16TH ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS PRESS AWARDS
2011
INFORMATION ABOUT THE AWARDS
This is the 16th year that the founding organizations – the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Journalists Association and Amnesty International Hong Kong – have joined to recognize outstanding reporting in the area of human rights.
The Human Rights Press Awards were the first such honors to be created in Asia and over the years have achieved international recognition as being among the more prestigious professional awards that can a journalist or news organization can achieve. This is due in no small part to the participation of distinguished judges drawn from the top rungs of journalism, photography, law, human rights and academia.
The competition is open to Hong Kong and Macau-based journalists, as well foreign correspondents working in Asia.
This year, the organizing committee is proud to have Dr Dr Robert Chung Ting-yiu, Director of the Public Opinion Programme at the University of Hong Kong Director, as our guest speaker. Dr Chung shared his view on the development of academic freedom in the city.
For the 2011 Awards there was a total of 226 entries. There were 77 English entries, 106 Chinese entries and 43 Photography entries (judged separately). All material must have been published or aired during the 2011 calendar year. (In 2010, there were 236 entries, 84 in English, 98 in Chinese and 54 in Photography.)
Seven Awards and 12 Merit Certificates were given in English-language categories, while in Chinese-language categories there were seven Awards and 20 Merit Certificates. For Photography, there were two Awards and 14 Merit Certificates. The honors were distributed during an Awards Presentation Ceremony held on Saturday, 21 April, at the Foreign Correspondents Club.
The stories entered covered issues not only in Hong Kong but ranging across the entire Asian and South Asian regions.
All Human Rights Press Awards are given to the individual journalists themselves, except in the category of Commentary & Analysis where an organization may enter itself. There were eight English-language entries in this category, and five in Chinese.
More than 1,000 journalists and news organizations from around the world have competed in the Human Rights Press Awards since their inception.
Richard Tsoi, Chairperson, Amnesty International Hong Kong, said: “It is Amnesty International Hong Kong’s ongoing commitment to co-organize the Human Rights Press Awards as a tribute to the journalists bring us the stories of people who are facing human rights abuses from different dimensions. Amnesty International will certainly continue its mission to recognize and support those who keep revealing and sharing the human rights stories and concerns.”
Mak Yin-ting, Chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, said: “Our core values have been severely challenged in recent years; it is important to have the Human Rights Press Awards to shed light on the human right violation in Hong Kong and Asia, and to raise public awareness of human rights through our colleagues.”
Anna Healy Fenton, president of the Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong, said: “These awards, co-hosted with the Hong Kong Journalists Association and Amnesty International Hong Kong, honor high quality journalism that puts the spotlight on threats to the rights guaranteed to everyone under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Over the years, the entries have included nearly every country in the region. The threats to press freedom and free expression remain, unfortunately, real and widespread. The FCC is proud to support these awards.”
The names of the winning individuals and news organizations are provided separately. They are also available at www.fcchk.org www.amnesty.org.hk www.hkja.org.hk
The 2011 breakdown of Awards and Merit Certificates by categories:
ENGLISH-LANGUAGE ENTRIES
NEWSPAPER - General News (1 Award & 2 Merits)
NEWSPAPER - Feature (1 Award & 1 Merit)
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS (2 Merits)
MAGAZINE - (2 Awards & 1 Merit)
CARTOON - (1 Award & 1 Merit)
ONLINE - (1 Award & 1Merit)
BROADCAST - TELEVISION (2 Award & 5 Merit)
BROADCAST - RADIO (1 Merit)
CHINESE-LANGUAGE CATEGORIES
NEWSPAPER - GENERAL NEWS (1 Award & 3 Merits)
NEWSPAPER - FEATURE (2 Awards & 2 Merits)
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS (4 Merits)
MAGAZINE - (2 Awards & 3 Merits)
BROADCAST - TELEVISION (2 Award & 5 Merits)
BROADCAST - RADIO (3 Merits)
PHOTO CATEGORIES
FEATURE (1 Award & 5 Merits)
SPOT NEWS (1 Awards & 9 Merits)
TOTALS
TOTAL AWARDS IN CHINESE CATEGORIES – 7
TOTAL MERITS IN CHINESE CATEGORIES - 20
TOTAL AWARDS IN ENGLISH CATEGORIES - 7
TOTAL MERITS IN ENGLISH CATEGORIES - 12
TOTAL AWARDS IN PHOTOGRAPHY – 2
TOTAL MERITS IN PHOTOGRAPHY - 14
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