By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 23: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud has conferred the Ramnath Goenka Award Excellence in Journalism Award on Shillong-born Tridip K Mandal.
Mandal, who is the Creative Head at The Quint, was conferred with the award for the documentary ‘Diaries from the Detention Camps of Assam’.
Born in Shillong, Mandal had pursued Mass Communication and Journalism at St Anthony’s College, Shillong, and had also cut his professional teeth with The Shillong Times.
After his association with The Shillong Times, Mandal then went on to work with India Today TV, Times Now and CNN-News18.
Mandal feels very connected to his roots in Northeast and is passionate about telling stories from the region.
He is also keen to bridge the so-called ‘tyranny of distance’ and give a voice to stories from Northeast, which many a time get dropped just because the perception is that the region is too far or the stories are unlikely to find resonance across India.
Meanwhile, reacting to the feat, Mandal said, “I am glad that the award is for a story that’s so close to my heart and very personal. I had to go through the whole NRC process, even my family members had to prove our Indian Citizenship and, in fact, my wife is still not in the NRC. For this story, I didn’t need a source or lead because our family was the story. Although it’s a hyper-local story from Assam, identity, citizenship and migration are universal issues now.”
With regard to his journalistic career, Mandal said, “St. Anthony’s College, Shillong, was where I first got introduced to the world of media and journalism. I got my first professional break with The Shillong Times in 2001. The time I spent there gave me a solid understanding of nuances of journalism and storytelling, something that has stayed with me all these years.”