Journalist and news anchor Ravish Kumar has been awarded the prestigious 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award. He is one of the five recipients, and the other winners are Ko Swe Win from Myanmar, Angkhana Neelapaijit from Thailand, Raymundo Pujante Cayabyab from Philippines and Kim Jong-Ki from South Korea.
He received the award for his news show, Prime Time, which “deals with real-life, under-reported problems of ordinary people”.
Considered to be the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize by some, the Ramon Magsaysay Award recognizes “greatness of spirit and transformative leadership in Asia”.
Ravish Kumar was recognized for “harnessing journalism to give voice to the voiceless” and is the only Indian to receive the prestigious award this year.
These are the five recipients of Asia’s premier prize and highest honor, the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Awardees. #RamonMagsaysayAward pic.twitter.com/HrLG1qVt6L
— Ramon Magsaysay Award (@MagsaysayAward) August 2, 2019
44-year-old, Ravish Kumar is NDTV India’s senior executive editor and leading TV journalist. By winning this honor, Kumar has joined the list of other notable winners like K Laxman, P Sainath, Arun Shourie, Kiran Bedi, and others.
“Sober, incisive and well informed”: Ramon Magsaysay award winner Ravish Kumar’s citation says. #RavishKumar #2019RamonMagsaysayaward #RamonMagsaysayAward pic.twitter.com/Vl0WWqwlAs
— NDTV (@ndtv) August 2, 2019
Many people took to Twitter to congratulate him for the win:
Breaking news this morning: NDTV’s @ravishndtv to receive the Ramon Magsaysay award for journalism.. a tribute to his courageous spirit and unique story telling.. many many congrats to a friend and former colleague..
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) August 2, 2019
He ensured that Indian journalism is only 99% sold and not 100%.
— Swara (@RoshanSwara) August 2, 2019
Ramon Magsaysay ❤#RavishKumar pic.twitter.com/FmOF1UgAIZ
Congratulations sir #RavishKumar pic.twitter.com/1MVKiHroQL
— Rajat (@RajatYadav74844) August 2, 2019
#RavishKumar #ramonmagsaysay award
— Sai Siva chandra (@siva_chandhra) August 2, 2019
It’s a proud moment for journalism of our country #india pic.twitter.com/yBDyAM4Ako
Congratulation #RavishKumar Sir you deserve it pic.twitter.com/ZhDKhAaPgP
— Arsalan Ausaf (@arsalan041993) August 2, 2019
Congratulations Ravish Kumar – The lone warrior and voice of the people of India 🇮🇳#RavishKumar #RamonMagsaysayAward #journalism pic.twitter.com/DqCbDXw0cc
— Nazre IMAM ☮️ (@nazreimam01) August 2, 2019
Arnab right now…#RavishKumar pic.twitter.com/QTUTpqEQj8
— Thakur Sahab (@Angry_Engg) August 2, 2019
This ❤️#RamonMagsaysayAward pic.twitter.com/KWJf2hBrG5
— Himalaya (@himalay__) August 2, 2019
#RamonMagsaysayAward
— HK (@HkHaryanvi) August 2, 2019
Ravish kumar right now pic.twitter.com/vf7PeUPKPp
In a time when TV journalism is fast losing its credibility, anchors and journalists like Ravish Kumar are the voice of reason. And this is a well-deserved honor, indeed.
