The winners of 44 awards across print, broadcast and digital mediums were honored at the 17th edition of Ramnath Goenka Awards for Excellence in Journalism for 2021 and 2022 for covering issues ranging from politics to investigation, sports to economy. The awards were presented by Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari at a ceremony in New Delhi on 19 March 2024.
Instituted by the Ramnath Goenka Memorial Foundation, the awards acknowledged and honored the best of journalism, showcasing outstanding contributions from print, digital and broadcast journalists across 13 categories including investigative journalism, sports, politics and government, books, feature writing and regional languages, according to The Indian Express.
Viveck Goenka, chairman of The Indian Express Group, said, “Nothing renews journalism more powerfully than celebrating this each year. And more so as we head into the general elections.”
The Indian Express chief editor Raj Kamal Jha said as many as 1,313 applications were received this year, a record in the last 18 years of the award. “This gives us hope when every day we hear intimations of journalism’s mortality.”
Referring to a politician who asked a reporter who his “maalik” was, Jha expressed concern over how some media owners had “gone down on bended knee”, and their ease of doing business had trumped the “unease of doing journalism”. “Journalism may not have the tangible appeal of sadak, bijli and paani; it may be hard to identify the labharthis (beneficiaries) of journalism, but the stories this evening tell the labh of journalism,” Jha said, according to The Indian Express.
Express Photo by Tashi TobgyalThe jury comprised Justice B N Srikrishna, Prof C Raj Kumar, founding dean, Jindal Global Law School; S Y Quraishi, former chief election commissioner; and K G Suresh, vice chancellor of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal.
The list of winners and their stories
HINDI
2021, Kirti Dubey, BBC News Hindi: Story on police investigation that followed four lynching cases
2022, Anand Choudhary, India Today Magazine: Story on the loopholes in the implementation of a Central scheme in Rajasthan
REGIONAL LANGUAGES
2021, Shabitha MK, Mathrubhumi Daily: Investigative series that maps the situation of women in Kerala jails
2022, Anand Madhusoodan Sowdi, Kannada Prabha Daily: Appointment scam in Karnataka
ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTING
2021, Jayashree Nandi, Hindustan Times: Unplanned development in the higher Himalayas
2022, Basant Kumar & Ayush Tiwari, Newslaundry: Series on the slow choking of the Aravallis
UNCOVERING INVISIBLE INDIA
2021, Monica Jha, Freelance (Fifty-Two.in): How a testimony by four child victims led to conviction in a trafficking case
2022, Rupsa Chakraborty, The Indian Express: Series on the backwardness of Nandurbar
BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC JOURNALISM
2021, Aditya Kalra & Steve Stecklow, Thomson Reuters: How Amazon’s business practices undercut small businesses
2022, Twesh Mishra, The Economic Times: Import of Made in China wheels by the Indian Railways
REPORTING ON POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
2021, Ritika Chopra, The Indian Express: Stories on the inner workings of the Election Commission
2022, Prajwal Bhat, The News Minute: Udupi hijab row
SPORTS JOURNALISM
2021, Mahender Singh Manral & Mihir Vasavda, The Indian Express: Story on boxer Deepak Pahal and his descent into the world of crime
2022, Andrew Amsan, The Indian Express: How an IAS officer got a stadium emptied to walk his dog
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
2021, Devesh Kumar & Arun Gondana, Loksatta: Investigation uncovering the loopholes in a recruitment exam
2022, Zoya Hussain, TRT World: Story on hysterectomies among India’s women manual scavengers
FEATURE WRITING
2021, Vandana Menon, The Print: How an SDMC engineer tracked down Dara Shukoh’s burial site
2022, Raj Chengappa, India Today: The truth behind why Kashmiri Pandits had to flee their homes
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT COVERING INDIA
2021, Joanna Slater & Niha Masih, The Washington Post: How a group of human rights activists were subjected to surveillance
PRAKASH KARDALEY MEMORIAL AWARD FOR CIVIC JOURNALISM
2021, Vinod Kumar Menon, Mid-Day: Series on a raging pandemic
2022, Azeefa Fathima, Balakrishna Ganeshan & Prajwal Bhat, The News Minute: Investigation on the prevalence of manual scavenging
PHOTOJOURNALISM
2021, Gurinder Osan, PTI: Photographs from 2020 Tokyo Olympics
2022, Abhinav Saha, The Indian Express: Image of an IAS officer who got a stadium emptied to walk his dog
BOOKS (NON-FICTION)
2021, The Long Game, Vijay Gokhale: Explores the dynamics of negotiation between India and China
2022, The Life and Times of George Fernandes, Rahul Ramagundam: Biography of the socialist politician
BROADCAST
HINDI
2021, Jugal Purohit, BBC Hindi News: Documentary on hardships healthcare workers during pandemics
2022, Hridayesh Joshi, Newslaundry: Documentary on arsenic contamination in groundwater
REGIONAL LANGUAGES
2021, Sofia Bind, Media One TV: Documentary on Chola Nayakars of Kerala
2022, Tejas Vaidya, BBC News Gujarati: Documentary from Bilkis Bano’s village, Randhikpur
ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY REPORTING
2021, Princess Giri Rashir, EastMojo: Documentary on coking coal factories in Meghalaya
2022, Down To Earth Multimedia team, Down To Earth (Web Portal): Documentary told from nine of India’s cleanest cities
UNCOVERING INDIA INVISIBLE
2021, Vishnukant Tiwari, The Quint: Documentary on tribals in Bastar
2022, Vikas Trivedi, BBC News Hindi: Salt workers in the Rann of Kutch
REPORTING ON POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
2021, Brut India: Documentary on a women-led movement in Assam
2022, Abhishek Bhalla, indiatoday.com: Story on Kashmiri Pandits
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
2021, Meghnad Bose, The Quint: Examining the money flow in PM-CARES fund for vaccine development
2022, Saurabh Shukla, NDTV: Uncovering the truth behind custodial torture in Saharanpur
