An ensemble team from the SCMP won one of SOPA’s most prestigious prizes, the Scoop award, for a groundbreaking series of articles last year on China’s 18th Party Congress leadership transition. Among the articles was an exclusive report on the line-up of the seven men who would form the elite Politburo Standing Committee – a story which was published before the secretive Congress even opened. Another included a scoop on a Ferrari car crash in March last year and the cover-up of a scandal involving then-President Hu Jintao’s top aide Ling Jihua, which led to his political demise.
Two China environmental issue stories penned by reporter Shi Jiangtao inspired the judges to present the award of Excellence, one for the article “Sold down the river” in the Feature Writing category and another for Shi’s two-part series “Toxic”, which probed one of the worst mainland cadmium contamination incidents in decades, which picked up the award in the Reporting on the Environment category.
Simon Scarr’s information graphic on the breakdown of electricity consumption in brightly-lit and air-conditioned Hong Kong won another well deserved award of Excellence. Scarr also won an honourable mention in the same category with “Arteries of the city”.
Further China reports that caught the judges’ eye included one from reporters Denise Tsang and Charlotte So, from the business team. Their three-part series “Dongguan, deserted boom town” secured an honourable mention in the Business Reporting category. Verna Yu and Teddy Ng, both from the national desk, won an honourable mention in the category of Reporting Breaking News with their series “Escape from China”, which covered the daring escape to New York of blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng from 19 months of house arrest in a remote village in eastern China. Fiona Tam also won an honourable mention in the Human Rights Reporting category for “Maimed in China”.
Reporter Lana Lam secured an honourable mention in the same category for her “Libyan rendition” series, and Post Magazine art director Lee Wing-yam won an honourable mention in the category of Magazine Design with “Breaking in”, for a cover story on the mainland blogosphere published in November.
Cartoonist Harry Harrison won an honourable mention with “The Handover”, a stunningly detailed celebration of the 15th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997.
South China Morning Post’s Managing Editor remarked “Our reporters have worked hard to produce some of our best stories ever. Receiving recognition for our excellent China reporting from such an esteemed panel of judges is a great reward for our team. Being situated in this corner of China, it’s also proof we are succeeding in our mission to provide readers all over the world with the best China coverage.”
The SOPA 2013 Awards for Editorial Excellence celebrates its 15th year this year, and are open to English and Chinese language papers across Asia. This year’s awards attracted a record 653 entries from regional and local print and digital publications as well as news agencies from as far afield as Phnom Penh.
The full list of winners:
Excellence in Reporting Breaking News
Honorable mention: South China Morning Post, Escape from China.
By Teddy Ng and Verna Yu
Excellence in Business Reporting
Honorable mention: South China Morning Post, Dongguan, Dongguan, Deserted Boom Town.
By Denise Tsang and Charlotte So
Excellence in Human Rights Reporting
Honorable mention: South China Morning Post, Maimed in China.
By Fiona Tam
Excellence in Reporting on the Environment
Winner: South China Morning Post, Toxic.
By Shi Jiangtao
Excellence in Feature Writing
Winner: South China Morning Post, Sold Down The River.
By Shi Jiangtao
Excellence in Editorial Cartooning
Honorable mention: South China Morning Post, The Handover.
By Harry Harrison
Excellence in Information Graphics
Winner: South China Morning Post, Wiring the City.
By Simon Scarr
Honorable mention: South China Morning Post, Arteries of the City.
By Simon Scarr
The Scoop Award
Winner: South China Morning Post, 18th Party Congress.
Staff reporters
Honorable mention: South China Morning Post, Libyan Rendition.
By Lana Lam
Excellence in Magazine Design
Honorable mention: South China Morning Post, Breaking In.
By Lee Wing Yam
About SCMP Group Ltd and South China Morning Post
SCMP Group Limited (SEHK: 583) is a leading newspaper and magazine publisher in Asia. Its flagship publication, South China Morning Post, is Hong Kong’s internationally recognised English language newspaper and has the city’s most affluent and influential readership.
First published in 1903, the newspaper has developed an enviable reputation for authoritative, influential and independent reporting on Hong Kong, China and the rest of Asia. Available in print, iPad™ and online through scmp.com and e-reader editions, South China Morning Post reaches a global audience with daily breaking news, analysis and opinion, multimedia articles and interactive forums. The South China Morning Post received 64 awards in 2012 for excellence in editorial, marketing and technical capability. Other titles in the Group include the Sunday Morning Post, the Chinese editions of Cosmopolitan, Harper’s BAZAAR, ELLE and CosmoGirl! magazines.
For more information, please visit us at www.scmpgroup.com.
For further information please contact:
communications@scmp.com