AGAHI Awards honor 47 journalists for excellence in journalism

JournalismPakistan.com | Published: 25 November 2019

On Monday, the AGAHI Awards celebrated the achievements of 47 journalists from various media sectors in Islamabad. A diverse jury evaluated submissions across 40 categories.
Summary

ISLAMABAD — The AGAHI Awards, recognized and honored 47 journalists for media excellence and ethics on Monday.

The organizers received thousands of submissions in more than 40 categories from across Pakistan.

A jury of national and international experts, development specialists, academicians, and media professionals evaluated the submissions made by journalists from print, television, radio, and online media.

Leading opinion-makers, reporters, senior journalists, policymakers, diplomats, ambassadors, academicians, and others attended the award ceremony.

Danish Ambassador Rolf Michael Hay Pereira Holmboe, Ambassador Andrulla Kaminara, the Head of Delegation of the European Union Mission to Pakistan, Former Secretaries Muzaffar Qureshi and Syed Kamal Shah along with prominent academics gave the awards to the winners.

Puruesh Chaudhary, President AGAHI and the co-founder of the AGAHI Awards in her keynote address said: “Open-data, right to information and access to resources are critical drivers of research and innovation that enable a knowledge economy. To carry this momentum in the right direction, freedom of media is one of the most important instruments for the society to prosper.”

Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer, Mishal Pakistan and co-founder of AGAHI Awards, shared his vision for creating the awards and said: “Journalism is evolving from institution centric to people-centric journalism. The AGAHI Awards is a catalyst to recognize the best knowledge creators in the society for a more informed and interconnected ecosystem, journalists winning today, show storytelling skill sets, techniques, and comprehension of issues impacting the society”.

He further said, “Journalism in Pakistan is at par with international standards in terms of fairness, quality and professional competence.”

The following journalists were adjudged winners for the “Journalist of the Year 2019,” reporting on:

Accountability: Abdul Waseem Abbasi

Agriculture Policy: Mohammad Hussain Khan

China Pakistan Relations: Zamir Assadi

Climate change: Islam Gul Afridi

Conflict: Farhat Javed Rabani

Corporate Social Responsibility: Fayaz Ahmad

Creating Shared Value: Zeeshan Anwar

Culture and Heritage: Rahim Bux Sagar/Waqar M. Khan

Data Journalism: Maimuna Raza

Democracy 2019: Abdul Rasheed

Ease of Doing Business: Mubarak Zeb Khan

Economy: Farooq Baloch

Education: Shafaq Rafi

Eliminating Hidden Hunger: Muhammad Atif Sheikh

Energy: Zulqarnain Hundal

Entrepreneurship: Saima Shabir

Environment: Umer Nangiana

Extremism and Terrorism: Umar Bacha

Foreign Policy: Ammad Khaliq

Foresight Futures: Syed Babar Ali

Fourth Industrial Revolution: Ramsha Jahangir

Global Dignity: Muhammad Ibrahim

Governance: Munawar Ali Rajput

Health: Karim Islam

Human Rights: Shumaila Jaffery

Identity: Ummara Sheraz

Inclusiveness: Shazia Hasan

Infotainment: Faisal Zafar

Innovation: Sana Jamal

Innovation Journalism: Mahrukh Sarwar

Media Ethics: Rizwana Naqvi

Out of School Children: Arshad Yousafzai

Photojournalism: Zoral Khurram Naik

Police Reforms: Adnan Aamir

Rule of Law: Ahmad Sarfaraz

SRHR: Makhdoom Muhammad Shahab Uddin

Sports: Sana Jamal

Sustainable Development Goals: Rizwan Ahmed Tariq

Video Journalism TV: Furqan Ellahi

Vocational Training and Technical Education: Ayaz Ahmad

Water Stewardship: Ikram Ullah Marwat

Welfare: Yousaf Ajab Baloch

In the People’s Choice Awards categories:

Favorite Current Anchor (Male): Ahmed Qureshi,

Favorite Current Anchor (Female): Maria Memon

Favorite News Channel of the Year for 2019: ARY News

The Founders’ Choice Awards for Investigative Journalist of the Year 2019: Aamir Saeed Abbasi from Dunya TV.

The News Manager of the Year 2019: Zafar Iqbal Ramay from the Express Group.

This year a special award was presented jointly to Mazhar Iqbal and Pervez Shaukat in recognition for their struggle and contributions to safeguard the interests and rights of the working journalists in Pakistan.

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