It was a vote of thanks, brief but with a punch. The occasion was the 16^th 16th Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards held in Delhi. The Chief Justice of India (CJI), DY Chandrachud had just delivered the keynote address after presenting these awards.The speaker was Raj Kamal Jha, editor in chief of Indian Express, cap in place, dressed in his signature black with bright red socks.

Raj Kamal Jha said for journalists and journalism, year after year, case after case, their starlight has illuminated the road ahead. Jha joked, “We have the privilege of the presence of the honourable Chief Justice. And there is absolutely nothing in a sealed cover. This is a vote of thanks but in the times we live in, I want to say there will be no vote – there will just be thanks here.”

Jha went on to affirm his faith in the Supreme Court that he said would remain the North Star.

“For journalists and journalism, year after year, case after case, their starlight has illuminated the road ahead. That’s why, when the lights dim, when a reporter is arrested under a law meant for terrorists, when another is arrested for asking a question, when a university teacher is picked up for sharing a cartoon, a college student for a speech, a film star for a comment, or when a rejoinder to a story comes in the form of a police FIR – we turn to the North Star for its guiding light.”

Unsurprisingly, his brief vote of thanks, delivered in the presence of politicians from the ruling party and opposition, union minister for I & B, Anurag Thakur and senior counsel and Rajya Sabha member, Kapil Sibal created a storm on twitter. In these days of studied silences, when voices do speak, people listen.

Related:

‘Press must remain free if a country is to remain a democracy’: CJI DY Chandrachud

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The decision of the Ramnath Goenka Foundation to invite PM Modi this year for the most prestigious award ceremony in the field of journalism had raised many eyebrows in the media fraternity. Akshaya Mukul – a renowned journalist from Times of India boycotted Ramnath Goenka Awards, as he could not “live with the idea of Modi and me (him) in the same frame.”

However, Raj Kamal Jha, editor-in-chief, The Indian Express, who had the responsibility to offer the vote of thanks during the ceremony, reflected on Modi’s speech, and took on him subtly by reiterating the definition of good journalism.

Here’s the transcript of Jha’s speech during Ramanth Goenka Awards, 2016 that took place on November 2.
 

Thank you very much Mister Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji.

After your speech, we are left speechless. But I need to say a few things as a vote of thanks.

Your being here is a very strong message we hope that good journalism is defined it should be defined by the work we celebrate this evening, done by reporters who report and editors who edit. Not by the selfie journalists we see a lot of these days who are always obsessed by what they think, by their face, by their views, who keep the camera turned towards them. The only thing that matters to them is their voice and their face. All the rest is backdrop, a silly background noise. In this selfie journalism, if you don't have the facts, it doesn't matter. You just put a flag in the frame and you hide behind it.

Thank you very much sir for your speech, for your wonderful underlining of the importance of credibility. I think that's the most important thing that we can take away as journalists from your speech. You also said a few wonderful things about journalists that makes us a little nervous. You may not find it in Wikipedia, but Shri Ramnath Goenka, and it's a fact and I can say that as the Editor of the Indian Express, he did sack a journalist when he heard that the Chief Minister of a state told him that, "Aap ka reporter bahut achchha kaam kar raha hai." That's very very important especially in an age, and I turn 50 this year so I can say that, when we have a generation of journalists who are growing up in an age of retweets and likes. And they do not know that criticism from a government is a badge of honour.

So just as they do in smoking scenes in cinemas, I think we should have a ticker tape running whenever we hear praise of a journalist that criticism from a government is wonderful news for journalism. I think that's very, very important for journalism.

Thank you sir for your speech. You made some wonderful points. I think the most important point was of credibility and I think that is very very important. We cannot blame the government for that,that is our job, we need to look within and we will surely reflect on your remarks.

Thank you to the winners of the Ramnath Goenka Journalism Awards. There are two remarkable facts about this year's awards, which I want to share with you. We got 562 applications, this is the highest ever we got in the last 11 years, from 128 news organisations. This is also the highest ever and it is very important for me to underline this number because this is a reply to those who say good journalism is dying, that journalists have been bought over by the government. It is not that good journalism is dying, not at all. It is getting better, and it is getting bigger. It is that bad journalism makes a lot more noise than it used to do five years ago. And that is why I think the remote control should get the RNG Award for Excellence in Journalism. And so that is why I would like to request you to lend a hand to all those who have won the award this year.

In the end, thank you to all of you who have come here this evening. There are people from the government, there are people from the Opposition, we know who is who. But when they applauded journalism, it did not matter. You could not make out who is in the government and who is in the opposition. That is the way it should be. Thank you very much.

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