Awards Finalists

Awards Finalists

SOPA Announces 2020 Awards for Editorial Excellence Finalists

(Below listings in alphabetical order of publication’s title)

Live tweeting and live streaming results will be announced @sopasia #SOPAwards2020
on Awards night 26th of August 7pm (HK time)

1. Excellence in Reporting on Women’s Issues (卓越女性議題報道獎)
Global
101 East, Al Jazeera English, Don’t Leave Us Now (Award for Excellence)
CNN International, These North Korean defectors were sold into China as cybersex slaves. Then they escaped
VICE, In Myanmar, a Nonprofit Icon Enjoyed Foreign Funding Despite Allegations of Sexual Abuse (Honorable Mention)
Regional
Fountain Ink, Witches of Dahod
GMA News Online, The NU Lady Bulldogs and the Greatest Winning Streak in Philippine Basketball (Honorable Mention)
Sixth Tone, The Enduring Pain and Strength of China’s ‘Silence Breakers’ (Award for Excellence)
Chinese
蘋果日報 Apple Daily 【現實版淪落人】印傭照顧失智症婆婆8年 放假帶埋出街拍片記錄生活「佢係我第二個嫲嫲」個嫲嫲」Still human in real life
信報財經月刊Hong Kong Economic Journal Monthly , 輔助生育系列 Assisted reproductive technology Series (Honorable Mention)
端傳媒Initium Media ,  中國女工生育之痛:被強制流產後,計生人員又把埋掉的孩子挖出來 Unbearable pain of childbearing: buried children of Chinese female workers were dugged up after forced abortions (Award for Excellence)

2. Excellence in Journalistic Innovation (卓越新聞報道創新獎)
Global
Reuters, Scraping stories from the world’s largest election (Honorable Mention)
The New York Times, The Dangerous Flaws in Boeing’s Automated System (Award for Excellence)
The New York Times, Turmoil and Lies in the Streets of Hong Kong
Regional
Environmental Reporting Collective, The Pangolin Reports (Award for Excellence)
Frontier Myanmar, Power play
GMA News Online, Stand on Issues (Honorable Mention)
Chinese
中央通訊社 Central News Agency, 2020圖解大選互動專題 2020 election special report: the critical political party vote
天下雜誌 | CommonWealth Magazine, 誰替台灣換上假藍天?假數據真空污 Taiwan’s First Big Data Air Pollution Analysis Uncovering an Emissions Controversy (Honorable Mention)
端傳媒 Initium Media, 2020台灣大選.亡國感的戰爭 A War of Anxieties about Subjugation of the Nation (Award for Excellence)

3. Excellence in Video Reporting (卓越視頻報道獎)
Global
The New York Times, Where Were Hong Kong’s Police? (Award for Excellence)
The Wall Street Journal, Huawei Staff Help Governments To Spy on People (Honorable Mention)
The Wall Street Journal, Under AI’s Watchful Eye, China Wants to Raise Smarter Students
Regional
Inkstone, MMA mad dog
South China Morning Post, Thin yellow line  (Award for Excellence)
VICE Indonesia, Burying the Dead in a City Running Out of Space | The Gravediggers of Bandung (Honorable Mention)
Chinese
蘋果日報Apple Daily, 「壞人」親口揭示 中共社會信用評分系統 A dialogue with China’s Orwellian Social Credit System
BBC 中文BBC Chinese 南海爭端:菲律賓漁民的生活困境South China Sea Dispute: Philippine Fishing Community Falls on Hard Times  (Award for Excellence)
端傳媒 Initium Media    一個勇武年輕人的自白:你解決了問題,這幫人就不會出現 Statement of a Hong Kong young valiant: if the problems were solved, we won’t be here (Honorable Mention)

4. Excellence in Human Rights Reporting (卓越人權報道獎)
Global
Agence France-Presse, The Many Dimensions of China’s Uighur Crackdown (Honorable Mention)
The New Humanitarian, Male rape survivors go uncounted in Rohingya camps
Vice News, “Worse Than a Death Sentence”: Inside India’s Sham Trials That Could Strip Millions of Citizenship (Award for Excellence)
Regional
Fountain Ink, Prisoners of the state  (Award for Excellence)
Frontier Myanmar, The plight of Rohingya children (Honorable Mention)
CNA, Mediacorp Pte Ltd., Caught in the Crossfire 
Chinese
明報Ming Pao, 林祖戀走出監獄 仍受監控 Lin Zulian released but still under surveillance (Honorable Mention)
纽约时报中文网 (The New York Times Chinese),天安门屠杀的幕后:永志不忘的力量 Tiananmen Behind the Scenes: The Power of Not Forgetting
報導者 The Reporter, 無聲的滅絕:新疆「再教育營」實錄 Silent Extermination: First-hand Testimonies From The XinJiang Re-education Camp  (Award for Excellence)

5. Excellence in Feature Writing (卓越專題特寫獎)
Global
Outside Magazine, The Last Days of John Allen Chau
Reuters, Revolution 101 (Award for Excellence)
The New York Times, The Jungle Prince of Delhi (Honorable Mention)
Regional
GMA News Online, A Very Long Summer
Myanmar Now, How The NLD’s War With A Nationalist Gold Baron Left A Mining Town Desolate (Honorable Mention)
Sixth Tone, Camera Above the Classroom  (Award for Excellence)
Chinese
天下雜誌 | CommonWealth Magazine, 《天下雜誌》670期〈跟著佐科威 看見新印尼〉Seeing the New Indonesia through Widodo
端傳媒 Initium Media, 廣西文革天坑殺人案 Mass Killings Pits in the Cultural Revolution: a crime in Guangxi Province  (Award for Excellence)
端傳媒 Initium Media, 理大圍城之戰 A feature of the Polytechnic University siege (Honorable Mention)

6. Excellence in Magazine Design (卓越雜誌設計獎)
NOTE: Combined Global/Regional category
(due to not receiving more than 5 entries)
#legend , The Holiday issue – November/December 2019 (Honorable Mention)
Mabuhay, Mabuhay November 2019 Issue
Nikkei Asian Review, Hard Water Issue (Award for Excellence)
Chinese
天下雜誌 | CommonWealth Magazine,  《天下雜誌》675期〈海洋台灣夢〉Taiwan’s Ocean Dream
《生活》月刊LIFE MAGAZINE, China Romance 浪漫中国 (Honorable Mention)
《就係香港》Being Hong Kong, 《就係香港》2019年春季號 Being Hong Kong Spring issue 2019  (Award for Excellence)

7. Excellence in Arts & Culture Reporting (卓越藝術及文化報道獎)
Global
CNN International, Culture in the Xi era (Award for Excellence)
Quartz,  The art of war : Hong Kong vs Beijing (Honorable Mention)
The Economist, The Middle-C Kingdom: How China Made the Piano Its Own
Regional
DestinAsian,  “House Proud”; “Conserving Kolkata” (Honorable Mention)
Nikkei Asian Review,  Art amid unrest (Award for Excellence)
Sixth Tone, ‘I Want My Own Sky’: Chinese Migrant Mothers Onstage
Chinese
端傳媒 Initium Media, 2019中國影視劇大勢系列 Storms on China’s Movie and TV Series Industries in 2019
纽约时报中文网 The New York Times Chinese, 文革之游:外国学生从红卫兵那里学到的一课 A Cultural Revolution Tour: What the Foreign Students Learned from the Red Guards (Honorable Mention)
報導者 The Reporter, 香港反修例運動裡的街頭藝廊 Street Art Gallery in the Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Movement (Award for Excellence)

8. Excellence in Explanatory Reporting (卓越解釋性報道獎)
Global
Bloomberg, China’s Genetics Dreams
Financial Times, China slowing pains (Honorable Mention)
The Wall Street Journal, Amazon’s Troubled Asian Supply Chain (Award for Excellence)
Regional
GMA News Online, The Perils of Fast Fashion
Hong Kong Free Press, Hong Kong’s new methodology of protest, explained (Honorable Mention)
Nikkei Asian Review, Decoupling: The U.S.-China Relationship Unravelled (Award for Excellence)
Chinese
天下雜誌 | CommonWealth Magazine, 《天下雜誌》671期〈輿論戰爭@台灣〉Taiwan’s Raging Battle for Public Opinion
報導者 The Reporter, 無聲的滅絕:新疆「再教育營」實錄 Silent Extermination: First-hand Testimonies From The XinJiang Re-education Camp  (Honorable Mention)
報導者 The Reporter, 風向戰爭與它的推手:揭開台星馬中「資訊戰商人」的神祕面紗 Meet businessmen behind Asia’s Information Warfare : How They Influence and Monetize the Information Operation In 4 Asian Countries  (Award for Excellence)

9. Excellence in Business Reporting (卓越經濟報道獎)
Global
Reuters, The China Effect
The Wall Street Journal, Amazon’s Troubled Asian Supply Chain (Honorable Mention)
The Wall Street Journal, Inside Huawei’s Rise (Award for Excellence)
Regional
Inkstone, CBD craze
Sixth Tone, Publish or Perish: How China’s Elsevier Made its Fortune  (Honorable Mention)
South China Morning Post, Hong Kong developers  (Award for Excellence)
Chinese
蘋果日報Apple Daily, 樓市怪現象 Opaque practice of sale by tender of new residential project
天下雜誌 | CommonWealth Magazine, 中美貿易戰 意外贏家 台灣  The unexpected winner of China-U.S. Trade War: Taiwan  (Honorable Mention)
報導者 The Reporter, 中國金主、菲國總部、台灣代工──看不見的線上博弈帝國 The Invisible Online Gambling Empire:From China, Philippines to Taiwan, An Investigation Into the Cross-border Industry  (Award for Excellence)

10. Excellence in Information Graphics (卓越數據圖像獎)
NOTE: Combined Global/Regional category
(due to not receiving more than 5 entries)
Reuters, The race to save the Ganges river (Honorable Mention)
Reuters, Visualising the Hong Kong Protests
The New York Times, Hong Kong’s Turmoil, Illustrated (Award for Excellence)
Chinese
商業周刊Business Weekly, 台灣第六缺危機 Taiwan’s New Crisis: Inability of Industrial Waste Management
眾新聞 Citizen News, 721元朗恐襲 (The ‘721’ Yuen Long Attack) (Honorable Mention)
天下雜誌 | CommonWealth Magazine, 《天下雜誌》2020總統大選數位專輯 Taiwan Presidential Election Results 2020  (Award for Excellence)

11. Excellence in Reporting Breaking News (卓越突發新聞獎)
NOTE: Combined Global/Regional category
(due to not receiving more than 5 entries)
Bloomberg, Hong Kong in Turmoil (Award for Excellence)
Reuters, Terror on Easter Sunday (Honorable Mention)
The New York Times, Chaos and Tragedy in Sri Lanka
Chinese
商業周刊Business Weekly, 中美角力新戰場香港 Hong Kong: New Battleground in the U.S.-China Standoff  (Award for Excellence)
端傳媒 Initium Media, 721涉黑白衣人無差別襲擊事件突發事件調查 Investigation of the indiscriminate attack of  July 21 Yuen Long Nightmare (Honorable Mention)
報導者 The Reporter, 香港反送中運動紀實:強權與反撲.絕望與希望 Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Movement:Totalitarianism and Counterattack, Despair and Hope

12. Excellence in Opinion Writing (卓越評論獎)
Global
Financial Times,  Hong Kong’s water revolution (Award for Excellence)
The Economist, David Rennie – three Chaguan columns (Honorable Mention)
The Wall Street Journal,  The Crackdown Has Begun: Holding Power to Account in Hong Kong
Regional
Frontier Myanmar, Born illegal: Detained Rohingya children are victims, not criminals  (Honorable Mention)
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Newsstand by John Nery  (Award for Excellence)
Tech in Asia, MasaSon
Chinese
多維新聞網Duowei News, 香港的天鹅、梭子鱼和虾;The Swan, the Pike, and the Crab of Hong Kong
香港01有限公司HK01 Company Limited, 【解讀四中】從中央治港的變與不變 反省「港人治港」 [Interpreting CPC’s Fourth Plenary Session] From Change and Constant of Beijing’s ruling , Reflect “Hong Kong People Ruling Hong Kong”  (Honorable Mention)
澎湃新闻网 The Paper, “孙小果案”系列评论The series of comments on “Sun Xiaoguo case”  (Award for Excellence)

13. Excellence in Reporting on the Environment (卓越環境報道獎)
Global
PRI, How America’s ‘recycled’ trash turns parts of Asia into wastelands (Award for Excellence)
Reuters, Remembrance Lake
The Thomson Reuters Foundation, More work, less water: India’s booming ‘Silicon Valley’ faces dry times  (Honorable Mention)
Regional
Nikkei Asian Review,  Asia adjusts to climate change
Sixth Tone, How Illegally Harvested Timber Is ‘Greenwashed’ in China  (Honorable Mention)
The Environmental Reporting Collective, The Pangolin Reports  (Award for Excellence)
Chinese
天下雜誌 | CommonWealth Magazine, 《天下雜誌》667期〈誰替台灣換上假藍天〉Taiwan’s First Big Data Air Pollution Analysis Uncovering an Emissions Controversy
端傳媒 Initium Media, 在化工脫貧的路上,響水人經歷過爆炸、泄漏和「大逃亡」 To overcome poverty, people in Xiangshui experienced explosions, leaks and “great escapes” (Honorable Mention)
端傳媒 Initium Media, 金山上的來客 Local indigenous communities’ legal actions to stop Chinese mining companies in Amazonian Ecuador (Award for Excellence)

14. Excellence in Photography (卓越攝影獎)
Global
Agence France-Presse, Hong Kong Protests 2019 (Award for Excellence)
Reuters, Fire, guns and tear gas in Hong Kong  (Honorable Mention)
Reuters, Indonesia Burning
Regional
Frontier Myanmar, The jade crisis  (Award for Excellence)
Hong Kong Free Press, Shots of the 2019 Hong Kong protest movements
Sixth Tone, ‘I Can’t Afford My Body’: Portraits of China’s Abandoned Chemical Weapon Survivors  (Honorable Mention)
Chinese
香港01有限公司HK01 Company Limited, 八三一太子站警民衝突 The August 31 Prince Edward Station Incident  (Honorable Mention)
端傳媒 Initium Media, 香港反修例運動影像記錄 Hong Kong’s anti-extradition bill protest: a photo documentation  (Award for Excellence)
明報Ming Pao, 反修例風暴 Anti-extradition storm in Hong Kong

15. The Scoop Award (獨家新聞獎)
Global
Bloomberg, Lion Air Mystery Pilot
The Wall Street Journal, Exposing China’s Secret Base (Honorable Mention)
The Wall Street Journal, Tinker, Stealer, Sailor, Spy (Award for Excellence)
Regional
Nikkei Asian Review, Carlos Ghosn jailhouse interview  (Honorable Mention)
Nikkei Asian Review, China business connections buckle under U.S. pressure  (Award for Excellence)
South China Morning Post, Xinjiang
Chinese
蘋果日報Apple Daily, 新股風暴系列 Mysterious IPO Vetting Channel Triggers HKEx Corruption Scandal
Apple Daily Taiwan, 荒地金磚2_鋤不動的鑽石田 Land Injustice: Overpriced Farms in Taiwan  (Award for Excellence)
報導者 The Reporter, 國家不願面對的真相:獨家揭露台鐵體檢報告The Truth the Government Wouldn’t Face: An Exclusive Uncovering to The Taiwan Railway Examination Report (Honorable Mention)

16. Excellence in Investigative Reporting (卓越調查報道獎)
Global
Reuters, The hunt for Asia’s El Chapo
The Wall Street Journal, Inside Huawei’s Rise (Award for Excellence)
Vice News, “Worse Than a Death Sentence”: Inside India’s Sham Trials That Could Strip Millions of Citizenship (Honorable Mention)
Regional
Coconuts Media, Primitive Technology and the Bizarre Depths of YouTube in Southeast Asia (Award for Excellence)
CNA, Mediacorp Pte Ltd., Pakistan’s Mainstreaming Terror
Myanmar Now, Buddhist nationalist influence in public life in Myanmar (Honorable Mention)
Chinese
傳真社 FactWire, 太子站831到底有無死人?Did anyone really die in Prince Edward MTR on Aug 31st?  (Honorable Mention)
香港01有限公司HK01 Company Limited, 香港懲教署逾200紀律人員周年體能試集體造假系列 Fraud in Hong Kong Correctional Services Department’s annual fitness test: More than 200 disciplined force staff involved
報導者 The Reporter, 誰在輿論中淘金?直擊跨國界的「資訊戰商人」 Who is Making Money Through Public Opinion? A Deep Investigation Into the Cross-border Information Warfare Business  (Award for Excellence)

17. SOPA Award for Public Service Journalism (亞洲出版業協會公共服務新聞大獎)
傳真社 FactWire, 追擊反修例風波的假資訊 Track the fake news in Anti-Extradition Bill Movement
READr, 2020 總統候選人事實查核計畫 Fact Checks of the 2020 Presidential Election
VICE Indonesia, Jakarta Post, Tirto, BBC Indonesia, #NamaBaikKampus (Award for Excellence)

NOTE: Due to system limitations, the above links lead to just one story in each entry, even for entries that consisted of a package of related stories. The judges took into consideration the entire package of stories in making their decisions.

Please be reminded that any articles on this list used for promotional purposes at any time should, wherever possible display the SOPA 2020 Awards logo and include a link to www.sopawards.com, thank you.