Journalism Awards Committee announces “Journalism Awards 2019”
Ambarnath Bhattacharya, abptakmaa, Kolkata, 28th June, 2019: The Journalism Awards Committee announced the eighth edition of “Journalism Awards” at a Press conference today. Veteran journalist and Award Jury committee member Chittaranjan Biswas, 
Sayantan Das Adhikari and Paromita Ghosh, Directors of Candid Communication and Zaid Anwar, Director of Qari Ahmer Foundation (QAF) were present at the occasion. This year, the Committee has added “Bloggers Award” to its list of award categories. This year Journalism Awards is supported by Sugal Damani Group (Rajshree Lottery) along with Qari Ahmer Foundation and Infinity Education. 91.9 Friends FM is the Radio Partner, www.thewall.in is the online media partner, Candid School of Communication and Eduglobal are the logistic partners and the entire event is conceived, coordinated and managed by Candid Communication.
Since its inception in 2009, Journalism Awards has emerged as one of the premium award ceremonies in Eastern India, celebrating excellence in journalism. It has carved a niche for itself and gained popularity in the media fraternity across Bengal, for recognizing their contribution to journalism.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Chittaranjan Biswas, veteran journalist & esteemed member of Journalism Awards Jury said “Journalism Awards has been instituted as an ode to honour the profession of journalism. It has always striven to recognize the contributions and efforts of journalists who have excelled in the field. Over the years, the committee has taken the onus to recognize and encourage those who have upheld the sanctity of this profession. This endeavour is a token of appreciation to support the excellent work by our scribes.”
The Procedural Aspects: To be eligible, the Article/ Photo must be published during 1st January, 2018 to 31st December, 2018. A Panel of eminent judges chosen by the Members of the ‘Journalism Awards Committee’ will further screen the entries to choose the winner from each category.
The nominations can be sent to candid.journalism@gmail.com and the hard copy can be submitted at Candid Communication (Merlin Infinite, Unit No 1207, 12th Floor, DN-51 Sector V Salt Lake, Kolkata 700091). The last date for filing the nominations would be 15th July, 2019 days post the announcement.
The numbers of award categories are 20. The categories are Business, District Reporting, Electronic Media – Reporting, Electronic Media – Cameraman, General News (Bengali, English, Hindi and Urdu), Feature (Bengali, English, Hindi and Urdu), Lifestyle & Cinema (Bengali and English), Print Media Photography-Lifestyle, Print Media Photography-Sports, Print Media Photography-Feature, Print Media Photography-News, Sports (Bengali and English) and Bloggers Award.
The previous editions of the Journalism Awards saw eminent personalities of the city raising a toast to scribes at the ceremony. The first year saw erstwhile Union Information & Broadcast Minister – Shri Priyaranjan Dasmunshi as the guest of honour for the event who handed over the first lifetime achievement award to the veteran journalist Late Moti Nandi. Next year, i.e. in 2009, distinguished personalities like Mayor, Mr Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, former Commissioner of Police, Mr Gautam Mohan Chakraborty and veteran actor Mr. Soumitra Chatterjee were present at the gala night of the Journalism Awards. In 2010, iconic Photographer Raghu Rai presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to eminent veteran journalist Nihaal Sigh whereas in 2011 Hon’ble Minister for Commerce and Industries Shri Partha Chatterjee handed over the Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr. Amitava Chowdhury, the recipient of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award. The year 2012 witnessed sports icon Ravi Shastri bestowing the Lifetime Achievement Award upon Mr. Kishore Bhimani. In 2015, honourable Governor of Tripura His Excellency Shri Tathagata Roy conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award to veteran legislative journalist Uday Banerjee. In 2017, Dr Sashi Panja, Minister of State for Women and Child Development and social welfare along with actress Rituparna Sengupta presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to veteran journalist Late Sukharanjan Sengupta. Over the years eminent persons from all fields be it business, industry, performing arts, sports, administration etc have formed the esteemed judges’ panel for the journalism awards. Some of the past judges are Russi Modi, R P Goenka, Goutam Ghose, Raghu Rai, Amitava Chowdhury, Kishore Bhimani, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Harsh Neotia and Pawan Ruia among others. Attendance of the entire Kolkata media and a dazzling bevy of eminent guests from all walks of life have made the grand finale of the previous edition a super success.
With the intention of acknowledging the fine work of a journalist, Journalism Awards Committee was formed in 2008. The committee consists of eminent journalists namely Mr. Chittaranjan Biswas, Mr. Buroshiva Dasgupta and renowned photo journalist Mr. Subrata Patronobis, who have been instrumental in awarding the brilliance in the field of journalism since the first Journalism Awards in 2009. Apart from honouring the journalists, the committee believes in recognizing the works of the unsung heroes of the society. In future, this committee plans to diverge into some social activities to help the financially deprived and backward journalists. Publicity : Candid Communication.
