The PoleStar Foundation, an independent trust established in 1998 to recognise Excellence in Journalism, announced the winners of the Eleventh Annual PoleStar Awards in a ceremony held at the Taj Connemara, on Friday, June 26, 2009. Mr. Andrew T. Simkin, Consul General, U S Consulate General, Chennai, presided over the function and felicitated the winners. Mr. Prabhu Chawla, Group Editorial Director & Editor, India Today, was the Guest of Honour and delivered the keynote address.
The Winners of the Eleventh Annual PoleStar Awards are:
1. Best Feature in IT Journalism:
Mr. Gunjan Trivedi, currently Assistant Editor, CIO, Mumbai, for his story, “Serving IT shrunk”, published in CIO.
2. Best Feature in Business Journalism:
Ms. Dhanya Krishnakumar, currently Principal Correspondent, Businessworld, Bangalore, for her story, “Sun in the backyard”, published in Businessworld.
3. The ‘Jury’s Special Recognition’, was conferred upon Mr. E Kumar Sharma, Assistant Editor, Business Today, Hyderabad, for his stories on “The route to ‘dharmacracy’”, “On a (merit) roll”, and “Messiah or merchant?”, published in Business Today.
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This year, the Foundation received 188 nominations from Journalists across India. A team of esteemed Jury members from the Corporate sector and Academia selected winners in the categories of IT and Business Journalism. The Jury comprised Mr. Abhay Gupte, CEO, Logica India, Ms Aruna Rao, CIO, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Dr. Ashok Korwar, CEO Coach and Former Professor, IIM-A, Mr. Pradipto K. Mohapatra, President & CEO (Technology Business), RPG Enterprises and Chairman, CII Southern Region, Mr. Ramraj R, Co-Founder & Former CEO Sify Ltd., Ms Uma Krishnan, Executive Director & Head - Regional Markets Operations, ABN AMRO Central Enterprise Services Pvt Ltd (ACES), Mr. Anand Sudarshan, CEO and MD, Manipal Education, Mr. Arun Kumar N T, CEO, Dun and Bradstreet Predictive Sciences and Analytics.
At the awards ceremony, Mr. Andrew T. Simkin, Consul General, U S Consulate General, Chennai, touched upon the acceleration of news reporting in the Internet era and the need to stay informed 24/7. He appreciated the role Journalists play in articulating a clear and correct view of the Government policies for the citizens.
Mr. Prabhu Chawla, Executive Editor, India Today, in a scintillating speech, urged the Journalists to ask simple but tough questions. Investigative Journalism is intensive on inquiry time, which is crucial to get to the root of the matter. He elaborated, with personal examples, the need for encouraging Investigative Business Journalism in a way that protects both customers and shareholders.
Congratulating the winners, Mr. Arun Jain, Founder, PoleStar Foundation, said, “The social media is bound to change the landscape of Business Journalism and presents a host of opportunity and challenges for the Journalists. The conventional boundaries are fading away and the Journalists can play a role in influencing the opinion on global issues. With a million blogs coming up every month on social media, there is a growing tribe of journalists who want to express their opinion on issues concerning Business and IT."
The awards ceremony included a panel discussion on the topic, “Euphoria or Hysteria – Can journalists influence the direction of the economy?”. The panel featured thought leaders from the Industry and Media. Moderated by Sanjay Pinto, Bureau Chief (Tamil Nadu), NDTV, the panel comprised eminent personalities from Media and Corporate including Mr. Ganesh Natarajan, Global CEO, Zensar Technologies and former Chairman NASSCOM, Mr. Prakash Dharamarajan, President, Ogilvy & Mather, Chennai, Mr. Charles Assisi, Executive Editor, Forbes (India), Mumbai, Mr. N Madhavan, Associate Editor, Hindustan Times, Delhi, Ms. Preetha Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai.
The panelists debated on whether and how Journalists influence the economy. The questions raised were whether Journalists were equipped adequately to understand and report the fine print of Business and Technology and whether they have the capacity to influence the stock market and the business climate in general. The competitive pressure on media on breaking news and sensationalism was discussed. The panel concluded that the consumption of news has greatly varied in recent times as consumers now intend to stay connected with the world at all times. With the growing importance of social media, and its impact on information and reach was discussed. The panel expressed that Journalists are on the right path and need not tend towards sensationalism.
The awards evening was attended by leaders from the Industry, Media, Academia and students of Journalism schools in Chennai.
About The PoleStar Foundation
The PoleStar Foundation instituted the PoleStar Award in 1998 to celebrate Excellence in IT & Business journalism. The foundation through its annual awards pays tribute to the media citizens' contribution, for their commitment to the nation and its people, and also for tirelessly acting as a catalyst in disseminating quality information to the world.
The PoleStar Award is an annual award by the PoleStar Foundation for Excellence in Indian journalism. This prestigious recognition for the Indian journalists includes a trophy, a citation and a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000 for furthering education.
For further details, visit http://www.polestar-foundation.org/
