The Foreign Correspondents' Club Hong Kong

Rappler’s Maria Ressa to be keynote speaker at Human Rights Press Awards

The Human Rights Press Awards is delighted to announce that Maria Ressa, the co-founder of news website Rappler, will be the keynote speaker at the awards ceremony on May 16, 2019, at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong.

Maria Ressa, Rappler

Maria has become synonymous with the battle against disinformation and attempts to discredit the media in the Philippines.

Rappler has repeatedly pushed to hold the government accountable and has exposed corruption within the police force, which has led the deadly crackdown against drugs.

Maria has turned Rappler into one of the region’s most influential news outlets, even as the government has attempted to silence her – she has been arrested twice this year and is currently out on bail.

The Human Rights Press Awards showcase the best work by journalists reporting on human rights in Asia – promoting and rewarding much-needed coverage in this important field. For more than two decades the awards have been proudly organised by the FCC, Amnesty International, and the Hong Kong Journalists Association.

For media enquiries please contact Winnie Fu: [email protected]

+852 9197 3405

Sonny Swe talks of press freedom struggle at 22nd Human Rights Press Awards

Myanmar media pioneer Sonny Swe spoke of his struggle to maintain press freedom in Myanmar, where he was jailed for eight years in a media crackdown.

Keynote speaker Sonny Swe. Photo: Jayne Russell

Speaking at the 22nd Human Rights Press Awards, Sonny said that the state of press freedom in Myanmar currently resembled the dark days of military rule, adding that it was a “critical moment” for the media there.

When Aung San Suu Kyi, a former prisoner herself, won the 2015 Myanmar election, Sonny said, there was hope for press freedom under the new government. in the same year, Sonny launched the Frontier Myanmar magazine. However, he said under the new government more journalists than ever had been arrested, many of them covering the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Sonny said access to information was also becoming a bigger challenge, and self-censorship was on the rise.

He said the issue of press freedom had always been an “uphill travel” in Myanmar, and vowed to continue fighting for it.

“I am standing behind the truth, and I am standing for the truth, freedom, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of expression. I will always fight for this because I know firsthand how it feels to have this taken away from you,” he said.

The Human Rights Press Awards recognise top rights-related reporting from around Asia, with the goal of increasing respect for people’s basic rights and focusing attention on threats to those freedoms.

Human Rights Press Awards – fundraising appeal

Dear Member,

For more than two decades, the FCC has proudly hosted the Human Rights Press Awards, rewarding work by journalists who shine a light on overlooked abuses across Asia. The Awards are a flagship FCC event in line with a core mission of the club: to stand up for press freedom across Asia.

Merit, Photography Feature, 21st Human Rights Press Awards. Photo by Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images

This year, the Awards are particularly important as the environment becomes ever-more repressive for journalists. Critical media outlets in Cambodia and the Philippines were threatened with closure. New “Fake News” laws risk criminalising free speech in Malaysia. Two Reuters journalists face as many as 14 years in prison in Myanmar. And as I write these lines, we are coming to terms with the terrible news of the April 30 attack in Afghanistan that killed ten journalists in two separate incidents, including highly respected AFP chief photographer Shah Marai.

The 2018 Awards that will be announced on May 12 have had a record number of submissions: 414 stories, photos, commentaries, videos, multimedia and radio pieces, in total. One judge called it the “best slate of entries in years”.

The FCC is the biggest sponsor of the Awards, which are run jointly with Amnesty International Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association. As the Awards have grown, so has the workload and expense. A few private donors already contribute, but we would greatly appreciate even further support from our Club’s members.

We hope to find in particular one-off financial support for the HK$5,000 cost of flying in the event’s keynote speaker – a newspaper publisher from Myanmar who spent years in jail.

As a member of the FCC, you can make a financial donation, as small or as large as you see fit, directly from your account to the HRPA.

If you wish to find out more about the HRPA, please visit the website which also features a video on the making of this year’s awards. If you would like to have a private discussion about donations or other ways to contribute, do not hesitate to contact Sarah Stewart ([email protected]), co-convenor of the Press Freedom Committee and a Governor of the FCC.

I thank you very much in advance for your generous support of these Awards that reward and celebrate the many brave reporters across the region.

Sincerely,

Florence de Changy
President

“Yes I would like to support the HRPA”

22nd Human Rights Press Awards open for entries from January 1, 2018

Asia’s most prestigious honours recognising outstanding human rights reporting will be open for entries from 1 January 2018 to 9 February 2018.

Last year’s winner of the Photography Feature was Agence France-Presse’s Noel Celis for his pictures of Quezon City jail. Photo: Noel Celis/AFP

The Human Rights Press Awards, now in their 22^nd year, are organised by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong, Amnesty International and the Hong Kong Journalists Association. The awards aim to increase respect for people’s basic rights and to focus attention on threats to those freedoms.

Submissions must have been reported from the Asia region and been published or broadcast during the past calendar year between 1 January and 31 December 2017. Entries must be in either English or Chinese. Categories include Spot News, Features, Multimedia, Television/Video, Radio and Photography.

Each entry must cite the specific article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that the work seeks to address. This landmark document, which marks its 70^th anniversary next year, set out the alienable rights to which every human being is entitled. The full text is available here: www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

Please mark your calendars and be ready to submit your work!

The online entry form will be open on 1 January 2018 at:

https://humanrightspress.awardsplatform.com/

For further information, please visit:

http://humanrightspressawards.org

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For queries, please contact the awards administrator:

Cintia Huen

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

School of Journalism and Communication

Email: [email protected]

Tel: (852) 3943 8705

The 21st Human Rights Press Awards announces its winners

The Human Rights Press Awards winners are announced at the FCC. Photo: (c) 2017 carstenschael.com

The 21^st Human Rights Press Awards announced its full list of winners and merit prizes at a ceremony on Saturday. The presentation was held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong.

The 21^st Human Rights Press Awards had received received 324 submissions in total. There were 144 submissions from Chinese-language print and broadcast media, 122 submissions from English-language print and broadcast media and 58 photojournalism entries.

All submissions covered human rights-related issues in the Asian region. They were published or broadcast in professional media outlets in 2016.

The full list of winners is below.

The awards are jointly organised by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong, Amnesty International Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Journalists Association. They were the first such honours created in Asia and are the region’s top awards for human rights-related reporting.

English Spot News
英文突發新聞

Winner: “A woman’s gruesome hanging shocked Tibet — but police have silenced all questions”
Simon Denyer – The Washington Post
大獎﹕《藏女上吊自盡震驚西藏》
Simon Denyer – 華盛頓郵報

Merit: “Wukan series: Wukan riots”
Mimi Lau and Jun Mai – South China Morning Post
優異﹕《烏坎村系列: 烏坎騷亂》
Mimi Lau and Jun Mai – 南華早報

English Feature News
英文特寫新聞

Winner: “Bacha bazi: child sex slavery in Afghanistan”
Anuj Chopra – Agence France-Presse
大獎﹕《童戲 : 阿富汗兒童性奴》
Anuj Chopra – 法新社

Merit: “Stateless Rohingya flee Myanmar crackdown”
Sam Jahan and Shafiqul Alam – Agence France-Presse
優異﹕《緬甸鎮壓羅興亞人逃亡》
Sam Jahan and Shafiqul Alam – 法新社

English Broadcast
英文廣播傳媒

Winner: “Malaysia: Babies for Sale”
Chan Tau Chou – Al Jazeera English
大獎﹕《馬來西亞: 販嬰》
Chan Tau Chou – 半島電視台英語頻道

Merit: “Maid in Singapore”
Lynn Lee and James Leong – Al Jazeera English
優異﹕《新加坡傭工》
Lynn Lee and James Leong – 半島電視台英語頻道

English Multimedia
英文多媒體新聞

Winner: “The Impunity Series”
Patricia Evangelista and Carlo Gabuco – Rappler.com
大獎﹕《有罪不罰系列》
Patricia Evangelista and Carlo Gabuco – Rappler.com

Merit: “Duterte’s War”
Andrew R.C. Marshall, Clare Baldwin, Damir Sagolj, John Chalmers, Manny Mogato, Karen Lema, David Lague, Jerome Morales, Ezra Acayan and Erik De Castro – Reuters News
優異﹕《杜特爾特的反毒戰》
Andrew R.C. Marshall, Clare Baldwin, Damir Sagolj, John Chalmers, Manny Mogato, Karen Lema, David Lague, Jerome Morales, Ezra Acayan and Erik De Castro – 路透社

English University Text
英文學界報導(大學組別)

Winner: “Hong Kong’s working homeless”
Chloe Kwan, Stanley Lam/ The Chinese University of Hong Kong – Varsity
大獎﹕《香港有工開的露宿者》
Chloe Kwan, Stanley Lam/香港中文大學 -Varsity

Merit: “The Exploited”
Lee Ching Yee / The Chinese University of Hong Kong – Varsity
優異﹕《被剝削的清潔工人》
Lee Ching Yee / 香港中文大學 – Varsity

English University Broadcast
英文學界廣播報導(大學組別)

Winner: “Seeking refuge in Lesvos”
Choi Wun Ting Martin, Christoph Donauer/ The University of Hong Kong
– Mediajungle.dk
大獎：《在萊斯沃斯島尋找難民》
Choi Wun Ting Martin, Christoph Donauer/ 香港大學 – Mediajungle.dk

English Secondary Text
英文學界報導(中學組別)

Winner: “I stand with Ahmed”
Victoria Li and Kate Ellen Lowe/ Marymount Secondary School – MSS Messenger
大獎: 《撐Ahmed》
Victoria Li and Kate Ellen Lowe /瑪利曼中學 – MSS Messenger

中文突發新聞
Chinese Spot News

優異獎: 《手機應用程式洩私隱系列報導》
調查組記者 – 傳真社
Merit: “Mobile apps leaking personal data”
Investigative Team – FactWire News Agency

優異獎: 《IT選民大增之謎》 – 岑詠欣、林浚源、李穎欣、賴偉家、蔡瑤、張煒明 – 明報
Merit: “Mysterious ballot growth in the information and technology legislature constituency”
岑詠欣、林浚源、李穎欣、賴偉家、蔡瑤、張煒明- Ming Pao

中文特寫新聞
Chinese Feature News

大獎: 《殘疾院舍黑幕系列報道》
龍婉琪 , 趙振龍, 陳凱敏, 勞顯亮, 羅嘉凝 – 香港01
Winner﹕”Abuse at care centre for the disabled”
龍婉琪, 趙振龍, 陳凱敏, 勞顯亮, 羅嘉凝 – HK01

優異獎: 《我看到「菲版杜林普」以外的真實》
周澄 – 端傳媒
Merit: “The truth behind ‘Trump of the Philippines’”
周澄 – Initium Media

優異獎:《「7.09」家屬：從受難者到行動者的一年跋涉》
趙思樂 – 端傳媒
Merit: “709 family members: the year-long journey from victims to activists”
趙思樂 – Initium Media

中文評論文章
Chinese Commentary

優異獎: 《書寫抗爭系列評論》
趙思樂 – 端傳媒
Merit: “Reporting on activism”
趙思樂- Initium Media

中文廣播傳媒
Chinese Broadcast

大獎: 《刀鋒上的公義》
陳偉利 – Now News, Now TV
Winner: “Blades of Justice: Story of Jiang Tianyong”
陳偉利 – Now News, Now TV

優異獎: 《立法會選舉大埔票站三百票之謎》
楊量傑 – 有線新聞
Merit: “Mystery of 300 Ballots at the Taipo polling station for the Legislative Council Election”
楊量傑 – i-Cable News

優異獎: 《香港有個尼泊爾記者》
莫志樑 – 有線電視
Merit: “The story of a Nepalese journalist in Hong Kong”
莫志樑 – i-Cable News

中文多媒體新聞
Chinese Multimedia

大獎: 《離岸之前》
林佑恩, 蔣宜婷, 吳政達, 王珣沛 – 報導者
Winner: “Leaving the shore: story of Indonesian fishermen in Taiwan”
林佑恩, 蔣宜婷, 吳政達,王珣沛 – The Reporter

優異獎: 《菲律賓掃毒戰爭直撃》
魯嘉裕 – 香港01
Merit: “Anti-Narcotics Campaign in the Philippines”
魯嘉裕 – HK01

中文廣播新聞
Chinese Radio

大獎: 《追蹤烏坎事件五周年》
陳妙玲 – 香港電台
Winner: “Fifth anniversary of the Wukan crackdown”
陳妙玲 – RTHK

優異獎: 《丈夫無罪：709維權律師家屬》
陳妙玲 – 香港電台
Merit: “My husband is innocent: 709 family members”
陳妙玲 – RTHK

中文學界報導(大學組)
Chinese University Text

大獎: 《跨性別難得一廁》
張美萍, 陳穎思, 林家儀/香港中文大學 – 大學線月刊
Winner: “Transgender toilets nowhere to be found”
張美萍, 陳穎思, 林家儀/Chinese University of Hong Kong – U-beat Magazine

優異獎: 《缺陷美身體雖殘美麗有法》
沈敏兒, 潘祖兒/香港中文大學- 大學線月刊
Merit: “Imperfect beauty”
沈敏兒,潘祖兒/Chinese University of Hong Kong – U-beat Magazine

中文學界報導(中學組)
Chinese Secondary Text

優異獎: 《同一片天空》
袁展柔, 張祝珊/張祝珊英文中學 – 評台
Merit: “Beneath the same sky”
袁展柔,張祝珊- Cheung Chuk Shan College – Pentoy

特寫攝影
Photography Feature

Winner: “Quezon City jail”
Noel Celis – Agence France-Presse
大獎: 《奎松市監獄》
Noel Celis – 法新社

Merit: “Philippines’ Drug War”
魯嘉裕 – HK01
優異獎: 《菲律賓掃毒》
魯嘉裕 – 香港01

Merit: “They Were People Too”
Dondi Tawatao – Getty Images
優異獎: 《他們也是人》
Dondi Tawatao – Getty Images

突發攝影
Photography Spot

Merit: “Lamentation”
Raffy Lerma – Philippine Daily Inquirer
優異獎: 《哀悼》
Raffy Lerma – Philippine Daily Inquirer

Merit: “The arrest of Wukan party secretary and the protest against it”
羅君豪 – HK01
優異獎: 《烏坎村書記林祖戀被指涉嫌受賄,遭武警強行帶走。其後數天村
自發遊行抗議,為林祖戀伸冤》
羅君豪 – 香港01