The Sunday Guardian Foundation has announced the inaugural Jethmalani Prize in Journalism under The Will of Steel Awards.
Nominations are being invited until September 10, 2023 in three categories – Journalism in Service to Humanity, Legal Journalism and Empowerment. Click here to nominate.
The prime award, the Jethmalani Prize for Journalism in Service to Humanity, has a cash prize of Rs.14 lakh. The other awards will carry a citation and cash prize of Rs.1.11 lakh.
The winners will be announced at a televised ceremony on 15 September 2023 in New Delhi.
The Jethmalani Prize in Journalism, under the Will of Steel Awards, was constituted on14 September 2023 to honor the birth centenary year of the late Ram Jethmalani, on of India’s top legal minds.
Beginning with India, the award will evolve to recognize public service in journalism worldwide, according to the awards website.
The Journalism in Service to Humanity will be awarded for rare and noble contributions promoting democracy, good governance, and unity among all.
The award criteria: Improving awareness and access to developmental schemes; advancing health, nutrition, and hygiene awareness; enhancing public infrastructure; promoting local industry, agritech, crafts, entrepreneurship, and job creation; fostering community relations, harmony, and social work; enhancing governance through media for public-administration interfacing; promoting local products and tourism; combating rumor mongering and fake news with credible sources; increasing voter participation and turnout; promoting solution-oriented approaches in social and economic issues; and improving education and nation building.
The Legal Journalism award is for effective mass media dissemination of accurate legal information in the public interest.
The award criteria: Improving public understanding of judicial processes; increasing awareness of significant legal judgments; enhancing accessibility and awareness of judicial procedures; promoting legal rights and responsibilities awareness; increasing awareness of measures improving legal access; facilitating pro bono assistance for under-served communities; serving the legal community with news and information; inspiring legal studies and education through stories.
The Empowerment awarded is for the effective promotion of gender empowerment and social upliftment of tribal and marginalized groups.
The award criteria: Coverage of gender issues, tribal issues, and marginalized communities; driving social change on gender and social issues; providing a platform for these communities; promoting inspirational stories for social uplift, awareness and access to public schemes, education and employment opportunities.
The jury for the inaugural edition includes justice Sharad A Bobde, former chief justice of India (jury chair); Harivansh Narayan Singh, deputy chairperson of Rajya Sabha; Sasmit Patra, Rajya Sabha MP; Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, founder, Biocon; Madhav Nalapat, editorial director, The Sunday Guardian; Raghu Rai, photographer; Shekhar Mehta, former president, Rotary International; Kalyani Shankar, senior journalist; and Atul Kasbekar, photographer.
