Multiple wins for SMG at Asian Media Awards
Journalists from Star Media Group, particularly its young R.AGE investigative team, were among the big winners at the 2020 Asian Media Awards (AMA).
The Star photojournalist Glenn Guan won a silver in the Best Sport Photography category.
R.AGE clinched gold in both Best News Story and Best Feature Story categories, thanks to its investigation on wildlife smuggling last year, working with the Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC).
It also took bronze in the Feature Story category for its 2019 undercover expose on global drug mule syndicates operating through Malaysia.
“I hope our story highlights how consumer demand, not just for pangolins but many things, continues to impact forests, wildlife and indigenous people,” said R.AGE producer Elroi Yee, who led the wildlife smuggling investigations.
R.AGE editor and producer Ian Yee said its journalists took big risks to expose issues because they knew their work could make the country a safer place for all Malaysians.
He paid tribute to those who collaborated with R.AGE on winning stories, including Swiss-based ERC, a global network of environmental investigative reporters, and Hong
Kong anti-drug trafficking activist Father John Wotherspoon.
Guan’s winning photo, a stunning shot of a diver mid-jump, came from the Asian Diving Cup in Kuala Lumpur.
“It was a challenge trying to freeze the moment to capture the diver’s expression but I also wanted something unusual, not just the everyday diving shot,” said Guan.
R.AGE has dominated the AMA’s editorial category for the past five years, winning five gold, three silver and one bronze.
The latest win brings R.AGE’s awards tally up to nearly 40 major accolades since the team was revamped into an investigative and impact journalism outfit in late 2015.
To read R.AGE’s wildlife trafficking story, go to rage.my/pangolin. For the drug trafficking piece, go to rage.my/drugtrade.