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The SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence celebrate the best journalism in Asia and set the regional standard for quality, professional journalism.
This year, SOPA is launching two new award categories, the SOPA Award for Excellence in Audio Reporting, to honor exceptional audio journalism, and Excellence in Technology Reporting, to recognize notable reporting that illustrates technology’s impact on societies.
“The SOPA Awards honor the best reporting about our region and are an important recognition for journalists who, despite tightening restrictions in many countries, continue to produce excellent stories across all media platforms,” said Madeleine Lim, Senior Executive Editor Asia at Bloomberg News and Chair of the SOPA Editorial Committee.
“We are excited to add two new awards but are also looking forward to the entries in our classic categories including Breaking News and The Scoop Awards. We’re keen also to see what new trends have emerged in Infographics where data journalists have been consistently pushing the boundaries.”
The University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre, now known as HKU Journalism, has administered the awards since 2011. Senior Lecturer Ting Shi has been appointed new Head of Judges, succeeding Jeffrey Timmermans. She will work with a judges panel of industry professionals from leading media organizations, as well as prestigious journalism schools around the world and past SOPA Award winners.
“I am really excited that Ting Shi will be taking over as head of judges for next year's SOPA Awards. Ting brings a wealth of experience to the role, having worked at the South China Morning Post and Bloomberg before turning full time to journalism education,” said Keith Richburg, Director of HKU Journalism and Media Studies Centre. “Ting will bring a keen sense of ethical standards and journalistic best practices to the role.”
In 2021, SOPA presented more than 90 awards for outstanding journalism in 18 categories. More than 760 entries in English and Chinese were submitted.
For the SOPA 2022 Awards, media will compete in 20 categories (full list below). SOPA encourages large and small media publications to enter, with submissions classified by the breadth of coverage (global or regional/local) and language (English or Chinese).
Submissions, eligibility details and application information can be found at www.sopawards.com. The finalists will be announced in May 2022, and the winners in June 2022.
The 2022 Awards are again supported by the Google News Initiative, which will subsidize submissions from small media companies. Any media outlet with a maximum of 20 full-time staff in total, of which at least 50% are full-time editorial staff, can apply for this subsidy for up to two entries, paying only HKD$200 (US$25) per entry. Please apply early as there is a cap on the subsidy.
For a limited time, SOPA is offering a 40% discount on the SOPA Membership fee as well as a similar discount on up to five award entries. For the SOPA membership discount code, please request via email to mail@sopasia.com latest by Thursday February 11, 2022.
- Excellence in Reporting on Women’s Issues
- Excellence in Journalistic Innovation
- Excellence in Video Reporting
- Excellence in Human Rights Reporting
- Excellence in Feature Writing
- Excellence in Magazine Design
- Excellence in Arts and Culture Reporting
- Excellence in Explanatory Reporting
- Excellence in Business Reporting
- Excellence in Infographics
- Excellence in Reporting Breaking News
- Excellence in Opinion Writing
- Excellence in Reporting on the Environment
- Excellence in Photography
- The Scoop Award
- Excellence in Investigative Reporting
- SOPA Award for Public Service Journalism
- SOPA Award for Young Journalists
- Excellence in Audio Reporting
- Excellence in Technology Reporting
The SOPA 2022 Awards are supported by Google News Initiative. WP Engine is the Silver Sponsor.
About SOPA
The Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) is a Hong Kong-based not-for-profit organisation that was founded in 1982 to champion freedom of the press, promote excellence in journalism and endorse best practices for all local and regional publishing platforms in the Asia Pacific region.
Today, SOPA is the voice of Asia’s media and publishing industry, and continues to work to uphold media standards and freedoms while celebrating and supporting professional journalism and publishing. The SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence are the annual, flagship awards, serving as a regional benchmark for quality, professional journalism.