Journalism Awards for Excellence 2014 ‘Awards Night’ on 28 July

A record 250 entries were received this year under the annual Journalism Awards for Excellence Programme jointly organised by The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka (TEGOSL) and the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI), showing a growing acceptance among the wider spectrum of print journalists to what has become the most prestigious media awards event in the country. 

This year will be the 16th edition of the industry-driven awards program, which was first begun by The Editors’ Guild in 1998. The program aims at recognising and rewarding excellence in the field of journalism. 

M. Nihal Seneviratne, Chairman of the Dispute Resolution Council of the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka, will be the Chief Guest. Seneviratne was former Secretary General of Parliament.

Mount Lavinia Hotel is the host Hotel for the Awards Night.

This year entries were received for 14 categories, which are listed below:

1.    Mervyn de Silva Journalist of the Year

2.    Scoop of the Year

3.    Investigative Journalist of the Year

4.    Best Environmental Reporter of the Year

5.    Subramaniyam Chettiar Award for Reporting on Social Issues

6.    Sports Journalist of the Year (Three Awards: Sinhala, Tamil and English)

7.    Denzil Peiris Young Reporter of the Year (Under 26 years)

8.    Photojournalist of the Year

9.    Best Designed Newspaper of the Year

10.    Business Journalist of the Year (Three Awards: Sinhala, Tamil and English)

11.    Upali Wijewardene Feature Writer of the Year (Three Awards: Sinhala, Tamil and English)

12.    Cartoonist of the Year

13.    B. A. Siriwardena Columnist of the Year (Three Awards: Sinhala, Tamil and English)

14.    Prof. K. Kailasapathy Award for Reporting under Special Circumstances

Besides the above Awards, The Editors Guild selects five senior journalists for the Lifetime Achievement Awards, the D.R. Wijewardene Award is for Recognition by Peers and the Public and the Sepala Gunasena Award for Press Freedom.

The Life Time Achievement Awards for 2014 go to: Binoy Kumar Wickrama Surendra, Latheef Farook, Nihal Ratnaike, Saranapala Pamunuwa, and S. Thillainathan.