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The Society of Publishers in Asia 2010 Awards for Editorial Excellence attract record number of entries

Hong Kong, April 19, 2010 - The Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA), an organization dedicated to best practices in professional publishing, has announced that this year’s annual SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence attracted a record number of entries region-wide. Now in their 12th year, the Awards saw 564 entries with nominated work from China and Taiwan surging by more than one-third than in previous years.

The prize presentation dinner is scheduled for Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at the JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong. The special guest speaker will be veteran award-winning Philippine journalist Ms. Marites Danguilan Vitug.

Marites is editor-in-chief of Newsbreak Magazine in the Philippines and author of Power from the Forest: the Politics of Logging, Jalan-Jalan: A Journey through EAGA, and Under the Crescent Moon: Rebellion in Mindanao. Her most recent book, Shadow of Doubt: Probing the Supreme Court, which lifted the veil on the Supreme Court in the Philippines, has drawn several death threats against her.

The Awards cover 17 categories that reflect Asia-Pacific's vibrant editorial scene. Nominations are from English or Chinese language regional, local print or digital publications and wire services. This year a brand new category “Excellence in Multimedia News Presentation” was introduced to reflect the impact felt in an increasingly tech-savvy publishing world.

“The SOPA Awards have become a true benchmark for the very best journalism and have demonstrated that even in trying times, journalists produce quality work seeking to inform, educate and entertain readers in the region and beyond,” said Mr. Peter Stein, Chairman of the SOPA Editorial Awards Subcommittee. “The record number of entries and groundbreaking Chinese reporting represent an important milestone in the Awards’ history.”

The entries are appraised by 109 high-caliber judges worldwide under the stewardship of Head Judge Professor Rusty Todd, the University of Hong Kong’s Director of Business Journalism, who ensures that the judging process has been conducted with the highest standards of journalistic integrity. The judges comprise journalists, designers and photo editors from leading publications, as well as notable academics from the media departments of prestigious universities.

“Following last year’s inaugural SOPA Media Summit in Beijing, the Society has successfully built more ties with publishers in Asia, especially those in the Greater China Region. The encouraging responses from entrants in China and Taiwan underpin our commitment to fostering growth of the publishing industry in Asia,” said Mr. Terence Tung, SOPA Chairman.

The SOPA Awards are supported by a number of international media organizations including the International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP), WAN-IFRA and World Editors Forum. For more information, please visit www.sopasia.com/awards/2010/. Invest Hong Kong and JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong are sponsors for the event.

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