JournalismPakistan.com
November 25, 2019

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.