M Nanjundaswamy (27), who works as a journalist in the Mysuru Bureau of popular Kannada newspaper Vijaya Karnataka has been selected for the 4th G Santha Teacher Memorial Journalism Award.
Nanjundaswamy was born with a deformed left hand but that did not deter him from pursuing his dream to become a journalist. Nanjundaswamy has been reporting on civic issues, art and culture, science and technology, besides focusing on stories of achievements of people with special needs. His series of reports on the crisis caused due to the dumping of garbage at Old Kesare area on the outskirts of Mysuru was appreciated by editors at Vijaya Karnataka.
“I write about such individuals as I wish to encourage them to scale greater heights. This honour has come very early in my career and probably is a reminder to me about the responsibilities I have as a journalist,” says Nanjundaswamy. He is hoping to focus on more stories from rural areas in and around Mysuru.
The G Santha Teacher Memorial Journalism Award award is instituted by Inspired Indian Foundation (IIF) and will be presented on October 19 in Bengaluru during the 4th Guru Kalam Memorial Lecture being organised by IIF in association with Abdul Kalam International Foundation (AKIF), Rameswaram. The award includes a memento, a certificate of appreciation and Rs 21,000 in cash.
“Journalism is a very demanding profession and rarely do we find success stories of those with special needs from the news room. This recognition to Nanjundaswamy, a stringer with Vijay Karnataka, should encourage many others. We were keen that with every award we would want to open doors that were never looked at,” says Sindhu A, Founder Trustee of IIF.
In 2016, Rekha Satheesh, a Senior Chief Sub-Editor with The New Indian Express, Kochi, was the first recipient of the award, while Rajeev Kumar Mishra, a Chief Sub-Editor with the Bengaluru edition of Rajasthan Patrika, won the honour in 2017. Jugal Purohit, a Senior Broadcast Journalist with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) India, was awarded in 2018.