Rajiv Pant

Awards

Awards & Recognition

Highlights

Newspaper Association of America: 20 Under 40

NAA Press Release, December 5, 2006

NAA 20 Under 40

Twenty of the best and brightest young professionals in the newspaper business are profiled in the 14th edition of PRESSTIME magazine’s “20 Under 40” feature, designed to recognize those who have proven themselves as “change agents within their companies and the industry, providing much needed leadership and vision,” according to the editors.

The 20 were selected from nominations made by executives at NAA-member newspapers across the country.

Read the article in PRESSTIME magazine

From the Press Release

Vienna, Va. – Twenty of the best and brightest young professionals in the newspaper business are profiled in the 14th edition of PRESSTIME magazine’s “20 Under 40” feature, designed to recognize those who have proven themselves as “change agents within their companies and the industry, providing much needed leadership and vision,” according to the editors.

“Each year it gets more difficult to narrow the focus to just 20 of the industry’s bright young innovators,” said Rebecca Ross Albers, NAA vice president and editor of PRESSTIME. “Those honored this year will be at the forefront of this changing industry for many years to come.”

Laura Gordon, senior vice president of marketing at The Dallas Morning News, served as guest editor for the December issue. In her guest column, Gordon writes:

“What we need most are leaders, like those honored in this issue, who can both inspire and provide focus. Great leaders lay out a plan not only for what we must do, but also for what we should not pursue. They help us transform from a defensive culture to an offensive one. They recognize that we cannot be all things to all people. They develop talent in the organization and provide the training and tools necessary for them to adapt and grow.”

The 2006 Honorees

Download full press release and article (PDF)

Knight Ridder Excellence Awards

2001 Excellence Award for Technology Innovation

Rajiv Pant & Team

Knight Ridder

From Knight Ridder press release, San Jose, September 10, 2001

The Cofax Team from Knight Ridder Digital won the Technology Innovation award for developing an easy-to-use system for updating Web sites.

Team members: Rajiv Pant (vice president/tech development and team leader), Patrick Carter (senior director/technology), Karl Martino (developer), Don Henry (senior producer/project leader), Hung Dao (developer), Charles Harvey (manager/leader site operations), Derek Dinh (developer), and Robert Tartamosa (Web site usage analyst).

Knight Ridder’s Real Cities Network of Web sites aimed to be the “Go Local” button for people seeking information in its markets. The Cofax team developed a proprietary content management system that allows newspapers to automate news feeds and archive news stories. The software, which utilizes templates to simplify the process, allows newspaper staff to focus on editing and designing the daily newspaper without spending valuable time posting material to the Web site. It turned what had been eight hours of work for a single newspaper into a 45-minute task.

Launched by Philly.com in collaboration with newsroom colleagues at The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, the Cofax system was being used by 20 Knight Ridder newspapers by mid-year, with another 10 scheduled by year-end.

“The product they developed has been a tremendous help to all of Knight Ridder’s newspapers. It saves time and money – and will be a revenue stream when sold to other publishing companies. We are impressed with the innovative, entrepreneurial spirit of the team."
— The 2001 Jury

Read the full 2001 press release

1999 Excellence Award for Technology Innovation

Rajiv Pant

Philly.com

From Knight Ridder press release, San Jose, September 21, 1999

Rajiv Pant, director of technology and implementation for Philly.com at Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., won the Technology Innovation award for his ingenuity in devising solutions that have allowed Knight Ridder’s online products to move ahead with new features.

Pant performed his first feat when he was a college freshman hired part-time to tackle a problem that had stumped the technical staff at Philadelphia Newspapers for weeks: how to get the contents of the two daily newspapers automatically posted online. His solution, developed in the next 36 hours, is still in use. Other newspapers continue to ask to purchase this system.

Now 24, Pant has racked up a long list of accomplishments:

His nomination cited his “rare ability to see through complex problems and find effective, often highly creative answers,” and described his devotion to his work and his generosity with his time for others working with challenging problems.

“He does an exceptional job and has a wide range of accomplishments. His work is phenomenal. He’s done more in four years than some do in a lifetime. He’s bright, enthusiastic and willing to do things to help other parts of the company."
— The 1999 Jury

Read the full 1999 press release

Other Awards & Recognition

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