”. “I also feel that news gathering, which is the soul of journalism, must be strengthened. You need to devote more resources in encouraging the culture of reporting from the ground. You cannot do that unless you have a viable business model for sustenance,” she said.

Stating that “there are only a limited number of sources of funding the world over — the state or the corporate entities or the reader”, the President said “the first two have their own advantages and limitations”. “The third option of keeping the reader at the centre is the most preferable option. It has only one limitation: sustaining that model seems difficult,” she said.

“I believe that profitability on one hand and responsibility to the reader are not mutually exclusive; indeed, they can be complementary,” Murmu said.

On the issue of content creation, the President expressed hope that a stage will soon be reached “when malicious content will be weeded out, and the so-called post-truth will go out of currency”. She added that technological tools are also being applied to that end and the process can be hastened with pro-active campaigns to educate citizens about these pitfalls.

Noting with concern the hazard of deep fakes and other misuses of artificial intelligence, the President said, “Machines have already started compiling and editing reports. The day might not be far when they would be able to carry out most of the work of journalists. What they lack, however, is empathy, which will be the one ingredient that can help journalists beat AI. Journalism based on human values is not going to be extinct ever.”

Among those present on the occasion were Union Ministers Sarbananda Sonowal and Chirag Paswan, and Union MoS S P Singh Baghel; Parliamentarians across party lines such as Ravi Shankar Prasad, Anil Baluni, Manoj Tiwari and Kamakhya Prasad Tasa (BJP); Karti Chidambaram and Rajiv Shukla (Congress); Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena – UBT); Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD); Javed Ali Khan (SP); John Brittas (CPM); Derek O’Brien (TMC); Swati Maliwal (AAP); Sanjay Jha (JDU), G K Vasan (Tamil Manila Congress); and Chandrasekhar Azad.

Also present were CPI leader D Raja; Congress’s Praveen Chakravarthy and former Union minister Ashwani Kumar; Ministry of External Affairs Official Spokesperson and Additional Secretary (XP) Randhir Jaiswal; German Ambassador Philip Ackermann; and, Press Information Bureau Principal Director-General Dhirendra Ojha.

Speaking on the occasion, Viveck Goenka, Chairman and Managing Director of The Indian Express Group, said, “It’s a full 20 years since the first edition of these awards… we are once again debating, the world over, the strains and stresses in a democracy and the role of the press… But Ramnathji knew, nine decades ago, by instinct and insight, that it was the free press, the right of citizens to search for truth, to ask questions of those in power, to hold a mirror to ourselves, that lies at the heart of the compact between a democratic state and the people. More importantly, he had an unshakable belief that the press can do this only if it has a protective shield.”

That shield, Goenka said, is ensured not just by individual courage but also “institutional commitment”. He defined that as the hard work needed to invest in a newsroom and its talent. “Today, even in the United States, where a free press is a Constitutional guarantee…we witness how this basic right is being eroded even in some of the most hallowed of newsrooms. Partisanship and cynicism shrink journalism,” he said.

Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, presented a memento to President Murmu — a portrait of her made by The Indian Express illustrator Suvajit Dey.

Raj Kamal Jha, Chief Editor, The Indian Express, said, “Of the winners, more than half, 13 were in school when these awards started; one was six years old, one was nine, two were 11. I mention this to make a point: for all the obituaries of journalism we read these days, many beautifully written, there will always be schoolkids who know better.”

He said, “In fact, this year’s application pool was the most competitive ever — a record 1,500 nominations from 75 newsrooms. We are sure, next year will be more. Because, as Your Excellency said in a speech in Dhanbad eight years ago about the power of faith, like warm clothes in winter, footwear in summer, a shelter in the rain.” These protections also remain an imperative of journalism, he said.

The jury for this edition of the awards included Justice B N Srikrishna, former judge at the Supreme Court; Prof C Raj Kumar, founding Vice Chancellor, OP Jindal Global University; Prof K G Suresh, former Vice Chancellor, Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism & Communication and former Director General, Indian Institute of Mass Communication;

Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and Co Founder & Director, EkStep; and Dr S Y Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner.