EXPRESS FEATURES SERVICE : Thu Jan 19 2012, 01:28 hrs
Journalists, politicians, bureaucrats and representatives of the Indian print and broadcast media came to attend the fifth Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards held in Delhi on January 16. The most respected journalism awards in the country, they celebrate courage, truth and interpretative skills in reporting and writing.
The front rows at the Taj Palace Hotel, where the ceremony took place, were taken by newsmakers — BJP leader LK Advani, Members of Parliament such as P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia and Sachin Pilot; chairman of the Press Council of India, Justice (retd) Markandey Katju; legal luminaries such as Soli Sorabjee, Raian Karanjawala and Goolam E Vahanvati; chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India, Nandan Nilekani and his wife Rohini Nilekani; and members of print, television and digital media. The audience loudly cheered when the Chief Guest, Vice President Hamid Ansari, gave away trophies to the winners in 17 categories.
The honours were followed by a panel discussion on the topic: “The majority of media people are of poor intellectual level”. Moderated by NDTV’s editorial director Sonia Singh, it took forward the many provoking debates around Justice Katju’s recent attacks on the Indian media’s intellectual abilities. Panelists included JD(U) president and NDA convenor Sharad Yadav; journalist and columnist Tavleen Singh; president of Centre for Policy Research Pratap Bhanu Mehta; political scientist and Brown University professor Ashutosh Varshney; senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh; executive editor of Loksatta Girish Kuber and opinion editor, The Financial Express, Sunil Jain.
It was during the debate that audience found itself divided — with speakers and guests voicing strong opinions. The discussion, predictably, was inconclusive. But it was the mood of the awardees that defined the evening: enhanced responsibility towards their bylines and a lot of memorable cheer.