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The 18th Indian Journalism Festival 2026 began in Indore on Friday, bringing together more than 150 journalists, editors and digital media professionals from across India to discuss the changing landscape of journalism and the growing influence of Gen-Z.
Organised by the State Press Club, Madhya Pradesh, the three-day festival is being held at Jaal Sabhagruh in South Tukoganj, Indore, from October 2 to 4.
This year’s festival focuses on Gen-Z and its influence on print, electronic and digital media. It also pays tribute to seven distinguished figures of Hindi journalism, collectively described as the “Saptarishis”: Rahul Barpute, Rajendra Mathur, Prabhash Joshi, Manikchandra Vajpayee, Rameshchandra Agarwal, Abhay Chhajlani and Krishnakumar Ashtana.
Justice J K Maheswori of the Supreme Court of India attended the opening ceremony as chief guest. Umang Singhar, Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication Vice-Chancellor Bijay Manohar Tiwari and MDH Chairman Rajiv Gulati attended as special guests.
The festival also brought together international media leaders, including SAARC Journalist Forum President Raju Lama and Secretary General Md Abdur Rahman, Federation of Press Clubs President Gautam Lahiri and Correspondents Club of India Secretary General Prakash Nanda.
Festival Coordinator Sudesh Tiwari, programme director and State Press Club Madhya Pradesh President Praveen Khariwal, and Chief General Secretary Navneet Shukla highlighted the festival’s objectives and programme.
Saptarishi awards announced
A major feature of the festival is the presentation of awards recognising outstanding contributions to journalism and lifetime achievements.
Senior editor Devpriya Awasthi, 73, is being honoured with the Saptarishi Lifetime Achievement Award, instituted in memory of renowned poet and literary figure Naresh Mehta.
The Saptarishi National Journalism Awards are being presented to 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 are being presented to 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.
Over the three-day festival, panel discussions, media summits and interactive sessions will examine the challenges and opportunities facing Indian journalism in the digital era, with particular attention to changing audience behaviour and the role of Gen-Z.
