Bhubaneswar: It was a congregation of a different sort. Well known media personalities of the state gathered under one roof, not to cover the first Media Excellence Awards on Friday, but to be honoured for their contribution to the field of journalism.
“This award is a small token of appreciation for dedicated professionals who have sacrificed many things for the free-flow of accurate information in the state,” said Jury member and senior journalist Sandeep Sahu.
"We are really delighted organising this award ceremony. On this platform we are celebrating media and also trying to connect the change happening in this sector," said Satyabrata Ratho, Director, PNV Foundation.
Asked about selecting appropriate recipients of the awards, Satyabrata replied, “It was very difficult to connect with all categories so we decided to keep almost all mainstream categories along with one in online journalism and one in radio."
In print medium, while Siba Mohanty received the award as Best Reporter (English), Sandip Pani got it in Odia, Sanjib Das received Best Photo Journalist award, Himanshu Guru Best Feature Writer (English), Ranjan Rath Best Feature Writer (Odia) and Utkal G. Nanda was awarded as the Best Cartoonist/Illustrator.
Similarly, in electronic media, Sitam Moharana was recognized for being Best Video Journalist, Gayatri Mohanty Best Anchor (Female), Bhabani Shankar Mohapatra and Ajit Singh of OTV were awarded as Best Anchor (Male) and Best Reporter respectively.
Basudev Mahapatra received the Best Web Journalist award while Sangram Mishra received the Best Radio Jockey Award. This apart, two special awards - Lifetime Achievement was received by Sarat Mishra, while the Award for Outstanding Journalism at National/International Level was presented to Subhra Priyadarshini, Editor of Nature India.
Media@Change, a forum dedicated to the media professionals of the state by well-known journalists, organised the award ceremony in association with the PNV Foundation. The award function would be held every year from now to honour the achievements of successful journalists and media professionals of Odisha.
Prior to the award ceremony, a quiz for media students and a conclave themed “Muzzling the Media and the Future of Journalism” was also organised. Damodar Rout, Minister, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Prasad Harichandan, President, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, Founder-Chairman, Eastern Media Limited, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Senior BJP Leader and Kharabela Swain, President, Utkal Bharat were among others who graced the ceremony.
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