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Newsbreak magazine and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) won the top awards in the 19th Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ) for works published in 2007. The results were announced during the annual JVOAEJ ceremonies at the Asian Institute of Management last June 26. The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has been the administrative and technical secretariat of the JVOAEJ since 1990.
The JVOAEJ this year scanned the print media for investigative and explanatory articles published in 2007, and then focused on the urgent issues of human rights, the environment and governance and corruption to encourage reporting on these issues.
This year, “Trapped in a web of lives” by Glenda Gloria published in the December 2007-February 2008 issue of Newsbreak and “The battle for Manila’s gateway” by Roel Landingin published in the September-December 2007 issue of Newsbreak were judged the best human rights and governance reports, respectively. Each received a plaque of distinction and a cash prize of P70,000.
The board of judges named the environment story “What’s swimming in your soup?” by Prime Sarmiento of the PCIJ and published in Malaya on Nov. 27-28, 2007 recipient of a plaque of merit and a cash prize of P25,000.
The selection of the prize winners was based on several criteria. Each entry must:
1. Have a minimum length of 1,000 words;
2. Be written by a Filipino journalist or a group of Filipino journalists, whether freelance or affiliated or regularly employed in a news organization;
3. Have been published in a newspaper or magazine of mass circulation in the Philippines for the period under consideration (Jan. 1, 2007 to Dec. 31, 2007).
In addition, the entries must adhere to the following:
1. Sourcing – For corroboration, there must be more than one source of data, such as interviews, documents and/or studies;
2. Ethics – The article must meet the universally accepted standards of professional journalism in terms of relevance, fairness, accuracy, balance, and other ethical standards;
3. Technical proficiency – The story must exhibit an above average level of writing skill/style and must show ability to communicate complex material so that it can be understood in a manner that appeals to readers’ interest;
4. Timeliness and Impact on society – The story must be of current relevance;
5. Clarity – The story must explain its subject to the ordinary reader/layman who is not a specialist on the subject.
The Canadian Embassy awarded the Marshall Mc-Luhan Prize, a travel study tour of Canada, to Gloria. This is the 12th year that the Canadian Embassy has awarded the Marshall McLuhan Prize in the JVOAEJ.
The Australian Embassy named Landingin as the recipient of the Australian Ambas-sador’s Award, a travel grant to Australia. It was the sixth time that the Australian Embassy presented the Australian Ambassador’s Award in the JVOAEJ.
The JVOAEJ was launched in 1990 to honor the late Jaime V. Ongpin who was secretary of finance during the Aquino administration. A press freedom advocate, Ongpin was involved in the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship and was instrumental in harnessing public support for the restoration of democracy.
The JVOAEJ this year was sponsored by the Open Society Foundation Media Program and the Ateneo de Manila University.
The finalists in this year’s JVOAEJ awards were:
“Palace document shows gov’t plan to neutralize Left”
Norman Bordadora and Michael Lim Ubac
Philippine Daily Inquirer
July 16-17, 2007
“The road to Italy”
Gemma Luz Corotan
Newsbreak
September-December 2007
“Inside PCGG 21 years later”
Fernando del Mundo, Margaux C. Ortiz, Jerry Esplanada, and Daxim L. Lucas with reports from TJ Burgonio and Lawrence de Guzman
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Feb. 22-25, 2007
“Environmentalists to govt: Manage garbage, don’t promote landfills, dumps”
Nora O. Gamolo
The Manila Times
Oct. 28-29, Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 2007
“Garci was here”
Miriam Grace A. Go
Newsbreak
July-September 2007
“Bridging the digital gap”
Allison Lopez, Riza Olchondra, and Juliet Labog-Javellana with reports from
Julie S. Alipala
Chief: Fernando del Mundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Dec. 27-29, 2007
“Malansang balak ng Hapon sa Pilipinas”
Soliman A. Santos and Kenneth Roland A. Guda
Pinoy Weekly
Oct. 17-23, 2007
All the finalists received a plaque and a cash prize of P10,000. |
