Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards


The Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards are one of the most prestigious awards in India in the field of journalism. Named after Ramnath Goenka, the awards have been held annually since 2006, with the 12th edition being held in 2017. The awards are given for both print journalism as well as broadcast journalism, with a total of 25 different prizes being awarded in 2017 for excellence in journalism during 2016.
Past winners include not only some of the biggest names in Indian journalism and writing, but also newcomers. Past winners have included Kuldip Nayar, Siddharth Varadarajan, Shashi Tharoor, Dionne Bunsha, Muzamil Jaleel, Rajdeep Sardesai, Karan Thapar, Kishalay Bhattacharjee, Ravish Kumar, Nidhi Razdan, Neelesh Mishra, Christophe Jaffrelot, Mark Tully, Arnab Goswami and Sudhir Chaudhary among others. Foreign journalists to have won the award for Foreign Correspondent Covering India include Amelia Gentleman and Stephanie Nolen.
The chief guest during the second award ceremony in 2007 was the former President of India, A.P.J Abdul Kalam. Over the years chief guests at the event have included Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, Vice- President of India Venkaiah Naidu, Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, former vice president Hamid Ansari, former president Pratibha Patil and former chief justice of India P Sathasivam. The Ramnath Goenka Memorial Debate, started in 2007, is also held during the event.

Award categories

Over the years, the awards categories have changed. Awards can remain ungiven if there is no suitable winner, such as for the Ramnath Goenka Memorial Award For Lifetime Achievement In Journalism'. The awards also have a cash prize, which over the years has also changed. Current award categories during the 12th edition included:

Print

Past awards have included categories such as 'Excellence in HIV/AID Reporting Award', a joint initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, United States Agency for International Development and Indian Express Group. Other past awards include 'Priya Chandrashekhar Memorial Award For Excellence In Editing' and the 'Prakash Kardaley Memorial Award For Civic Journalism'.

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