Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards: Hall of Fame (2005–2024)
The RNG Awards, established by the Ramnath Goenka Foundation in 2005, are among the most prestigious honors for journalists in India. They celebrate "Journalism of Courage"—the legacy of the late Ramnath Goenka, founder of The Indian Express.
Recent Winners: 20th Edition (Awards for 2024)
Presented on March 27, 2026, in New Delhi.
| Category | Winner(s) | Organization |
|---|---|---|
| Investigative Reporting (Print/Digital) | Mridulika Jha | Aaj Tak |
| Investigative Reporting (Broadcast) | Sreya Chatterjee | India Today |
| Reporting on Politics & Govt (Print) | Deeptiman Tiwary | The Indian Express |
| Civic Journalism (Print) | Sandip Dighe | The Times of India |
| Environment & Science (Broadcast) | Rohini Krishnamurthy & Dhruval Parekh | Down To Earth |
| Hindi (Print) | Avadhesh Akodia | Dainik Bhaskar |
| Hindi (Broadcast) | Sarvapriya Sangwan | BBC News Hindi |
| Photo Journalism | Praveen Jain | The Print |
| Books (Non-Fiction) | Aparajith Ramnath | Penguin Random House |
Historical Winners Archive (2005–2023)
The Early Years (2005–2010)
The awards began by highlighting the transition from traditional print to the rising influence of cable news.
- 2005 (Inaugural): Praveen Swami (Frontline), Varghese K. George (The Indian Express), Barkha Dutt (NDTV)
- 2006: Dionne Bunsha (Frontline) for 2002: A Gujarat Diary
- 2007: Siddharth Varadarajan (The Hindu), Rajdeep Sardesai (CNN-IBN)
- 2008: Shashi Tharoor, Harish Damodaran
The Decade of Digital Shift (2011–2020)
As digital media grew, categories expanded to include investigative and grassroots reporting.
- 2012: Mark Tully – Non-Stop India
- 2013–2014: Sreenivasan Jain (NDTV), Ashutosh Bhardwaj (The Indian Express)
- 2016: Ravish Kumar (NDTV India)
- 2019: Arun Mohan Sukumar – Midnight's Machines
The Modern Era (2021–2023)
Focused on deep investigative work and high-stakes policy reporting.
- 2022: Recognized journalists reporting during and after the pandemic
- 2023: Winners from The Caravan, Scroll, and The Wire
Best Book (Non-Fiction) Winners
This category honors long-form research and impactful writing.
- 2020: Tripurdaman Singh – Sixteen Stormy Days
- 2018: Gyan Prakash – Emergency Chronicles
- 2015: Akshaya Mukul – Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India
- 2007: Ramachandra Guha – India After Gandhi
Award Categories Overview
Over the years, the RNG Awards have evolved to recognize excellence across multiple domains:
- Regional Languages: Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, etc.
- Environment, Science & Technology: Climate and innovation reporting.
- Uncovering India Invisible: Stories from rural and marginalized communities.
- Business & Economic Journalism: Corporate and fiscal investigations.
- Sports Journalism: Beyond scores—policy and human stories.
- Investigative & Civic Journalism: Watchdog role of the press.