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The 18th Indian Journalism Festival 2026 will begin in Indore on Friday, October 2, bringing together more than 150 journalists and media professionals from across India for three days of discussions on the future of journalism, digital media and the changing expectations of Gen-Z.
Organised by the State Press Club, Madhya Pradesh, the festival will be held at Jaal Sabhagruh in South Tukoganj, Indore, from October 2 to 4, with sessions covering print, electronic and digital journalism.
This year’s festival is centred on Gen-Z and will honour seven icons of Hindi journalism, collectively described as the “Saptarishis”: Rahul Barpute, Rajendra Mathur, Prabhash Joshi, Manikchandra Vajpayee, Rameshchandra Agarwal, Abhay Chhajlani and Krishnakumar Ashtana.
The festival was announced by coordinator Sudesh Tiwari, programme director and State Press Club Madhya Pradesh President Praveen Khariwal, and Chief General Secretary Navneet Shukla.
The opening day will feature the inaugural session and “Suno Sarkar, Dialogue with Gen-Z” at 10:30am, providing an opportunity for young people to interact with prominent media figures. A print media masterclass will follow at 3pm, while a panel discussion titled “Hired Intellect, Under Control or Helpless?” will be held at 5pm.
On October 3, sessions will focus on political shifts, digital journalism and the changing media landscape. The programme will include “Politics: Turning Left and Right” at 10:30am, a masterclass on “Digital Media in the New Era” at 3pm and a panel discussion titled “How Far the Race of Ashwamedh?” at 5pm.
The final day will feature a session on “Gen-Z Outside the Classroom” at 10:30am, a masterclass titled “Masters of Journalism” at 3pm and a valedictory session on the importance of linguistic and regional journalism at 5pm.
The festival will also recognise journalists for their contributions to the profession.
Senior editor Devpriya Awasthi, 73, will receive the Saptarishi Lifetime Achievement Award, established in memory of renowned literary figure and poet Naresh Mehta.
The Saptarishi National Journalism Awards will be presented to journalists including Hardik Vikas Dave of Zee News, Tejashree Purandare of NDTV, Pankaj Wankhede of News India, Shubham Gautam of NDTV MP-CG, Preeta Upadhyay of Zee Media, Shikha Sharma of Magnon Group, Vaibhav Palnitkar of Dainik Bhaskar Group, Vishnukant Tiwari of BBC News Hindi, Vani Mishra of IBC-24, Himanshi Tiwari of India TV and RJ Anadi Tiwari.
The Saptarishi State Journalism Awards will honour journalists including Girish Upadhyay, Prakash Bhatnagar of Anadi TV, Deshdeep Saxena of The Wildlife.com, Sharad Dwivedi of Bansal News, Sudhir Dixit of News18 MP-CG, Prabhu Pateriya of Swaraj Express SMBC, Shifali of ETV Bharat Digital, Shruti Tomar of Hindustan Times, Rajesh Sharma of Dainik Bhaskar Digital, Shashikant Trivedi, Bhavna Shukla of The Hitavada and Pankaj Shukla of Subah-Savere.
SAARC Journalist Forum President Raju Lama and Secretary General Md Abdur Rahman will also attend the festival.
A photo and cartoon exhibition will be another attraction of the event, featuring 75 award-winning international photographs captured by 25 photographers from Indore. A specially published coffee-table book will also be unveiled.
The exhibition will also showcase cartoons on Gen-Z themes created by 10 prominent national cartoonists.
The festival is open to students, researchers and members of the public.
On October 4, the Federation of Press Clubs will hold its national executive committee meeting in Indore. Senior journalist Gautam Lahiri will preside over the meeting, which will bring together presidents and general secretaries of major press clubs from across India.