BS-Seema Nazareth Award 2019: Shun easy journalism, says Ravish Kumar

‘This is an age where we are not information seekers, we are narrative seekers’, said Kumar

In this age of “deepfake” technology and TikTok style speed news, journalism is facing a crisis both at the institutional as well as individual levels, Ravish Kumar, senior journalist and recipient of the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay award, said on Friday. Cautioning against easy journalism, he said it was up to the media to choose between a pond and a sea.

“This is an age where we are not information seekers, we are narrative seekers,” Kumar said at a function organised to present the Business Standard-Seema Nazareth Award for Excellence in Print Journalism 2019.

He said while media institutions, especially television news, may have failed to keep the trust of the people, few individuals in the profession were expanding their boundaries. “We have chosen our ponds and we are not ready to embark on a sea voyage,” Kumar said, while pointing out that pursuing real journalism, even if it’s boring, would save the future of media. News, which once empowered citizens of the country, is now disempowering them, managing director, NDTV India, said.

Ravish Kumar, senior journalist and recipient of the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay award, at the Business Standard-Seema Nazareth Award for excellence in Print journalism in New Delhi | PHOTO: DALIP KUMAR

Earlier in the evening, Kumar presented the Business Standard-Seema Nazareth Award to Subhayan Chakraborty, a senior correspondent with the newspaper’s New Delhi bureau. Chakraborty was selected for the award for his understanding of complex trade and economic issues.

The award, given every year to a journalist under the age of 30, carries a prize of Rs 50,000, a silver pen and a citation. Chakraborty is the 21st recipient of the award, instituted by Business Standard and the Nazareth family in memory of Seema Nazareth, a young Business Standard journalist who died on March 19, 1999.

The jury also recognised Vireshwar Tomar of Business Standard Hindi edition for his contribution on a diverse range of subjects from blockchain technology to socio-economic issues.

Speaking on the occasion, Seema’s father P A Nazareth said the award was being away on his daughter’s birth anniversary. He also talked about the power of non-violence as preached by Mahatma Gandhi, juxtaposing it against the threat of communalism in the country. “Religious tolerance was India’s gift to the world,” he said.