REDINK AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT GOES TO VINOD DUA

-          Raj Kamal Jha of Indian Express gets ‘Journalist of the Year’

Mumbai, 03 June:

The RedInk Award for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism for 2017 has been bestowed on veteran journalist Vinod Dua. The award, a part of the National RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism, and instituted by the Mumbai Press Club, will be given to Mr Dua by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday, 7th June, in Mumbai.

The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes Mr Dua’s extensive and versatile contribution to journalism in different formats and subjects. He was among the country’s first psephologists, co-anchoring election analysis programs alongside Dr Prannoy Roy on Doordarshan. Later in 1985, he anchored ‘Janvani’ (People’s Voice), among the first program’s where ordinary people came forward to question ministers and their policies. He made a mark too as among the first anchors of electronic and broadcast journalism, being the first to produce a talk show on Zee TV with ‘Charavyuha’ in 1992. He also produced ‘Parakh’, a weekly current affairs magazine telecast on Doordarshan, and other popular news shows like Tasveer-e-Hind, Chunav Chunauti, Pratidin and Parakh, and Kaun Banega Mukhyamantri.

He was also editor of Hindi ‘Newstrack’ the first video magazine in the country from the India Today Group, a format that was later phased out. He also served as Editor of NDTV India and continues to be an active journalist today, anchoring a popular show called ‘Jan Gan Man Ki Baat’ on the digital platform The Wire.com.

Simultaneously, another coveted award, the RedInk Award for the ‘Journalist of the Year’ 2017 has been 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 pulling it back from an aimless drift to focused reporting and restoring what it has always been known best for – investigative journalism. Jha also led from the front to make Indian Express part of an international investigative team that cracked the global money laundering scam know as ‘The Panama Papers’.

Jha served with the Statesman in Kolkata, and the India today Group in New Delhi. He has been with the Indian Express since 1996.

The two senior journalists were selected for the top awards by the Managing Committee of the Mumbai Press Club after a lengthy period of consultations among senior members of the profession, and a survey of over 100 journalists in different beats and fields.

Apart from these two awards, the Redink Awards for Excellence in Journalism are given in 11 other categories to 30 other journalists for meritorious work in TV, print and digital formats. These awards are given through competitive entries that are curated and judged by distinguished juries in each category.

The competitive award categories include Politics, Crime, Health & Wellness, Business, Environment, Human Rights, Photography, Science & Innovation, Entertainment & Lifestyle and Sports & Mumbai Star Reporter.

Star India is the Presenting Partner for Mumbai Press Club Redink Awards for Excellence in Journalism 2017, while Aditya Birla Group, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Zee Entertainment, Eros International, Indiabulls Housing, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, National Stock Exchange, Nanavati Hospital and JSW Steel are the Award Partners. The Hindu Group and Facebook are the media partners.

The Awards will be presented to the winners at a glittering ceremony at the Jamshed Bhaba Hall, NCPA, in Mumbai on 7th June at 6.30 pm. The Chief Guest for the event is Shri Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of Maharashtra.

The RedInk Awards, the only national recognition for good journalism instituted by a professional body, have been created to raise the bar of news and feature writing in India and to encourage fair play and high ethical standards in media.

In the past, doyens of journalism including Vinod Mehta, Kuldip Nayar, N.Ram, Mrinal Pande, Dr Prannoy Roy and last year T N Ninan have been recipients of the ‘RedInk Award for Lifetime Achievement’.