There were 22 awards in all recognising both new talent and old at the second Asian Media Awards on Tuesday last week October 28 in Manchester. Shekhar Bhatia, journalist of the year In essence, it was the stalwarts of the industry that really made an impression.
He also felt that matters were not going forward but back — that there were not enough Asians working in the mainstream media. Guru-Murthy was not the only longstanding journalist working in the mass media to be recognised on the evening. Bhatia has been a veteran of Fleet Street for around 30 years, writing first for the Evening Standard before becoming one of the star reporters on the Daily Express, where he was showbusiness and night editor for periods. Widely recognised in the industry for his tenacity, diligence, and sharp journalistic acumen, he has moved more recently into documentary film making.
Similarly, his interview with the parents of Reeva Steenkamp and his coverage of the Anni Dewani case have put him in the global spotlight and have illustrated his brilliance as a story-getter and digger.
From the podium, she said the show was important in engaging the public and disparaged comedian — now political commentator — Russell Brand, who has in the past urged young people not to vote. Adding a touch of populist glitz to the awards show was former Eastenders star, now roaming undercover reporter, Ross Kemp. In this he explored the seedy and often violent world of child and young women sex trafficking in India.
In the closing sequence, he talks to a man who claims to kidnapping and killing thousands in the brutal trade. Wadia said she had never planned a career as an actor and had wanted to be a writer originally, but standing in for someone to perform her own work, she fell into performing. Wadia revealed that she has been offered a part in the West End and is mulling it over in light of her commitments as a mother to two small children. There was also a special appeal for the Alan Henning Memorial Fund — in memory of the Manchester taxi driver who had gone to provide humanitarian assistance to those in suffering in Syria was murdered by fanatics from ISIS.
