4 SUNSTAR JOURNOS WIN, NAMED FINALISTS AT 1ST UP SCIENCE JOURN AWARDS
The award recognizes exemplary reporting in science and technology and scientific researches and developments. The award aims to acknowledge the importance of communicating and mainstreaming accurate science stories.
The University of the Philippines (UP) recognized five winners and 13 finalists, including three SunStar journalists, during the first UP Science Journalism Awards held in UP Diliman last Saturday.
Among the finalists were Herty Lopez of SunStar Super- Balita Cebu for best science feature story for print and online, and Nickolas Tubo of SunStar Philippines and Erwin Nicavera of SunStar Bacolod for best UP science story.
The winners were Angelica Yang of GMA News Online for best science news story, Nef Luczon of SunStar Cagayan De Oro for best science commentary for print and online, Edmund Usman of Rappler for best science feature story for print and online, Michael Joe Delizo of ABS- CBN/ DZMM for best science story for radio, and Mikael Angelo Francisco of GMA News Online for best UP science story.
The winners received a cash prize and a trophy designed by the late National Artist for Sculpture Napoleon Abueva.
The finalists, on the other hand, were awarded with certificates of recognition.
The UP Science Journalism Awards recognizes exemplary reporting in science and technology, as well as, the scientific researches and developments in the country.
It also aims to acknowledge the importance of communicating accurate science stories and the mainstreaming of science and technology into the public consciousness.
“Very often, science is perceived to be something that is not understandable, something that exists in laboratories. Our program aims to bring home the fact that everything we do and everything that we use benefited and continues to benefit from developments in science,” says Dr. Elena Pernia, program leader of Communicating Science and Technology Research and Development at UP.
“The UP Science Journalism Awards is part of that communicating product to bring the journalists together with the scientists to deliver the message to the ordinary man,” she added.
The winners and finalists for this years’ awards reflect the result from 60 nominations of a diverse group of mainstream and community media organizations nationwide.
The judging committee is composed of journalists, academicians, scientists, and an economist to well represent science and technology as an interdisciplinary field.
Call for entries for the 2019 edition of the awards will open in March.