CHENNAI: The convocation of the 2021-22 batch of Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) and presentation of ACJ awards for journalism was held at Music Academy here on Tuesday. Shyamlal Yadav and Sandeep Singh bagged the award for Investigative Journalism for their story on Ayodhya land deals that appeared in The Indian Express.
Prema Sridevi and Himanshu Kala won the KP Narayana Kumar Memorial Award for Social Impact Journalism for their documentary feature that appeared in The Probe on the deaths of manual scavengers. The prize money for the Investigative Journalism Award is Rs 2 lakh and for Social Impact Award is Rs 1 lakh.
After distributing the awards, Ayaz Memon, senior journalist and columnist delivered the Lawrence Dana Pinkham memorial lecture on ‘Benefits and Challenges for the Media in the Age of Technology.’
“I would put the invention of the internet before the invention of the wheel. It has secularised and democratised the whole business of communication. There is also the case of media houses making stories with the help of tweets. It is not wrong but it is a problem. It is the laziest form of journalism,” he said.
N Ram, Trustee, Media Development Foundation, Sashi Kumar, Chairman, MDF and ACJ, Swapna Sundar and Harsha Subramaniam, members of the Award Jury were also present.