Kathmandu, Nov 2,, Freedom Forum (FF) presented this year’s ‘investigative journalism award’ and ‘courageous journalism award’ to journalists Ramesh Kumar (Kathmandu) and Ram Bikash Chaudhary (Rupandehi), respectively.
A prize selection committee comprising general secretary of Federation of Nepali Journalists, Ramesh Bista; FNJ former chair and Khoj Patrakarita Kendra (Centre for Investigative Journalism)’s editor-in-chief Shiba Gaunle; Badri Poudel of Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ); and FF founding president Taranath Dahal picked the two for the awards which carry a purse of Rs 25,000 each.
Ramesh Kumar who serves as a special correspondent for the Himal Magazine, was chosen for the award in recognition of his contribution to bringing out hidden aspects and facts behind the country’s administrative and economic policies and their implementation among the public sphere and making people aware of misconducts and weaknesses in the state mechanism.
Chaudhary, who is actively engaged in mofussil journalism despite adversities and threats, writes about administrative and economic mismanagement, misconducts and abuse and exploitation of resources at the local level. The awards were presented amidst a programme here today organised on the occasion of the ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists’. The Day is marked on November 2 each year across the globe in a bid to raise awareness on journalists’ rights, express solidarity to the campaign of journalists’ safety and advocate for justice to the victim journalists and media persons in order to end impunity for the crimes meted out against them at the call of the United Nations since 2013. —-