NDTV journalist Ravish Kumar (pictured above) has won the Bala Kailasam Memorial Award for using mass media innovatively towards furthering a social cause. He will receive a cash prize as well as a citation in the Television category.

Scroll.in reporter M Rajshekhar has also been selected for a citation in the World Wide Web category for his reportage on the Cauvery water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, which took a closer look at sand mining in Tamil Nadu, and for his “Ear to the ground” series of stories from across the country.

Others selected for citation include Chandrasekhar Reddy in the Documentary section for his Fireflies in the Abyss; Mandakini Gahlot and Vidya Krishnan for their article titled “Drug Deals” published by The Caravan.

The award was instituted by Cinema Rendezvous, a not-for-profit organisation that started out as a film club in 2012 but now works with all forms of media. The organisation started presenting the award in 2015. The awards are given in print media, world wide web, television and documentary categories. Bala Kailasam was a media professional, documentary film-maker and activist.

The jury that selected the finalists comprised veteran journalist Sushila Ravindranath, former arts editor of The Hindu, Sadanand Menon, theatre director Prasanna Ramaswamy, senior journalist AS Panneerselvan, documentary filmmaker and cinematographer RV Ramani, and Press Institute of India director Sashi Nair. The committee had met on October 31 to make a final list of winners.