SOPA 2023 Awards eProgram

June 15, 2023

About SOPA Awards

The Society of Publishers in Asia was founded in Hong Kong in 1982 to encourage best practices in the publishing industry, set a high bar for journalistic standards and be a voice for press freedom and journalists’ rights in Asia Pacific.

As part of that mandate, SOPA established the annual SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence in 1999 to recognize and reward great journalism. The annual awards are highly coveted and have become a highlight of the regional media calendar.

SOPA’s Editorial Committee , composed of senior journalists, oversees the awards in coordination with SOPA’s board of publisher representatives. All members volunteer their time throughout the year leading up to the annual awards.

In 2011, the University of Hong Kong’s Journalism & Media Studies Centre was appointed to administer the awards, including recruiting distinguished former or current journalists and academics from around the world to be judges. Each year, those judges donate their time and make sure editorial standards are upheld.

More than 90 awards are given out each year in an array of categories, which are periodically reviewed to keep pace with the ever-evolving ways that journalism is delivered to consumers. In recent years, we have added Video Reporting and Journalistic Innovation to our lineup; the Public Service Journalism award replaced the Journalist of the Year category; and we have launched the category of Young Journalist of the Year.

Two more new categories were added for the 2022 Awards: Excellence in Technology Reporting and Excellence in Audio Reporting.

Since the awards were established, they have been open to digital and print publications in English and Chinese. In 2023, to mark the 25th anniversary of the SOPA Awards, we are expanding our regional reach to include a new category for Baha sa Indonesia publications.

Where

Awards Categories

1 Excellence in Reporting on Women’s Issues (卓越女性议题报道奖 )

2 Excellence in Journalistic Innovation (卓越新闻报道创新奖)

3 Excellence in Audio Reporting (卓越音频报道奖)

4 Excellence in Video Reporting (卓越视频报道奖)

5 Excellence in Human Rights Reporting (卓越人权报道奖)

6 Excellence in Feature Writing (卓越专题特写奖)

7 Excellence in Technology Reporting (卓越科技报道奖)

8 Excellence in Magazine Design (卓越杂志设计奖)

9 Excellence in Arts and Culture Reporting (卓越艺术及文化报道奖)

10 Excellence in Bahasa Indonesia News Reporting (亚洲出版业协会印尼语新闻报道奖）

11 Excellence in Explanatory Reporting (卓越解释性报道奖)

12 Excellence in Business Reporting (卓越经济报道奖)

13 Excellence in Infographics (卓越数据图像奖)

14 Excellence in Reporting Breaking News (卓越突发新闻奖)

15 Excellence in Opinion Writing (卓越评论奖)

16 Excellence in Reporting on the Environment (卓越环境报道奖)

17 Excellence in Photography (卓越摄影奖)

18 The Scoop Award (独家新闻奖)

19 Carlos Tejada Award for Excellence in Investigative Reporting (卓越调查报道奖)

20 SOPA Award for Young Journalists (亚洲出版业协会最佳新人记者大奖)

21 SOPA Award for Public Service Journalism (亚洲出版业协会公共服务新闻大奖)

Message from SOPA Co-Chairs

Welcome to the SOPA 2023 Annual awards. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Awards and our first awards gala for three years. We are delighted that we are able to celebrate in person this year, we hope you enjoy also being back with colleagues and peers in Hong Kong.

Since 1998 the SOPA awards have celebrated the best of journalism in Asia. The awards recognize the expertise, great stories and scoops of the region. They show the breadth and depth of reporting from Asia from opinion pieces to visual storytelling and audio reporting. This year we have a record 21 categories, a new Bahasa language category for publications in Indonesia, which marks SOPA’s expansion across the region.

Thank you to Hong Kong University for their support administering the awards. Each year the judges give up their time and help make the awards possible. It’s been a record breaking year for news and journalism, as publications grapple with uncertain economic background, the emergence of AI and pressures on media freedom. The judges thought it was truly an exceptional year for the quality of all submissions including outstanding entries. The SOPA finalists show there is still remarkable reporting and important storytelling in Asia and we are here today to celebrate outstanding journalism.

Congratulations to the finalists and to tonight’s winners.

Danielle McGuigan Co-Chair, Senior Manager Communications & Brand Partnerships Financial Times

Sunita Rajan C o-Chair, Managing Director, APAC Media Sales & Marketing, Bloomberg Media

Board Members

Managing Director, APAC Media Sales & Marketing, Bloomberg Media

Commercial Director, Asia Pacific Reuters Professional Thomson Reuters

Danielle McGuigan

Sunita Rajan Co-Chair

Senior Manager Communications & Brand Partnerships Financial Times

Co-Chair

Desiree Au Peter Murray

Honorary Treasurer Publisher, Vogue Hong Kong

Honorary Secretary

Board Members

Lucy Chen

Lyn-Yi Chung

Head of Data & Strategy South China Morning Post

Deputy Chief Editor CNA Digital, CNA

Vishal Dembla

Juliet LabogJavellana

SVP Asia The Economist

Juliet Labog-Javellana Associate Publisher, Philippine Daily Inquirer

Jorge Noguchi Vim Shanmugam

Steven Wong

Executive Director Head of Advertising APAC The New York Times

Chief Marketing Officer Coconuts Media Manager Digital Media & Events Nikkei China, (Hong Kong) Ltd

WHY JOIN SOPA?

Join Asia Pacific's leading organization promoting journalistic excellence and media industry growth

Discounts on entries for the annual SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence

Discounts and opportunities to participate in Media Insiders events

THE MEMBERSHIPS

Full Voting Membership (publishing firms only)

One voting membership

Inclusion of publication logo on SOPA's website

Publication name listing under the Membership pa ge

Prominent logo inclusion as Full Voting member on SOPA's website

Usage of SOPA logo on your website and publication masthead

Associate Membership (firms in related fields)

Inclusion of publication logo on SOPA's website

Publication name listing under the Membership pa ge

Prominent logo inclusion as Associate member on SOPA's website

SOME NOTES

Full-Voting Membership is by publication, not by company

Membership in chapters is based on location of Asia Headquarters of Company applying

For publishers with numerous publications, please indicate the title of publication which will register as the member

Only the member publication will enjoy membership benefits

WWW.SOPASIA.COM/MEMBERSHIP

SOPA Members

Message from Editorial Chair and Head of Judges

As the SOPA Gala dinner returns in person for the first time in four years, there’s much to celebrate. The more than 800 entries (825 in total) from 163 different publications bear testimony to the resilience and breadth of journalism in our region despite the increasing restrictions on press freedom and rising threats against both i ndividuals and organizations.

We have added a new category to our awards slate: Excellence in Bahasa Indonesia News Reporting. Twenty entries are competing for the winner and runner-up awards, covering a range of topics from the Indonesian economy and food security to LGBTQ communities and youth culture. Rita Widiadana, a veteran Jakarta-based journalist and director of the Consortium for Press Freedom Indonesia, served as Head Judge for the Bahasa Indonesia entries.

The SOPA 2023 Awards celebrate outstanding and courageous journalism conducted often under immensely challenging reporting circumstances. Whether on China’s strict Covid lockdowns and the subsequent eruption of protests, Myanmar’s junta regime, Sri Lanka’s domestic chaos, or on fast-moving breaking news of assassination, plane crash and crowd crush, our journalists fearlessly assembled hard-hitting stories against all odds, to chronicle the eventful year of 2022.

Across all categories, this year’s entries enhanced public understanding of the inner workings of China’s top leadership and surveillance system, the rampant online scamming and human trafficking in Southeast Asia, the US-China tech race and chip war, the lingering fallout from former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, and the ramifications of America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan.

It is only fitting that we honor the individuals who work so hard, often putting their own lives and freedom at risk, to do the important job of keeping readers informed. We would also like to thank all the judges who volunteer their time to make the difficult decisions that allow us tonight to honor the best of the best.

Since its founding in 1982, SOPA has promoted best practices in publishing and editorial excellence, which remain as important as ever. The SOPA Editorial Awards have been recognizing top-notch journalism in the region since 1999. Happy 25th anniversary of the SOPA Awards!

Madeleine Lim Editorial Chair Senior Executive Editor, Asia Pacific Bloomberg News

Ting Shi Head of Judges Senior Lecturer, HKU Journalism (JMSC), The University of Hong Kong

Master of Ceremonies

Rishaad Salamat

Rishaad Salamat is one of Bloomberg’s longest-serving TV anchors. He has been based in Hong Kong since 2010 and features on “Bloomberg Markets Asia.”

Rishaad has interviewed numerous business and political leaders around the world, including Australian PM Scott Morrison, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, former Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Nobel Laureates Joseph Stiglitz and Mohammed Younus, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and many CEOs of global companies.

Rishaad has hosted multiple Bloomberg Television special series including Future of Energy, Titans at the Table Asia and Voyagers. Rishaad joined Bloomberg Television’s London bureau in 1997.

TV Anchor, Bloomberg

Spent more than 20 years overseas and won numerous awards for The Washington Post, including as Bureau Chief in Southeast Asia, Africa, Hong Kong, Europe and China, and Keith was the paper’s Foreign Editor. He is a member of the Editorial Board of The Washington Post and a Post Global Opinions contributing columnist. In September, he will be a Visiting Professor in Journalism at Princeton University in the U.S.

Swe Win

Editor-in-Chief, Myanmar Now

A broadcast media professional and familiar face and voice to viewers and listeners in Asia. Karen’s background is in television news and current affairs, and she has anchored and reported for international media organisations including BBC World, CNBC Asia, CNN International, STAR TV, Thomson Reuters and WSJ Digital. In the course of her 30+ years of international experience she has interviewed a range of people from heads of state to corporate and non-profit leaders.

A former political prisoner who holds a Master’s degree in journalism from the University of Hong Kong. Swe Win has worked as a reporter for The Irrawaddy and as a freelance contributor to international outlets such as New York Times. He is also the winner of a number of awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award and Stanford University’s Shorenstein Journalism Award.

Vivian Wang

China Correspondent, The New York Times

Based in Beijing, Vivian writes about how the country’s global rise and ambitions are shaping the daily lives of its people. Previously, she worked in Hong Kong and New York City. In 2022, she received the SOPA 2022 Award for Young Journalists, and in 2021, she was part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize in public service for coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. She grew up outside of Chicago and graduated from Yale University.

Karen Koh

Keith Richburg

Broadcast Journalist & Founder, Intermedia

Director and Professor of Practice Journalism and Media Studies Centre, University of Hong Kong

Emma Tucker

Editor in Chief, The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires

Emma Tucker is editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. She is responsible for all global news gathering and editorial operations.

Previously, Emma was editor of the Sunday Times—the first female editor of the paper in more than a century. Before that she worked at the Times, where she held several roles including associate features editor and editor of T2, the Times award-winning daily features supplement. Emma also served as editorial director where she helped foster a closer working relationship between the editorial and commercial teams, before being appointed deputy editor

Prior to the Times, Emma was a reporter with the Financial Times where she covered economics before moving to work in the Brussels and Berlin bureaus. She returned to London in 2001 where she served in several leadership positions.

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

Mr. Meidyatama Suryodiningrat was just appointed by President Joko Widodo as Indonesia’s Ambassador for Republic of Romania.

Previously, he was head of the national news agency, LKBN Antara, a role he took on in January 2016. In its eighth decade of service, LKBN Antara is one of the main arms of government public communications with over 34 bureaus across the archipelago and also the largest distributor of news content to over 250 media and other government and private offices in Indonesia and abroad.

As president director of LKBN Antara, he also serves as chairman of the board of commissioners of PT IMQ Multimedia Utama, and PT ANPA International.

His engagement in foreign policy initially began with his role as a journalist with The Jakarta Post (he eventually served as Chief Editor for six years) where he became a witness to the rise of multilaterism in Southeast Asia in the 1990s. Apart from his journalistic work he has also contributed to numerous journals and books on foreign policy.

Editorial Committee Members

Madeleine Lim

Patrick Barta

Cliff Buddle Editorial Chair Senior Executive Editor, Asia Pacific Bloomberg News

Asia Enterprise Editor, The Wall Street Journal Special Projects Editor, South China Morning Post

Yi-Shan Chen Bill Ridgers

Anne Marie Roantree Editor-in-Chief, CommonWealth Magazine Asia Digital Editor, The Economist Bureau Chief, Hong Kong, Reuters News

Editorial Committee Members

Executive Editor, Bloomberg Businessweek (Chinese)

Asia news editor, Financial Times

Assistant Asia editor, The New York Times

Head of Judges Senior Lecturer, HKU Journalism (JMSC), The University of Hong Kong

Deputy Head of Judges Honorary Lecturer, HKU Journalism (JMSC), The University of Hong Kong

Head of Judges for the Bahasa Indonesia category Journalist/Editor/Founding Board Member of Asia Pacific Media Alliance (APCAT) for Health and Development

Kit Tang

James Wilson Gillian Wong

Ting Shi

Matthew Leung

Rita Widiadana

Special Acknowledgements

Gold Sponsor

Supporting Partner

Awards Administrator

Table Sponsors

Advertisement Donors

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List of Judges

Name Company

Job Title

Roby Alampay PumaPodcast Chairman, Editor-At-Large

Paul Armstrong Bloomberg Creative Lead

Adolfo Arranz Reuters Senior Graphics Editor

Thu Thu Aung Reuters Correspondent

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb Jubi Editor

David Bandurski China Media Project Director

Patrick Barta The Wall Street Journal

Asia Enterprise Editor

Maria Benyamin Bisnis Indonesia Editor in Chief

Bo Mi Fanpai Film Review Podcaster

Patrick Boehler Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Head of Innovation and Audience Engagement

David Bottomley CNA Mediacorp

Deputy Chief Editor

Keith Bradsher The New York Times Beijing Bureau Chief

Marianne Bray HKU Journalism Honorary lecturer

Weiyi Cai

The New York Times Graphics/Multimedia Editor

Simon Cartledge Big Brains Ltd Director of Research

Ernie Chan Ignites Asia

Associate Editor

Quinton Chan Brunswick Partner

Wade Chan Hong Kong Baptist University Lecturer, School of Communication

Yuen Chan City, University of London Senior Lecturer

Mimi Chau Asian Media Centre Director

Lulu Yilun Chen

Yi-Shan Chen

Bloomberg

Team Leader for Investing and Real Estate

CommonWealth Magazine Editor-in-Chief

Christy Choi Freelance

Journalist

Dennis Chong Standard Chartered Internal Communications Director

Debasish Roy Chowdhury Independent

Journalist/Author

Gina Chua Semafor Executive Editor

Crystal Chui Bloomberg Editor

Judith Clarke Hong Kong Baptist University

Part-time Lecturer

Lucy Colback Freelance Writer

Zach Coleman Nikkei Asia Opinion Editor

Sam Colombie HKU Journalism Teaching Coordinator

Wei Du CNA Mediacorp

Marcelo Duhalde

South China Morning Post

Senior Correspondent

Associate Creative Director

Graham Earnshaw SinoMedia Ltd CEO

Robin Ewing

Kecheng Fang

Hong Kong Baptist University

Director of International Journalism, Senior Lecturer

The Chinese University of HongKong Assistant Professor

King-wa Fu HKU Journalism Professor

Uli Gaulke HKU Journalism Adjunct Professor

Ian Gill Freelance Journalist

Paul Goddard Freelance Media Consultant

Gilliam Hamilton Freelance

Financial Editor

Maria Hartiningsih Independent Journalist/Author

Darren Hayward The New York Times Design Editor

Name Company

Job Title

Huifeng He South China Morning Post Guangdong Correspondent

Shusi He Haymarket

Angela Ho Ahoy Visual Art

Billy Ho Hang Seng University

Greater China Correspondent, AsianInvestor

Artist/Illustrator

Part-time Lecturer, School of Communication

Brant Houston University of Illinois Professor

Zhimin Huang 数可视 (Data-viz.cn)

Echo Hui Australian Broadcasting Corporation

CEO

Investigative Journalist

Hasan Jafri HJ Advisory Founder & Managing Director

Sanket Jain Freelance Journalist and Documentary Photographer

Sijia Jiang M+ Manager, Digital Content

Terril Jones Claremont McKenna College

Instructor, International and Political Journalism

Diana Jou HKU Journalism Lecturer

Robert Kapp US-China Education Trust Special Advisor

Natasha Khan The Wall Street Journal Correspondent

Samantha Kierath South China Morning Post

Chief Production Editor, China Desk

Glenda Korporaal The Australian Writer/Columnist

Man-chun Kung European Union Office to Hong Kong and Macao Policy Officer

Elaine Kurtenbach

The Associated Press

Nicole Kwan Independent

Kristine Kwok FTI Consulting

Agnes Lam

Asia Business Editor

Adjunct Associate Professor, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Senior Director

The Chinese University of Hong Kong Lecturer

Tom Lasseter Reuters Enterprise Editor, Global Finance and Markets

Kevin Lau Emerson College

Mimi Lau HKU Journalism

Titus Levi USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry (ICCI)

Raymond Li

Hong Kong Baptist University

Ying Li University of Macau

Marketing Content Director

Assistant Lecturer

Associate Professor

Professor of Practice

Assistant Professor

AJ Libunao HKU Journalism Lecturer

Benjamin Lim

The Straits Times

Madeleine Lim Bloomberg

Fen (Jennifer) Lin City University of Hong Kong

Hatty Liu

The World of Chinese

Global Affairs Correspondent

Senior Executive Editor

Associate Professor

Managing Editor

Juliana Liu CNN Asia Business Editor

Kin-ming Liu KM & Associates Director

Alberto Lucas López

National Geographic

Mary Kay Magistad Center on US-China Relations at Asia Society

Shibani Mahtani

The Washington Post

Senior Artist

Deputy Director

International Investigative Correspondent

Jane Meacham Independent Writer/Editor

Wasi Mirza South China Morning Post Editor

Glyn Mottershead City, University of London

Adam Najberg

Tencent Games Global (IEGG)

Senior Lecturer

Head of Communications

Dean Napolitano Freelance Editor

Tze-wei Ng

HER Fund

Joyce Nip University of Sydney

Board Director

Associate Professor

Ati Nurbaiti Freelance Journalist

Yumiko Ono

The Wall Street Journal Editor, News Operations, APAC

Paul Panckhurst University of Auckland

Media Adviser

Name Company

Abe Peck Northwestern University

Job Title

Professor Emeritus

Polly Peh Sprout Media Consultancy Limited Director

Cezary Podkul HKU Journalism Lecturer

James Pomfret Reuters Special Correspondent

Joey Qi Global Investigative Journalism Network Chinese Editor

Yue Qiu Bloomberg Global Deputy Managing Editor, Data Visualization

Carolyn Qu Reuters Editor, Chinese Language News

Saritha Rai Bloomberg Senior Reporter

Keith Richburg HKU Journalism Professor

William Ridgers

The Economist Asia Digital Editor

Victoria Ruan McLarty Associates

John Saeki

China Associate

Agence France-Presse Asia-Pacific Team Leader and Europe Coordinator

Ting Shi HKU Journalism Senior Lecturer

Silva Shih CommonWealth Magazine

Managing Editor

Rosmery Christina Sihombing Media Indonesia Journalist

Daniel Sneider Stanford University Lecturer, International Policy, East Asian Studies

Tim Summers The Chinese University of Hong Kong Assistant Professor

Harry Surjadi Freelance Freelance Environmental Journalist

Fransisca Ria Susanti Jaring.id Chief Editor

Jeff Sutherland Bloomberg Energy Editor

Catherine Tai Reuters

Senior Designer, Digital

Shih Ying Tan Leap Limited Director

Kit Tang Modern Media (Bloomberg Businessweek/Chinese) Executive Editor

Zheng Tang Renmin University of China Professor

Edith Terry Cotton Tree Advisors Managing Director

Jeff Timmermans Arizona State University

Chair Professor in Business Journalism

Russell Todd Uinversity of Texas at Austin Professor Emeritus

Tina Villareal HKU Journalism Teaching Assistant

Wang Feng Financial Times

Jennifer Wang Rights Exposure

Editor in Chief, FTChinese.com

Interim Executive Director

Kuan Hsu Wang China Labour Bulletin Programme Manager

Jessica Anne Washington Al Jazeera English

Bettina Wassener Schneider Electric

Indonesia Correspondent

Head of Editorial

Laurel West The Economist Group Managing Director, Economist Events, Asia

Rita Widiadana Asia Pacific Media Alliance (APCAT) for Health and Development

James Wilson Financial Times

Alan Wong VICE Media

Executive Board Member

Asia News Editor

Managing Editor, APAC, VICE World News

Douglas Wong Bloomberg Editor, Bloomberg Intelligence

Vivian Wu Mighty Voice

Co-founder and CEO

Chris Yeung Hong Kong Shue Yan University (HKSYU) Part-time Lecturer

Keith Zhai The Wall Street Journal

Senior Correspondent

Ying Zhu Global Storytelling: Journal of Digital and Moving Images Founder and Chief Editor