News
23rd Journalism Awards: Five lifetime achievers and more awardees
View(s):The 23rd edition of the Annual Journalism Awards for excellence programme will end with the ‘Awards Night’ on Tuesday, December 13. The ceremony will be held at Mount Lavinia Hotel’s Empire Ballroom.
The programme is organised by The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka in partnership with the Sri Lanka Press Institute and its affiliated unions; the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka, the Free Media Movement and the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association.
The programme is held annually to recognise professionalism in journalism and reward those who have excelled in the field.
This year 34 journalists will receive the ‘Pen Trophy’ Award and 17 others will receive certificates of merit. There will also be five Lifetime Achievement Awardees namely, Daya Lankapura, A. D. Ranjith Kumara, P. Manikavasagam, Chitra Weerarathna and P. B. Elangasinha (Their profiles appear below).
Moreover, a young reporter will receive the Lakshman Kadirgamar scholarship to study at the Manorama School of Communication (MASCOM) in Kerala–one of the leading Indian colleges of journalism.
Sunday Island’s Chief Editor Manik de Silva will be the chief guest at the event this year.
The main sponsors are John Keells Holdings, Dialog, LOLC, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation and Olu bottled water. Other sponsors are Sri Lanka Cricket and Insee Cement.
A total of 251 applications from nine newspaper publishing groups was received by the distinguished eight-member independent panel of judges this year, Journalism Awards for Excellence Convener Sukumar Rockwood said.
This year’s entries were received for 17 categories: Mervyn de Silva Journalist of the Year, Scoop of the Year, Investigative Journalist of the Year, Best Environmental Reporter of the Year, Subramaniyam Chettiar Award for Reporting on Social Issues, Sports Journalist of the Year, Denzil Peiris Young Reporter of the Year (Under 26 years), Photojournalist of the Year, Best Designed Newspaper of the Year, Business and Finance Journalist of the Year, Upali Wijewardene Feature Writer of the Year, Cartoonist of the Year, B. A. Siriwardena Columnist of the Year, Prof. K. Kailasapathy Award for Reporting under Special Circumstances, Best News or Feature using RTI, Best Health Care and Medical Reporter of the Year, Best News Website.
| Lifetime Achievement Awards |
 This year the Life Time Achievement Award will be presented to the following senior journalists. Daya Lankapura Daya Lankapura, has served in the media field for over 55 years. He began his journalistic career at the Aththa newspaper as a reporter in 1966 while studying at the Colombo University. He joined the Divaina editorial staff of the Upali Newspapers Limited at its inception and served there as parliamentary and political reporter. Subsequently, he joined Lake House briefly as the deputy editor for the Dinamina in 1994 and later associate editor, Silumina and editor of Janatha from May 1994 to May 2004. He later accepted the post of news editor at the Sunday Rivira. He also served as Night Editor, Lakbima, News Editor, Irudina, News Editor and Editorial Adviser to Divaina. During this period he was editor of the Information Department’s web site, news.lk until July 2020. He has followed journalism courses at the Western Ontario University in Canada, Bradford University in Britain and the Media Training Institute in South Korea. He is currently a visiting lecturer at the mass media section of Colombo University’s Sri Palee Campus.
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 Ponniah Manikavasagam Ponniah Manikavasagam known as P. Manikavasagam is a veteran journalist who worked amid trying conditions for Virakesari for more than four decades. His reporting from the conflict zone was true and accurate, and therefore he earned the respect of both local and foreign media. He was stringer for the BBC for 25 years until the BBC Tamil Radio Service was suspended in 2016 and Reuters for ten years. He also filed stories as a Sri Lanka Correspondent for Asia Calling (Indonesia) and Free Speech Radio News (USA) for several years. He also won the Northeastern Provincial Governor’s Award for Journalism, the Kalabooshana Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cultural Affairs Ministry.
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 A .D. Ranjith Kumara A. D. Ranjith Kumara, held the post of Editor in the weekly newspapers of Sarasaviya and Sarasi. He has been associated with journalism for five decades especially in the field of cinema. In 2017, he received the Presidential Award for Cinema Literature by the National Film Corporation. He is a past student of Carey College and Ananda College in Colombo. Some books he wrote include: Kosgashandiya, Gamini Hela Cinemawe Sakvithi, Rukmani Devi Yugayaka Swarna Geethaya, Sinhala Cinemawe Ridi Rekava and Nova Paraniya Lipi Saranaiya. He has also served as a member of the State Literary Awards Advisory Board and Chief Organiser of the Sarasaviya Film Festival and the Sumathi Telefilm Festival. At Sumathi Group of Companies, he held the post of Working Director. He has also received the Ranapala Bodinagoda Cinema Literary Memorial Award, Cyril C. Perera Memorial Award, OCIC Award and the Sumathipala Memorial Award.
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 Chitra WeerarathnaThe Island journalist Chitra Weerarathna had her primary and secondary education at Visakha Vidyalaya in Bambalapitiya. She has a degree in Natural Sciences from the Colombo University. Chitra, as she is popularly known among scribes, cut her teeth in journalism at the now defunct Sun newspaper of the Independent Newspapers Group. She joined The Island in the early ’90s and quickly carved a niche in the court rounds. No court was too small or too big for her, for the subject was in her blood, being a daughter of late Supreme Court Justice T. A. De S. Wijesundera. Chitra’s late husband, Dr. Susil Weerarathna, was a lecturer in Chemical Engineering at the Moratuwa University. |
 P. B. ElangasinhaP. B. Elangasinha is an old boy of Dharmaraja College in Kandy. He joined the Janatha at The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd (Lake House) as a trainee reporter in 1965. He moved to the Silumina in 1970 and assumed duties as a sub-editor under Silumina Editor S. Subasinghe. He became the Deputy Editor of Silumina in 1985. He then moved to the Wijeya Group and joined the Irida Lankadeepa in January 1995 and is the Deputy Editor at the moment. |
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