On Thursday when the Ramnath Goenka Awards for Excellence in Journalism are announced, they will celebrate qualities that define great journalism. Jury member and Infosys mentor & founder NR Narayana Murthy says, ?It is an absolute pleasure to be part of the jury that picks journalists who have stood for courage and excellence. The entries this year have been good like in the previous years. There are good examples of role models for excellence, courage and social conscience.?
The entries were judged by a 11-member independent jury that includes Infosys mentor & founder Narayana Murthy, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, Supreme Court senior advocate Fali S Nariman, member of Rajya Sabha MS Swaminathan, former Cabinet secretary Naresh Chandra, film director Shyam Benegal, TV interviewer and columnist Karan Thapar, Mahindra & Mahindra chairman Keshub Mahindra, HT Media chairperson and editorial director Shobhana Bhartia, marketing consultant Rama Bijapurkar and former IIM-Ahmedabad director Bakul H Dholakia.
With entries pouring in from all over India and in all languages, the process of selection was a challenging one. ?The award bears the name of the most courageous, compassionate and visionary leader of print media in our country. The quality and the variety of entries were superb, making it very difficult to choose one among the many highly deserving candidates. The entries show that ?Indian journalism? has come of age and is comparable to the best in the world.? says MS Swaminathan.
The stories addressed a wide range of concerns. ?The entries have come from a broad range of subjects. It took several sittings to analyse the hard work put in by these commendable journalists and each year, I have noticed, the quality of work is improving,? says Naresh Chandra.
Shyam Benegal, who has been on the panel since the awards were instituted in 2006, admits it is tough picking out a winner from so many commendable entries. ?This job is always challenging. This year particularly, the toughest entries came from the category of investigative reporting. The efforts put in by the nominees are impressive.? Rama Bijapurkar says, ?Being on the jury for the RNG awards is an extraordinary privilege and a very wonderful opportunity to see the best work produced by the media in the course of the year, all at one go!?
This year, as in the previous years, the entries were incisive and compelling. Bijapurkar says, ?As always with any awards for excellence, the shortlisted entries are all very good in absolute terms, and choosing one out of them is always very hard. This year was no exception. Some were incisive, insightful analayses of amazing quality; some were the finest examples of balanced courageous reporting from the field on emotionally volatile issues; some were very hard earned scoops — big stories broken by intrepid and persistent journalists. But what the awards for the year had, in addition, was the number of the ordinary events that occurred in all spheres.?
As the media continues to grow, the challenge becomes to find quality amid so much quantity. The stories that will be awarded on Thursday will be ones that have adhered to ethical practices and rigorous standards in an age of competition that often deteriorates into one-upmanship.
Bijapurkar adds, ?In a world of media sensationalism and the race for the advertising rupee, I find it hugely reassuring to see that there is actually a lot of solid, rigorous, responsible, insightful media coverage still happening and in mainstream media.?