"We sincerely wish all the finalists the very best for the finals in October"
The Asian Media Awards (AMA) return for a fourth consecutive to celebrate the growing strengths of British Asian media, journalism and entertainment.
Held at ITV’s London Studios on Monday 19th September, 2016, the finalists of the Asian Media Awards were officially announced an array of special guests and speakers.
Taking to the podium was Professor Allan Walker, Dean of the School of Arts and Media at the University of Salford who are premier sponsors of AMA 2016.
Also speaking about the British Asian presence in media and journalism was Santosh Bhanot of the Asian Circle (official charity partner for 2016 with Oxfam), Sanjay Shabi of MediaCom, comedian Tez Ilyas and MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan.
The awards see finalists in several categories of media. Including Journalism, Online, Print, Radio and Television, PR and Marketing and Live Events.
Also in keeping with previous years are the Special Awards which are presented to exemplary individuals on the night. These include ‘Media Personality of the Year’, ‘The Sophiya Haque Services to British Television & Film Award’, and ‘Outstanding Contribution to Media Award’.
Previous winners of these awards include Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Mehdi Hasan, Waris Hussein and Nina Wadia.
As expected of the tight-knit British Asian media community, finalists for 2016 feature many familiar faces. But the new additions to the shortlist are indicative of the great strides that Asian media is making in becoming a more integral facet of daily British life and lifestyle.
Some of these new talents appear in the ‘Outstanding Young Journalist’ category, and include Kaamil Ahmed, Naina Bhardwaj, Raveena Ghattaura, Sana Sarwar, and
Jasmine Takhar.
Investigative Journalism also features heavily in this year’s awards, showcasing the key socio-political issues affecting British Asians and South Asians across the globe.
Nominees for ‘TV Report of the Year’ include BBC Newsnight’s ‘The Asian Women stopped from becoming councillors’, BBC Asian Network’s ‘Bigorexia’, ‘Climate in Crisis’ from ITV News, ‘Mixed Faith Marriage Protests’ from ITV Central, and ‘Transplants and Trafficking’ from BBC West and BBC One.
Some of the nominees for ‘Best Investigation’ include ‘Forced Marriage Cops’, directed by Anna Hall for Channel 4; ‘Still Smiling: The women fighting back after Acid Attacks’ reported by Naomi Grimley for BBC News; and ‘The Forgotten Girls of Dhaka’, reported by Farhana Haider for BBC World Service.
DESIblitz is also proud to announce that following wins in both 2013 and 2015, we are again shortlisted for the ‘Best Website’ award.
Managing Director, Indi Deol says: “It’s an honour to be nominated for ‘Best Website’ Asian Media Award again for 2016. We are totally thrilled that the hard work of the team is once again being fully recognised and appreciated.
“In 2015, we commenced the new design of DESIblitz.com which was all done in-house by us and then we went on to develop and launch the new-look site with user-centric features to give our audience the best visitor experience possible in March 2016.
“This coupled with our editorially conscious content allows us to present a very powerful digital platform for our ever-growing visitors, who reap the rewards of original features and compelling lifestyle news, gossip and gupshup, across all devices.”
“We sincerely wish all the finalists the very best for the finals in October and we are extremely excited to be part of this very important annual event for the Asian media fraternity.”
Also nominated for ‘Best Website’ are Asian Culture Vulture, Biz Asia Live and Sister-Hood.
Other category nominees include The Asian Today, Asian Express, Asian Wealth Magazine, Eastern Eye and Pukaar Magazine, all in contention for ‘Print Publication of the Year’.
Hotly contested for a fourth consecutive year are the Radio finalists which include BBC Asian Network, Sunrise Radio and Lyca Radio 1458.
Here is the complete shortlist for the Asian Media Awards 2016:
JOURNALISM
Journalist of the Year
Mobeen Azhar
Ashish Joshi – Sky News
Malik Meer – The Guardian
Kim Sengupta – Independent
Anita Sethi
Divya Talwar – BBC Asian Network
Best Investigation
Forced Marriage Cops – Directed by Anna Hall. True Vision for Channel 4
ISIS: The British Women Supporters Unveiled – Reported by Poppy Begum with undercover reporter ‘Aisha’. Produced by Jo Potts. Hardcash Productions for Channel 4
Radicals – Reported by Catrin Nye for the BBC. Films directed by Ben Lister
Still Smiling: The women fighting back after Acid Attacks – Reported by Naomi Grimley for BBC News. Produced by Mark Georgiou with camera by Neha Sharma
The City with No Water – Reporter Fazeelat Aslam and directed by Karim Shah for the Unreported World series
The Forgotten Girls of Dhaka – Reported by Farhana Haider for BBC World Service. Produced by Hana Walker Brown and Edited by Hugh Levinson
Regional Journalist of the Year
Arif Ansari
Rahila Bano
Sangeeta Bhabra
Aasma Day
Rajiv Popat
Balvinder Sidhu
Outstanding Young Journalist
Kaamil Ahmed
Naina Bhardwaj
Raveena Ghattaura
Sana Sarwar
Jasmine Takhar
TV Report of the Year
The Asian Women stopped from becoming councillors – BBC Newsnight
Bigorexia – BBC Asian Network
Climate in Crisis – ITV News
Mixed Faith Marriage Protests – ITV Central
Transplants and Trafficking – BBC West and BBC One
ONLINE
Best Website
AsianCultureVulture.Com
BizAsiaLive.Com
DESIblitz.Com
Sister-Hood.Com
Best Blog
British Asian Podcast
JetSetChick.Com
SauravDutt.Com/Blog
Jay Shetty
Best Video Channel
Winner will be announced at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate on Thursday 29 October.
Publication of the Year
Asian Express
Asian Wealth Magazine
Eastern Eye
Pukaar Magazine
The Asian Today
RADIO
Radio Station of the Year
BBC Asian Network
Lyca Radio 1458
Sunrise Radio
Regional Radio Station of the Year
Asian Star Radio
Panjab Radio
Sabras Radio
Sunrise Yorkshire
Radio Presenter of the Year
Anita Anand
Anushka Arora
Yasmeen Khan
Nihal
Tommy Sandhu
Best Radio Show
Bobby Friction
Preeya Kalidas
Noreen Khan
Shabnam Sahi
Sunny and Shay
TELEVISION
Best TV Programme/Show
Murdered by my Father
The Asian Provocateur
Welcome to the Mosque
TV Channel of the Year
Colors
Hum TV Europe
Star Plus
Zee TV
Best TV Character
Qasim Akhtar as Zeedan Nazir in Coronation Street
Asim Chaudhry as Chabuddy G in People Just Do Nothing
Nitin Ganatra as Masood Ahmed in Eastenders
Fiona Wade as Priya Sharma in Emmerdale
AMA Best Newcomer
Winner to be announced at the AMA ceremony on 27 October.
EVENTS
Best Stage Production
Bring on the Bollywood – Written and directed by Samir Bhamra. Phizzical Productions
Laila: The Musical – Directed by Pravesh Kumar, Music by Sumeet Chopra, Lyrics by Dougal Irvine. Rifco Arts / Watford Palace Theatre & Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch
Love, Bombs and Apples – By Hassan Abdulrazzak & Directed by Rosamunde Hutt. AIK Productions & Turtle Key Arts
The Diary of a Hounslow Girl – By Ambreen Razia. Executive Director, Jonathan Kennedy, Tara Arts. Black Theatre Live
Wipers – Written by Ishy Din and directed by Suba Das. Curve Theatre / Watford Palace Theatre.
Best Live Event
Arijit Singh Live
BBC Asian Network Live
British Asian Festival
London Asian Film Festival
PR & MARKETING
Media Agency of the Year
Delicious PR
Ethnic Reach
Here & Now 365
Media Hive
Media Moguls
Media Professional of the Year
Samir Ahmed
Farzana Baduel
Natasha Mudhar
Anjna Raheja
Salim Uddin-Khandakar
Creative Media Award
Entouraaj brand events & campaigns
IP Man 3 (Ethnic Reach)
Love Thy Neighbour – Carlisle floods (Penny Appeal)
Subhanallah Campaign (Islamic Relief)
The World Chat Cricket Campaign (Here & Now 365)
#WhatIReallyReallyWant Campaign (Sterling Media)
SPECIAL AWARDS
Media Personality of the Year
The Sophiya Haque Services to British Television & Film Award
Outstanding Contribution to Media Award
It is without a doubt that the fourth year of the Asian Media Awards will be just as successful as the last.
The awards ceremony, where winners will be announced, will take place on Thursday 27th October 2016 at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate.
Good luck to all the finalists!
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