Thursday, May 08, 2008 Sun.Star vies again for 4 of 5 awards
SUN.STAR Davao is vying again for four of five awards in the Philippine Press Institute Community Press Awards this coming May 27-30, 2008 at the Diamond Hotel in Manila.
Once again, it will be a grudge fight with Philippine Daily Inquirer's Cebu Daily News (CDN), its main competitor in the major awards after Sun.Star Davao's sister publication Sun.Star Cebu was elevated to the Hall of Fame.
This year, Sun.Star Davao is nominated for Best Edited Paper, Best Editorial Page, Best in Environment and Science Reporting, and Best in Photojournalism all against CDN.
Another local paper, Mindanao Times is pitted against CDN in the Best in Business and Economic Reporting.
The stiff competition between Sun.Star Davao and CDN started in 2004 when Sun.Star Davao and what was once a separate weekly, the Sun.Star Davao Weekend, grabbed the Best Edited Paper (Sun.Star Davao), Editorial Page (Weekend), Business and Economic Reporting (Sun.Star Davao), and Best in Photojournalism (Sun.Star Davao).
CDN staged a comeback the following year in 2005 by grabbing the Best Edited Paper, Editorial Page, Business and Economic Reporting, and Photojournalism.
In the 2006 awards, the awarding of which was held April 2007, Sun.Star grabbed the plum again with Best Edited, Editorial, Environmental, and Photojournalism.
This year, for the 2007 publications, it's another virtually one-on-one fight.
The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF) and the Philippine Press Institute (PPI), in cooperation with the Philippine Association of Communication Educators (Pace) Foundation, launched the Annual Community Press Awards for Excellence in 1996, the first and only awards program of its kind in the country. The first awards were given to regional newspapers in 1997.
The memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Philippine Press Institute was signed by former KAF Country Representative Beatrice Gorawantschy and newly installed PPI chairman Amado P. Macasaet on April 17, 1996, on the occasion of the 1996 Annual Membership Meeting.
In a board resolution during its monthly board meeting on January 12, 2000, the Metro-Publishers' Group agreed to provide the cash prizes in the fourth year of the awards program.
The Awards program, aimed at raising the standards for responsible journalism in the countryside, seeks to honor news organizations not only for excellence in reportage and editorial content but also for their roles in their respective communities as development catalysts and chroniclers of events.
By year 2000, only two daily newspapers were elevated to the Hall of Fame: The Freeman and Sun.Star Cebu, both based in Cebu City. The first year was a sweep by The Freeman while the second year was Sun.Star Cebu's. Both got the lion's share in the third awards presentation.
From 2001 to present, only five major awards for both weekly and daily categories have been retained.
This year heralds a new beginning for the Community Press Awards as it enters a dynamic era and unfolds yet another milestone of recognizing excellence next year.
The Coca-Cola Export Corporation (TCCEC) will be the official awards partner in the annual presentation in 2009. (With report from Ariel Sebellino of PPI)
