In the very first edition of The Public India Digital Media Awards, held at the India International Centre in Delhi on Friday, political cartoonist Manjul, a frequent contributor to Newslaundry, won the Special Mention Award for his outstanding career.
The ceremony also honoured other notable contributors to the field of media. Afrida Hussain, a senior journalist from Guwahati, received the Jagdeep Chhokar Award for Meaningful Journalism, while Kashmiri photojournalist Sanna Irshad Mattoo received the Danish Siddiqui Award for Photojournalism. Additionally, the Harshvardhan Award for Digital Media Influencer went to Manish Singh (known as Reborn) of Raigarh, Chhattisgarh.
The ceremony also featured prestigious lifetime achievement honours across two distinct categories. The Public India Jury Award 2026 was presented to anchor Karan Thapar, while the Mahatma Gandhi International Award was conferred upon Lydia Polgreen, senior journalist with The New York Times.
The awards ceremony was hosted by The Public India, a digital media platform founded by Anand Vardhan Singh, a former Lokmat editor.
Speaking with Newslaundry, Singh explained the intent behind the honours: “The awards are named after individuals who fought to strengthen democracy. We have an award in the name of Danish Siddiqui, the photojournalist who gave his life in Afghanistan; we feel he hasn’t yet received the recognition he deserves.”
Elaborating further, he said, “In today’s digital world, many are stepping forward to uphold the ideals of democracy, and this award serves as a bridge to connect them with the recognition they deserve. By providing this platform, The Public India aims to support their contributions.”
Regarding the distinct nature of the awards, Singh noted, “The jury is transparent, and it is they who decide the winners. While we drove the nominations, the process of choosing the winners was driven entirely by the jury.” He added that while they are not competing with other media awards, he believes these contributors “should be recognised”.
The event featured a distinguished jury panel, including Retd. Lt. Gen. Zameer Uddin, Prof. Ashutosh Varshney (a political scientist at Brown University), Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty (President, Press Club of India), and senior journalists Qamar Waheed Naqvi and Rahul Dev. The ceremony also featured addresses by notable speakers Siddharth Varadarajan, founder of The Wire, and scientist and poet Gauhar Raza.
When asked about the funding for the ceremony, Singh noted, “Individuals are supporting us, but primarily we are driving this ourselves. While we have done smaller events in bits and pieces before, this is the first time we have organised an official award function specifically for digital media.”
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