Devrishi Narad Awards Honour Excellence In Journalism Across 12 Categories

Journalists and content creators working across television, print, digital and social media platforms were honoured at the Devrishi Narad Journalist Awards 2026, organised by Indraprastha Vishwa Samvad Kendra at the Constitution Club in the national capital on Tuesday.

The awards recognised excellence in journalism across 12 categories, celebrating contributions ranging from rural reporting and women's issues to digital journalism and content creation.

Among the awardees, Pooja Rana of OpIndia was honoured in the Outstanding Young Journalist category, while Garima Upreti, editor of Know The Nation, received the award for journalism focused on women's concerns. Himani Diwan of Kisan Tak was recognised for rural and environmental journalism.

Vimal Tyagi of Public Mitra was awarded in the YouTube content creator category, Mayank Baliyan for content creation on X and Manojgya Tiwari for content creation on Instagram.

The award for courageous journalism went to Prabhat Ranjan Mishra of The Pamphlet, while Neeraj Kumar Dubey, editor of Prabhasakshi, was honoured for digital journalism. Nihal Singh of Dainik Jagran received the award in the print journalism category and Dr Ram Kinkar Singh of PTI Video was recognised for television journalism.

Shashwat Panigrahi was honoured in the columnist category, while Ramanuj Sharma of Hindusthan Samachar received the award for innovative journalism.

All awardees were presented with a citation, memento, shawl and a cash prize of Rs 11,000.

According to the organisers, entries were invited from across the country in 12 categories and were evaluated by a six-member jury comprising senior media professionals. The panel included DD News Director General Mamta Verma, Amar Ujala senior consulting editor Raj Kishore, NDTV India Managing Editor Rohit Vishwakarma, Network18 Group Editor Convergence Brajesh Kumar Singh, ITV Network Managing Director Aishwarya Pandit and BlueKraft Foundation Senior Vice President Harish Chandra Barnwal.

Speaking at the event, RSS Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh Sunil Ambekar said journalists should present an accurate picture of society and contribute towards the creation of a better social order.

He urged media professionals not to view every issue solely through a political lens and said journalists covering politics should avoid becoming participants in political processes themselves.

Ambekar also spoke about the growing role of technology, saying innovations such as artificial intelligence should be used for the benefit of humanity and to enrich India's knowledge traditions. He said technological advancement cannot replace the role of human beings and called for collective efforts towards national development.

NDTV CEO and Editor in Chief Rahul Kanwal, who attended the programme as the chief guest, said artificial intelligence may be able to perform many journalistic tasks, but it cannot replace a journalist's ability to connect with people and understand context.

The event was attended by several senior journalists, editors, media professionals, and social media influencers. RSS Akhil Bharatiya Sah Prachar Pramukh Narendra Thakur, Delhi Prant Pracharak Vishal Kumar, and Delhi Prant Sah Karyavah Rajesh Kumar were among those present.