in the bag!

Indian Link brings home more honours in this month's Multicultural Media Awards

11dia11 Link has done it again]

They added two new awards [O their growing portfolio of media honours at the recently held 2nd Multicultural Media Awards (MJvJA). They rook out the awards for Coverage of Community Affairs Abroad and Online Innovation in News Blog or News \'{Tebsite Design at the presentation dinner held ii, September. These awards have been added to their por t.folio of accolades, inciL1ding ones from tl1e 2011 NSW Premier's Subcontinent Community Awards, 2012 Parliament of NS\X/ Multicultural i\'1edia Awards and 2013 NSW Premier's Mulciculmral Media Awards. It has certainly been a busy few years for the media grot1p.

" lr is indeed heartening to see llldia11 Unk being appreciated not only withm the communi[y bm now in chc mainstream, aml so consistently:' Pawao Lutbra, CEO of Tndia11 Unk, said.

"Multicultural journalists bring communities [ogether and break down social and cultural barriers," said tbe Chair of J\.,fMA, Shaoquett Moselmaoei\lfLC, during his speech. ''They inform, iliey inspire and tl,ey involve and they mrn challenges inro opportunities. Echo ic media is not just a mass communication medium; it is a personal, social, cultural and emotional cool as it combines the voices of many". l'vfoselmane pe1:sooally congratulated lndia11 Link on winning a stack of awards two years in a row, as he posed for photographs wjtl, the Tndiaii Link team.

"Of course these latest awards, like our previous awards, belong equally to all of our 70-odd contributors acrQss che couo try," said Rajni Anand Lurhra, Indian Li11k's Editor-in -Chief. "Their work for us is driven br nothing more than a passion for telling the people's stories, in a fair and objective manner, and is often undertaken over and above their own clay job and famil y responsibiliries. Pawan and 1 salute their efforts in helpingus reach this level". l or including tl,e ones that lndi,m U11k won, the categories included; l\fulticulrural Journalist of the Year, Coverage of Community Affw in Australia, Cultmal Photographer of d1e Year, Feature writing, , ews Reporting, Edirorial Reporting, Contribution co Social foclusion and Multiculturalism, Coverage of Indigenous Affairs, Investigative Reporting, Edirorial Carroon (a new category), and Online Coverage of Multiculrnral Commw1iry Affairs.

Rajni also bad a s pecial word for the core ream d1atworks within the o ffice at Indian Li.11k. "The marketing staff, Vtvek Trivedi, Nirika Sondhi Verma and Ashish Chawla; human resources manag er Antoinette Mullins, assistant editor Lena Peacock, designer Danielle Ca.iris and contributing editors Sheryl Dix.it and Preeti Jabbal., together oversee the work of tl,e contributors on the paper as well -as tbe radio arm of the company, and make sure a qualiry product goes out every fortnight in print and da.i.ly on air,'' she said.

"There is -a su·ong commil..lJJem to excellence that I am very proud o~ and I congratulate each one of our team members".

The 11asrer of Ceremonies of the evening was Yalda Hakim (ex -SBS presenter, and current presenter for BBC London). and the special guests for the evening were i\linisters Tony Burke and Kate Lwidy, Indigenous E lder

Brian Butler AM from the National Congress of Australia's First people, Depu.ty opposition leader Linda Burney, Luke Foley, Amanda Fazio, Greg Donnelly, esteemed consular dignitaries, business and comrmmiry leaders. lt was an imeresting time for an event at Parliament House, due to it being held just days before die 2013 Federal Election.

"You have ru.med challenges into opportuoities, and at a tune when m,WJstream print media is struggling, you are not only surviving, but thriving," Moselmane said on tl,e night, addressing the multicultural media. "Today, you have made multicultural Australia a success by enriching ir with your talents, skill, hatd work and dedication".

Moselm.ane also revealed that until I955 "the foreigrr language press, as it was called, was viewed wiLh suspicion, and some thougbt it served as a hindrance to ass imiL'ltion tatl,er tl,an help". Restrictions were imposed by tlie gove.roment, and ar least 25% of the text had to be published in the English language Today, however, thankfully things have chan!,,>ed and the multicultural media are celebrated with tbeir hard work by awards sucb as this Tmliflll Link has certainly grown from me small 24-page black ru1d white newspaper to having full co.lour monthly editions across Australia, as well as formightly Sydney editions, a 24-hour radio st.'ltioa, e- paper, e -news letters, interactive website, and wide range of social media. J11dim1 Link is not just a media group, ic is -a forum for the commoo.ity; with a strong focus on quality and authenticity. Jc is most definitely s.een as a celebration of assimilation and tbe media group seems to be showing no signs of slQwing down

2013 Multicultural Media Award Winners

MULTICULTURAL JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

Gerry Gerogatos, 1. The Stringer 2. The National Indigenous Times

COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS ABROAD

Pawan and Rajni Anand Luthra, Indian Link

COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS IN AUSTRALIA

Linna Lee, TOP Media

CULTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Oi Ling Jojo Lee, Sing Tao Daily

FEATURE WRITING

Helen Velissaris, Neos Kosmos

NEWS REPORTING

Wing Yam Lee, Sing Tao Daily

EDITORIAL REPORTING

Patrick Zhu, Oursteps

CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIAL INCLUSION AND MULTICULTURALISM

Jan Smith, 3ZZZ Radio

COVERAGE OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS

GerryGeorgatos, The National Indigenous Times

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer

EDITORIAL CARTOON

Joel Magpayo, The Philippine Times

ONLINE INNOVATION IN NEWS BLOG OR NEWS WEBSITE DESIGN

Pawan and Rajni Anand Luthra, Indian Link

ONLINE COVERAGE OF MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY AFFAIRS

Steve Giannakouras, www g r eekcity.com au

INDIAN LINK: COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS ABROAD

Although the main thrust of reportage in Indian Link is on issues that connect India and Australia, substantial effort is also devoted to coverage of major issues in India. Every edition of Indian Link features news from India, as wel l as pieces on India's literature and cinema. These regular columns keep the Indian community in Australia abreast of movements in India in all areas of endeavour.

With the Indian Link Sydney edition being the only English l anguage paper for the Indian community being printed fortnightly in Australia, the regularity of these features are an important source of information for many Indians living here.

INDIAN LINK: ONLINE INNOVATION IN NEWS BLOG OR NEWS WEBSITE DESIGN

The Indian Link Media Group has embraced technology since starting in 1994 and has remained one step ahead. They recently launched their newly designed websitewww.indianlink.com.au, and have increased their online and social media presence. With enhanced functionality and a stylish, contemporary design, the website uses innovative technology. With full social media integration, Indian Link is able to interact with their readers like never before. The website is now available across all platforms, including smart phones, tablets and other devices, for information on the go. It l inks the newspaper (through thee-paper), 24/7 radio (which can be listened to online or through an app) and onl i ne content (linking in to social media and e-newsletters).