e4m Urdu Journalism 40 Under 40 charts a new chapter with India's Urdu media leadership

exchange4media (e4m) hosted the Urdu Journalism 40 Under 40 Conclave & Awards in New Delhi, convening senior editors, authors, policymakers and rising journalists for a full day of keynotes, fireside chats and panel discussions on the state and future of Urdu journalism in India. The conclave opened with a keynote address by senior journalist, writer, poet and actor Tehseen Munawar, who set the tone for a day of candid reflection on the relevance and reinvention of Urdu media in contemporary India.

A panel discussion titled 'Does Urdu Media Still Shape Public Opinion?' examined whether Urdu publications still command influence over public discourse. This was followed by a spotlight session, 'The Language of Justice: Urdu's Enduring Legacy in Indian Courts,' which traced the language's continuing imprint on India's legal vocabulary. A fireside chat, 'Urdu, Identity & Governance in the Modi Era,' saw Kausar Jahan, Chairperson of the Delhi Haj Committee, in conversation with Ruhail Amin, Senior Editor at exchange4media and BW Businessworld, unpack how questions of identity and governance are playing out in Urdu public life. Independent journalist and author Rohinee Singh followed with a special session, before the panel discussion 'Can Urdu Journalism Attract the Next Generation?' closed out the day's conversations.

Across sessions, speakers were emphatic that the credibility of Urdu journalism has never been in question, even as the medium itself must keep evolving. Urdu newspapers, it was argued, need to deepen their transition to digital platforms and widen their offering with weekly programming on business news and investment advice to stay relevant to new readers. Several speakers called for Urdu's secular, syncretic character to be given a fresh push, and for the language to be introduced as an optional subject in educational institutions so that the next generation is encouraged to learn and adopt it. The recurring thread through the day was that language never dies, only its medium changes; that facts tell us what happened while language tells us what it means; and that Urdu journalism now needs a deliberate shift in conversational and editorial style to speak to today's audiences.

Dr. Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, BW Businessworld, and Founder, exchange4media, highlighted, “Urdu journalism has always done it with a certain grace, a command of nuance and expression that shapes not just what people know, but how they feel about what they know. It has survived shifts in technology, readership and revenue because it never stopped being trusted. As newsrooms everywhere reinvent themselves for a digital, fast-moving audience, Urdu journalism carries an added responsibility ,  to keep a rich linguistic and cultural tradition alive while speaking to a new generation on its own terms. The journalists we celebrate today are proof that this is possible: that language, done well, never becomes outdated, it only finds new readers." 

The Awards Ceremony that followed recognised journalists who have reported impactfully, as this year's e4m Urdu Journalism 40 Under 40 honourees, drawn from across print, television, digital and freelance Urdu journalism: