Staff Correspondent

The 18th edition of the three-day Indian Journalism Festival 2026 commenced on Friday at the Jaal Sabhagruh in South Tukoganj, Indore, bringing together over 150 prominent journalists, editors, and digital media experts from across India.

Organized by the State Press Club, Madhya Pradesh, this year’s national media summit centers around the theme "Gen-Z" and its growing influence across print, electronic, and digital platforms. The festival pays tribute to seven stalwarts of Hindi journalism: late Rahul Barpute, Rajendra Mathur, Prabhash Joshi, Manikchandra Vajpayee, Rameshchandra Agarwal, Abhay Chhajlani, and Krishnakumar Ashtana.

Justice J. K. Maheshwari of the Supreme Court of India inaugurated the festival as the chief guest, alongside Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly Umang Singhar, Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Mass Communication Vice-Chancellor Bijay Manohar Tiwari, and MDH Chairman Rajiv Gulati as special guests. International media representatives, including SAARC Journalist Forum President Raju Lama, Secretary General Md. Abdur Rahman, Federation of Press Clubs President Gautam Lahiri, and Correspondents Club of India Secretary General Prakash Nanda, also attended the opening ceremony.

Program Director and State Press Club MP President Praveen Khariwal, Chief General Secretary Navneet Shukla, and Festival Coordinator Sudesh Tiwari announced the festival lineup and awards schedule.

As part of the honors, 73-year-old senior editor Devpriya Awasthi will receive the Saptarishi Lifetime Achievement Award, instituted in memory of late poet and literary icon Naresh Mehta.

National Journalism Awards will be conferred upon media professionals including Hardik Vikas Dave (Zee News), Tejashree Purandare (NDTV), Pankaj Wankhede (News India), Shubham Gautam (NDTV MP-CG), Preeta Upadhyay (Zee Media), Shikha Sharma (Magnon Group), Vaibhav Palnitkar (Dainik Bhaskar Group), Vishnukant Tiwari (BBC News Hindi), Vani Mishra (IBC-24), Himanshi Tiwari (India TV), and RJ Anadi Tiwari.

State Journalism Awards will be presented to Girish Upadhyay, Prakash Bhatnagar (Anadi TV), Deshdeep Saxena (The Wildlife.com), Sharad Dwivedi (Bansal News), Sudhir Dixit (News18 MP-CG), Prabhu Pateriya (Swaraj Express SMBC), Shifali (ETV Bharat Digital), Shruti Tomar (Hindustan Times), Rajesh Sharma (Dainik Bhaskar Digital), Shashikant Trivedi, Bhavna Shukla (The Hitavada), and Pankaj Shukla (Subah-Savere).

The three-day festival will feature panel discussions, media summits, and interactive sessions focused on the evolving landscape of Indian journalism in the digital era.