Winner list of the 17th Annual Human Rights Press Awards

This is the 17th 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 created in Asia and have achieved international recognition as being among the more prestigious professional awards that 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 as foreign correspondents working in Asia.

This year, the organizing committee is proud to have had Martin Lee Chu-ming, SC, founding chairman of the Democratic Party, as our guest speaker. Mr. Lee shared his views on the development of freedom and human rights in the city.

For the 2012 Awards, there was a total of 368 entries, significantly up from the previous year. There were 110 English entries, 180 Chinese entries and 78 Photography entries (judged separately). All material must have been published or aired during the 2012 calendar year. (In 2011, there were 226 entries, 77 in English, 106 in Chinese and 43 in Photography.)

Six Awards and 13 Merit Certificates were given in English-language categories, while in the Chinese-language categories there were 11 Awards and 35 Merit Certificates. For Photography, there were three Awards and 18 Merit Certificates. The honors were distributed during an Awards Presentation Ceremony held on Saturday, 13 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.

More than 1,000 journalists and news organizations from around the world have competed in the Human Rights Press Awards since their inception.

Stephen Tsui, Chairperson of Amnesty International Hong Kong, said: “The Human Rights Press Awards is one the most important educational events of Amnesty International Hong Kong every year. As a human rights organization, we are committed to co-organize the Awards with HKFCC and HKJA as a tribute to the journalists who bring us the stories of people 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: “It has been 17 years since the Hong Kong Journalists Association joined hands with the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong and Amnesty International Hong Kong to host the annual Human Rights Press Award honoring journalists’ principled stand against abuse in any form of human rights. This has seen the rise of awareness of the entitlement of human rights, as guaranteed by the international covenants, against the challenges of these rights by both government and people in the street. More importantly, the recognition of journalistic work in this regard reciprocally supports the media’s further revelations of human rights challenges, thus fulfilling the intention of the establishment of this award.”

Douglas Wong, President of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong, said: “The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong, for the 17th time now, is proud to host the Annual Human Rights Press Awards with our friends from the Hong Kong Journalists Association and Amnesty International Hong Kong. Honoring the journalism that tells the stories of the struggles to realize the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is more relevant today than ever, and we’re delighted that a new generation is rising to the challenge.”

 

***  The names of the winning individuals and news organizations are available HERE.

 

 

The 2012 breakdown of Awards and Merit Certificates by categories:

ENGLISH-LANGUAGE ENTRIES

NEWSPAPER – General News (2 Merits)
NEWSPAPER – Feature (1 Award & 2 Merits)
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS (2 Merits)
MAGAZINE – (1 Award & 1 Merit)
CARTOON – (1 Merit)
ONLINE – (1 Award)
BROADCAST – TELEVISION (3 Award & 3 Merits)
BROADCAST – RADIO (2 Merits)

CHINESE-LANGUAGE CATEGORIES

NEWSPAPER – GENERAL NEWS (2 Awards & 8 Merits)
NEWSPAPER – FEATURE (2 Awards & 7 Merits)
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS (1 Award & 3 Merits)
MAGAZINE – (2 Awards & 7 Merits)
CARTOON – (1 Award)
ONLINE – (1 Award & 2 Merits)
BROADCAST – TELEVISION (1 Award & 6 Merits)
BROADCAST – RADIO (1 Award & 2 Merits)

PHOTO CATEGORIES

FEATURE (2 Awards & 9 Merits)
SPOT NEWS (1 Award & 9 Merits)
TOTALS

TOTAL AWARDS IN CHINESE CATEGORIES – 11
TOTAL MERITS IN CHINESE CATEGORIES – 35
TOTAL AWARDS IN ENGLISH CATEGORIES – 6
TOTAL MERITS IN ENGLISH CATEGORIES – 13
TOTAL AWARDS IN PHOTOGRAPHY – 3
TOTAL MERITS IN PHOTOGRAPHY – 18

 

Human Rights Press Awards winners announced
16TH ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS PRESS AWARDS 2011 (English Only)