Sangita Myska made an impassioned speech over fighting to protect ‘integrity in journalism’ at this year’s Asian Media Awards.
Journalists and broadcasters were honoured at the 12th ceremony, which celebrates achievements in a range of categories in TV, radio, stage, online and creative media.
Sangita was named 2024 Media Personality of the Year in front of a packed venue at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate.
Throughout her career the journalist, presenter and podcaster has been instrumental in helping to shed a light on a range of issues and has been at the forefront of tackling prejudice and bigotry wherever she has seen it.
Her forensic and even-handed approach to interviewing politicians and government officials coupled with her warm, conversational style with the public has won her a legion of loyal fans.
Sangita was presented the final and biggest honour of the night by stem cell transplant recipient Anie Hussain, who is working to create more awareness of the process within the Asian community. Anie was joined by AMA panel member Tommy Nagra.
Accepting the award Sangita said: “I would like to thank my friends, family and fantastic colleagues.
“You have seen me through many years in this industry where it is still a challenge to be a woman and particularly a woman of colour.
“Let us not underestimate how much further we have to go to break barriers.”
She added: “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the listeners and viewers who have backed me over the years but came out in full force this year, in the most unexpected, unplanned and humbling way possible.”
Sangita said she had been taking time out to think about the state of journalism and went on to praise the efforts of the ‘unsung heroes’ in the UK’s newsrooms saying, “In the news industry we get a lot of things right, on a daily basis, much of which goes unnoticed”. However, she warned of prevalence of increasingly untenable working conditions.
“The people we need to acknowledge are the backbone of our industry, the many unsung heroes in our newsrooms often working on insecure contracts, often on relatively low pay, who are committed to telling important stories in the true spirit of journalism in the public interest both here and abroad. I applaud them; we should all be immensely grateful to them.”
She went on to speak about how a deep-seated mistrust had been allowed to develop between parts the UK’s legacy media and audiences.
“Received wisdom about how we report certain stories is failing. The ‘both siding’ of narratives when the weight of evidence clearly falls on one side is causing a deep-seated mistrust between journalists and the general public.”
Sangita said: “All hope is not lost. There is a cure. It is simple though not always easy.
“That cure is to maintain integrity in journalism.
That means having the courage to speak the truth to power whether that’s inside or outside your news organisation.
“Not just when it’s convenient or wins you social media likes.
“Integrity means speaking truth to power when it might cost you something. Most likely (albeit temporarily) social, professional or financial capital.
“It might feel uncomfortable. It might make the people around you feel uncomfortable. It might feel lonely.
“But what you need to understand is that a consistent, unwavering show of hard work, integrity, dignity and grace will become your USP – and the public will back you.”
This year’s Asian Media Awards winners were announced at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate on Friday October 25.
Previous recipients of an Asian Media Award include Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Waris Hussein, Art Malik, Mehdi Hasan, Nina Wadia, Anita Rani, Shobna Gulati, Faisal Islam, Kulvinder Ghir, Adil Ray, Lisa Aziz, Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Tina Daheley & Mihir Bose.
The University of Salford are Premier Partners to the Asian Media Awards.
Partners to the awards include ITV, EssenceMediacom, Reach PLC, Women In Journalism & Lancashire Mind.
The awards are also supported by Manchester Metropolitan University, AMT Lawyers, DKR Accountants, Opus Broadband, Janan, Hilton Manchester Deansgate, Fritz AV, Payal Events & Cleartwo.
