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Five SOPA award winners share their experience at first HKBU-SOPA workshop

 

The Department of Journalism of the School of Communication invited five winners of the SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence, the Asian media industry's most prestigious journalism award, to share their insights with University members, students, media professionals and the public at the first HKBU-SOPA Award Winners Forum from 4 to 8 November.

The invited speakers were Mr. Jamil Anderlini, Beijing Bureau Chief of Financial Times; Mr. Ernest Chi, Deputy Editor-in-Chief and investigative team leader of Ming Pao Daily; Mr. Michael Forsythe, Bloomberg News Correspondent in Hong Kong; Mr. Thomas Fuller, Southeast Asia Correspondent for The New York Times; and Mr. Titthara May, National News Editor of The Phnom Penh Post.

Mr. Tom Leander, Chairman of the SOPA Editorial Awards Committee of the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA), and Professor Rick Wong, Vice-President (Research and Development), officiated at the opening ceremony.

In his speech, Professor Wong said SOPA had done an admirable job in honouring outstanding journalists in the region by organising the SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence and HKBU was delighted to organise this Forum with the Society.

Mr. Leander said he was delighted that HKBU had initiated the Forum as he had had the same idea for many years. He appreciated the University’s efforts to provide a perfect platform for the winners to talk about the stories behind their award-winning entries.

The opening ceremony was followed by a public forum on “Investigative Reporting in Asia”. The SOPA winners shared the challenges they encountered in doing investigative reports and their passion for journalism. “You cannot go into this profession unless you want your job to be your life, and your life to be your job,” said Mr. Thomas Fuller.

	SOPA winners share their experience (from left): Mr. Titthara May, Mr. Thomas Fuller, Mr. Michael Forsythe, moderator Dr. Judith Clarke (Associate Professor of Journalism), Mr. Jamil Anderlini and Mr. Ernest Chi.

	Officiating guests, SOPA winners and Journalism scholars post for a photo