Post scoops dozens of local and international awards
The South China Morning Post has scooped dozens of awards locally and internationally, including 42 from the Society of News Design announced on Tuesday, out of a total of about 4,600 entries.
The online piece “Life in Hong Kong’s Shoebox Housing” won the high honour of “Best in Show” for a large organisation category of 1,800 digital entries.
Created by Post graphic designers Kaliz Lee, Adolfo Arranz, Marcelo Duhalde, Han Huang and Dennis Wong, it showcases the environment of Hong Kong’s notoriously tiny subdivided flats and the life of residents.
The team approached an old story via a new format with the use of illustrations, exploded-view images and cross-sections, and spent more than a month on research which included on-site shooting of photos and videos before building the infographics.
The result was a vivid look into the buildings that house these tiny homes, as the walls slowly peeled away to reveal details of the environment – a room with a dozen beds stacked against one another with only two ceiling fans for cooling, narrow hallways, shared bathrooms in poor condition and expired fire extinguishers.
The piece also snagged silver and bronze awards in multiple categories, including design features, infographic features and in-house illustration.
Post Editor-in-Chief Tammy Tam said she “couldn’t be prouder” of the latest string of awards.
“Along with our award-winning reporters and writers at the Post, we also have some of the best visual experts in the business,” she said.
“The stellar work they do complements and elevates our storytelling and the global recognition of their achievements is richly deserved, to say the least.”
Duhalde, associate creative director at the Post, said the subdivided flat project was planned and executed with enthusiasm, and the team was dedicated to delivering the best.
“There are many factors that come together to get an award like this, such as talent, vocation, interest, curiosity, and creativity, but a very important one is being in a newsroom that continuously supports us and helps us improve our work. Our late creative director, Darren Long, was a part of the project in the early stages, he would be happy and proud.”
The entire housing crisis series was one of the two gold awards won by the Post in the digital competition, the other being “Bamboo scaffolding in Hong Kong” by Duhalde, Victor Sanjinez and Wong.
Ten “Awards of Excellence” were also given to the Post in the digital category – nine for infographics and one for the video team.
Over in print, a condensed version of the award-sweeping shoebox housing story also won a gold and silver medal in information graphics.
A total of 23 “Awards of Excellence” were given to Post print stories, including “Urban Encounters: The Wild Boars Of Hong Kong”, “Bamboo Curtains” and “Hot summer days”.
“Life in Hong Kong’s Shoebox Housing” was also a big winner in the News Media Association’s Global Media Awards, winning first place in the “Best Use of Visual Journalism and Storytelling Tools – National brands” category.
The print version of the story also received an honourable mention in the “Best Use of Print – National brands” section. Lee condensed some of the digital version into a single back-page graphic for the Post’s newspaper.
Locally, Post photographers bagged a total of nine awards at the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association’s annual competition, while its graphic design team won two awards from the International News Media Association.
Post photographer Sam Tsang stole the limelight in the “Focus at the Frontline” photo competition organised by the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association.
His picture showing the newly elected lawmakers posing for a group photo after the oath-taking ceremony won him the first prize in the general news category. The picture was also selected as the Photo of the Year 2022 for Tsang’s visual creativity and his ability to capture the decisive moment that tells the essence of the news event.
He also received honourable mentions in the general news, nature and environment and photo essay categories.
Tsang thanked the Post and his editors for their support. “I feel lucky and honoured to be able to win so many prizes. The quality of Hong Kong photojournalists is very high,” he said.
Fellow Post photographer Yeung Hiu-sun won first place in the spot news category for his picture showing commuters being evacuated from a rush hour train near Tseung Kwan O MTR station after connecting couplings between carriages loosened.
A picture by Post photographer Yik Yeung-man won the top prize in the nature and environment category. The picture showed workers in protective clothes handling clinical waste at Caritas Medical Centre during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Post photographers Robert Ng and May Tse each received an honourable mention in the general news and photo essay category, respectively.