Winning in style:
Winners of Hong Kong News Awards 2014 from China Daily give their thumbs up after the award ceremony at Admiralty on Monday.
The 2014 Hong Kong News Awards ceremony by the Newspaper Society was held at Admiralty on Monday — in which China Daily Hong Kong Edition picked up five honors.
In a speech at the ceremony, Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor congratulated all the winners. She praised the professionalism of people working in journalism in Hong Kong.
Lam said their efforts were well reflected in their challenging, but rewarding coverage of news.
She recalled some dramatic events last year, including the brutal attack on former Ming Pao chief editor Kevin Lau Chun-to, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee’s decision on the framework of Hong Kong’s constitutional reform, and the 79-day illegal “Occupy Central” movement.
Lam said freedom of the press and freedom of speech had always been the foundation of Hong Kong’s success. The SAR government would spare no effort to protect them.
People working in journalism were on the frontline when covering demonstrations and public assemblies. The police had always maintained close contact with the journalists to protect them and facilitate their reporting while enforcing the law, she added.
Chairman of the Newspaper Society Keith Kam Woonting also said 2014 was a memorable year for the media. He said there had also being many challenges brought about by digitalization.
China Daily Hong Kong reporter Sophia Luo Weiteng was named the winner of the award for best business news writing in English. This was for her in-depth analysis of the people’s working hours in Hong Kong.
Her story was followed up by another China Daily reporter Sally Zhou Mo on the relationship between crowd funding and illegal fund raising on the mainland. The sto- ry earned her the second runner-up award for best business news writing in English.
Another second runner-up award goes to China Daily’s feature reporter Yeung Hauming for best news writing in English for her story “Men Don’t Cry”. Yeung movingly described how men suffering domestic abuse often felt shame and loneliness.
Copy editor Robert Ireland was second for best headline in English for the story on the empty Kai Tak Cruise Terminal headlined “Terminal Boredom”.
The paper’s page designers Mok Kwok-cheong and Wong Siu-kay won a merit award in best news page design for the story headlined “Drowning in a sea of plastic”. The story discusses micro-plastics in the local food chain.
The society, set up in 1954, is the city’s largest newspaper society. It is the organizer of the annual Hong Kong News Awards which have been held since 1997.