The Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Announces Winners of the 2015 Awards for Editorial Excellence

The Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA), an organisation dedicated to best practices in professional publishing, presented 97 awards for outstanding journalism at its annual SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence gala dinner at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre tonight.

Over 270 senior media executives, editors, journalists and industry affiliates from across the Asia Pacific region attended the event. Tara Joseph from Reuters was the master of ceremony while Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Media Group, was the evening’s guest of honor. He was interviewed by Hugo Restall of The Wall Street Journal.

This year, the SOPA Awards received a record number of entries from across Asia competing in 18 categories among English and Chinese regional, local print or digital publications and wire services.

The shortlist of finalist and winners can be viewed on the following website: http://www.sopawards.com/awards/award-winners/

The panel of judges was comprised of more than 100 international judges in various locations around the globe including journalists, editors, columnist from leading publications, as well as notable academics from media departments of prestigious universities. The judging panel was led by Head of Judges, Jeffrey Timmermans, director of the undergraduate journalism program at The University of Hong Kong and the Deputy Head of Judge, King-wa Fu, an assistant professor at The University of Hong Kong’s Journalism & Media Studies Centre.

Raymond Warhola, Chairman of SOPA, said, “The SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence represent the gold standard of journalistic integrity and consummate professionalism in Asia. This year, we are especially pleased to celebrate and welcome Mr. Philip Bowring as the first Honorary Member inducted to The Society of Publishers in Asia. A quintessential journalist for more than 40 years, the collective body of Mr. Bowring’s work across multiple print and digital platforms, reflects an unwavering commitment to the highest principles of our industry. Together, we are proud to embrace the lofty standards that he so typifies.”

This year SOPA organized a new daytime program on the same day as the gala dinner. A journalist workshop presentation held in the morning at Journalism & Media Studies Centre at The University of Hong Kong. Presenters from CommonWealth Magazine, International New York Times, Reuters, Quartz and The Wall Street Journal shared the happenings in news journalism reporting on the past events such as the Occupy Hong Kong. Tours of Google and Bloomberg Media offices were held in the afternoon.

The SOPA 2015 Awards for Editorial Excellence is supported by Invest Hong Kong (Platinum Sponsor) and Google (Silver Sponsor). K11 is the Supporting Sponsor. CatchOn is the public relations partner, and Media OutReach is the newswire partner.