In Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, an AIDS orphan tells his story in his own words; in Kashmir, earthquake victims struggle to rebuild their lives and elsewhere, a group of Dalit government officers dream of finding a place in urban India. These were among the stories that deserved to be told — and once they were, they were celebrated and rewarded by President A P J Abdul Kalam at the second Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards, the biggest media awards in India this evening.

The award-winning stories came in from all parts of India, in all languages: from the HIV battleground of Sangli in Maharashtra to the heart of hatred and fear in Gujarat to the refugee camps in Lower Assam. Reporters worked against all odds to bring to the nation stories of resilience in Kashmir, sent dispatches from the Naxal heartland and captured the plight of scavengers in West Bengal. And occasionally, they let the people tell their own story.

From these stories across the country to the corridors of the national government is a long way but excellence brought both together when Ritu Sarin of The Indian Express won the Journalist of the Year (Print) for her series of investigative stories on the CBI’s lapses, the Bofors trail, the breach in the national security establishment and the allegations in the Paul Volcker report. Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN was judged the Journalist of the Year (Broadcast) for spearheading the coverage of all major news events of the year and giving a distinct edge to a new news channel with sharp reportage on political events. Both these awards carried a prize money of Rs 2.5 lakh each.

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