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Journalism of Courage
The 16th edition of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards was held on March 22 in the presence of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, who was the chief guest at the event. A total of 43 winners from 2020 and those from 2019, who could not be honoured earlier owing to the pandemic, were felicitated this year in New Delhi.
Speaking at the awards, Chandrachud said disagreements “must not distort into hatred and hatred must not be permitted to evolve into violence”. Highlighting the importance of a free press in a democracy, he stated, “Media is the fourth pillar in the conception of the State, and thus an integral component of democracy. A functional and healthy democracy must encourage the development of journalism as an institution that can ask difficult questions to the establishment — or as it is commonly known, ‘speak truth to power’. The vibrancy of any democracy is compromised when the press is prevented from doing exactly this. The press must remain free if a country is to remain a democracy,” he said. Speaking on the occasion, Viveck Goenka, Chairman and Managing Director of the Express Group, said “An independent judiciary and an independent press are — and will remain — inalienable parts of our democracy.”
Instituted by the Ramnath Goenka Foundation, the awards celebrate the legacy of the founder of The Indian Express Group, acknowledging and honouring excellence in journalism. The prize-winning stories revolved around the pandemic, including, overburdened health infrastructure, migrant exodus, plight of frontline workers, unemployment, rumours, and unreported deaths. Other stories ranged from the aftermath of the Hathras gangrape case, cybersecurity, climate change, to sexual harassment of athletes, among others.
The jury for this edition included Justice BN Srikrishna (retired); Prof C Raj Kumar, founding Vice-Chancellor and Dean, OP Jindal Global University; SY Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner; and KG Suresh, Vice Chancellor, Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication. Those present at the event included Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur; BJP MPs Ravi Shankar Prasad; Sanjay Jaiswal; Manoj Tiwari; Anil Baluni; TMC leader Derek O’ Brien; AAP MP Sanjay Singh; former Union Ministers Kapil Sibal; Arun Shourie; Manish Tewari; KJ Alphons; CPI leader D Raja; former chief election commissioners SY Quraishi; Nasim Zaidi; Sunil Arora; former Supreme Court judge Justice Deepak Gupta; former Delhi High Court Chief Justice AP Shah; G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant; Vincenzo de Luca, Ambassador of Italy to India, and other dignitaries.
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