
By A Correspondent
The much-awaited RedInk Awards for Excellence in Indian Journalism 2017 of the Mumbai Presss Club were presented on Wednesday evening in Mumbai with veteran journalist Vinod Dua being conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Raj Kamal Jha the Journalist of the Year Award.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was the chief guest for the RedInk Awards, said that he does not buy the argument that there is a threat to the fourth estate. “Constructive journalism always has its own value and at the same time we are open to criticism,” he said, narrating his own experience since he took over as the Chief Minister. Â “Tolerance is in the blood of Indians…India traditionally had been a tolerant society,” he said, adding “Our democracy is very strong and it has survived turbulence in the past. The democratic system evolves and corrects itself.”
The Mumbai Press Club felicitated the CM for his role in ensuring the passage of the state Journalist Protection Act.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed on Vinod Dua for his extensive and versatile contribution to journalism in different formats and subjects. Accepting the coveted award, Dua said: “It is not just an award… it is an honour to me.” He said that it has been noticed that journalists get too close with people in power and often behaving like that. “This is not something that is good,” he said, adding that journalists should also be content by what they are monetarily getting. Besides, one must do what journalists stand for.
The RedInk Award for the ‘Journalist of the Year’ 2017 given to Raj Kamal Jha, Chief Editor of the Indian Express, for providing exemplary stewardship over the last couple of years to the newspaper; and for providing focus and restoring what it has always been known best for – investigative journalism.
“This award belongs to the Indian Express, the entire team,” said Jha, adding: “For us what is important is a good story…and sometimes when we see a good piece from a youngster, we feel that we could not have written it that way.”
Govind Tupe of ‘Sakal’ newspaper was awarded the special RedInk award of ‘Mumbai’s Star Reporter’ – instituted for the first time this year – for helping empower civil society through hard work and dogged follow-ups. Donning the role of a journalist and an RTI activist, he forced the establishment to change its rules bringing all offices of cabinet ministers and ministers of state under the RTI umbrella of ‘public authorities’.
Apart from these, awards were also given in the 10 various categories. The organisers received more than 1,500 entries across categories.
The evening also a discussion on the issue ‘Turning the Searchlight Inwards: Why is the Credibility of News Media Today at its Nadir?’. Senior journalist Vir Sanghvi moderated the discussion that had former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan, Senior Journalists Bachi Karkaria, NDTV’s Sreenivasan Jain and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta among the panelists.
Star India was the Presenting Partner for Mumbai Press Club Redink Awards for Excellence in Journalism 2017 while the Aditya Birla Group, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Zee Entertainment, Eros International, Indiabulls Housing, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, National Stock Exchange, Nanavati Hospital and JSW Steel were award partners. The Hindu Group and Facebook are the media partners. MxMIndia was an online partner.
The event was emceed by Menaka Doshi, Managing Editor, BloombergQuint.
Winners of Redink Awards 2017
LIFETIME ACHIVEMENT –Â Vinod Dua
JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR –Â Raj Kamal Jha, Indian Express
MUMBAI STAR REPORTER –Â Govind Tupe, Sakal
SPECIAL IMPACT AWARD –Â Rahul Kulkarni, ABP Majha
POLITICS Â Â
Print – RadhakrishnanRariyamKandath, Frontline
TV – Sreenivasan Jain, NDTV
SCIENCE & INNOVATION Â Â Â
Print – Nithyanand Rao &ViratMarkandeya, The Wire
TV – AamirRafiqPeerzada, NDTV
HUMAN RIGHTS
Print – IpsitaChakravarty& Rayan Naqash, Scroll.in
TV – Joint Winners, Abhisar Sharma, ABP News & Maya Mirchandani, NDTV
BUSINESS Â
Print – Sarika Malhotra, Business Today
TV – Archana Shukla, CNBC TV 18
BIG PICTURE Â Â Â Â
Winner – Ashish Sharma, Open Magazine
Runner Up – Kunal Pradeep Patil, Hindustan Times
ENVIRONMENTÂ
Print
Joint Winner TusharDhara, Sanjay Sawant, ShraddhaGhatge&NeeradhPandaripande, First Post
Raj Narain Mishra, DainikJagran
TV – Rajesh Kumar, India News
SPORTS Â Â Â Â
Print – SwaroopSwaminathan, The New Indian Express
TV – Joint Winner, Moumita Sen, India Today TV & Rajeev Mishra, India News
HEALTH & WELLNESS Â Â Â Â Â Â
Print – Priyanka Vora, Scroll.in
TV – Archana Shukla, CNBC TV 18
CRIME Â Â Â Â
Print – Alia Allana, Fountain Ink
TV – Atir Khan, India Today TV
LIFESTYLE & ENTERTAINMENT Â
Print – Kathakali Chanda, Forbes India
TV – Biju Pankaj, Mathrubhumi News