Bengaluru: The Karnataka Women Journalists’ Association (KWJA) hosted the Siddaramaiah Endowment Award Ceremony and a special lecture program at Gandhi Bhavan on Friday, celebrating the contributions of two distinguished women journalists.
Veteran journalist Sushila Subrahmanya, 91, editor of the English fortnightly magazine ‘The Southern Economist’, and Neela M H, Chief Sub-Editor of Prajavani, Bengaluru, were jointly conferred the award, which carries a prize money of Rs 25,000.
Sushila Subrahmanya was recognised for single-handedly running the prestigious economic magazine for 41 years, a publication that has featured columns by luminaries like former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Neela M H was lauded for her extensive work across reporting and editing, particularly for shedding light on critical naxal issues as a Chikkamagaluru district reporter and handling the Prajavani supplements ‘Bhumika’ and ‘Shikshana’.
Speaking at the ceremony, CM Media Adviser K V Prabhakar highlighted the idea behind the award, noting the lack of a woman journalist among the recent Rajyotsava awardees.
Justice Nagamohan Das, who also addressed the gathering, stressed the need for women journalists to fight for their due share and emphasised the importance of professionalism and ethics for the new generation entering the field.
The special lecture was delivered by senior journalist Pushpa Girimaji, who focused on the impact of digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) on the media landscape. Girimaji discussed the ‘democratisation of news’ brought by social media platforms like YouTube and WhatsApp, while also cautioning against the dual challenges of fake news and the AI-facilitated abuse, such as deep-fake videos, particularly targeting women journalists.
KWJA president Padma Shivamogga, members Manjushri M Kadakola, Vanishree J N and others were present.