NEW DELHI: NDTV correspondent Sidharth Pandey and Business Today senior correspondent Kushan Mitra have won the first CNN Young Journalists Award-India (CNN-YJA) in the TV and print/online categories respectively.

Aaj Tak principal correspondent and news anchor Rahul Kanwal and zeenews.com copywriter Shruti Gupta have been named the runners up in the categories.
 
 
The CNN awards was announced last evening at a function held in Delhi.

Pandey and Mitra will now get to spend two weeks at CNN's headquarters in Atlanta and runners up, Kanwal and Gupta will be sent to work closely with CNN's New Delhi Bureau.

They will undergo an intense schedule at the headquarters, which will add value to their existing journalistic experience. The winners will also meet with CNN International's editors and anchors, and experience first-hand the workings of the news agency's editorial and programming teams.

Siddhinath Vishwakarma, assistant producer of Sahara Samay (on the foreign desk) also received a consolation prize in the TV category.

The awards look forward to recognise and encourage quality journalism among young media professionals in India.

How, when, why
CNN-YJA came to India in August 2003. Entries were open to all young news journalists (print or television), between 22 and 26 years of age.

Contestants in the television category were required to create a 2:30 minute news feature style TV package based on the standards for CNN's programme World Report. Contestants for the print/online category were asked to submit their best by-lined stories, published between 1 January and 30 September 2003.

A panel of judges comprising distinguished television and print journalists selected the winners. The jury members included K Kunhikrishnan of Doordarshan; Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, director of School of Convergence; Professor B P Sanjay, director of Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) in New Delhi; Karan Thapar, president of Infotainment Television; and Satinder Bindra, CNN New Delhi Bureau Chief.