New Delhi: The prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award for 2019 has been conferred upon NDTV India’s senior executive and anchor, Ravish Kumar for his contributions to the field of television journalism.
The Ramon Magsaysay award is considered to be the highest honour among journalists in Asia.
Kumar will be presented the award in a formal ceremony to be held in Manila, Philippines on September 9. He will share the award with five other recipients hailing from various parts of Asia.
Kumar has been with NDTV since 1996 and currently anchors a nightly news show called ‘Prime Time’ on the NDTV network.
Since the announcement on August 2, congratulatory messages have been pouring in from several prominent members of India’s journalist community.
Describing his as a “sober, incisive, and well-informed” anchor, the Board of Trustees responsible for deciding the awardees each year said that Kumar was chosen because of his ability in “harnessing journalism to give voice to the voiceless”.
In its citation, the Ramon Magsaysay award foundation states, “His more important distinction, however, comes from the kind of journalism he represents. In a media environment threatened by an interventionist state, toxic with jingoist partisans, trolls and purveyors of “fake news,” and where the competition for market ratings has put the premium on “media personalities,” “tabloidization,” and audience-pandering sensationalism, Ravish has been most vocal in insisting that the professional values of sober, balanced, fact-based reporting be upheld in practice.”
It further adds, “Striving for people-based journalism, he calls his newsroom ‘the people’s newsroom.’”
