FOR its comprehensive coverage of economic news and issues as the nation battles corruption and poverty, the BusinessMirror stood tallest among its competitors as it bagged the prestigious Rotary Club of Manila’s (RCM) Newspaper of the Year Award on Thursday at the Manila Polo Club.
It was the BusinessMirror’s second such award from RCM; the first was in 2006.
The board of judges chose the paper for “maintaining its editorial independence and journalistic craftsmanship despite mounting competition with other forms of news media,” the citation read.
Receiving the award was T. Anthony Cabangon, BusinessMirror publisher, who, in his speech, vowed that the staff of the paper will “continue to strive harder for excellence in journalism.”
“The first time the paper won the Newspaper of the Year Award was five years ago, less than a year after it was established on October 3, 2005, and it paved the way for other awards to come, such as the gold medal from United Nations and Ford Awards for Best Motoring Section for four consecutive years, among others,” he said in his speech.
The 46-year-old journalism award attracted 48 nominations for the different categories after which the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication Foundation Inc., which was a member of the search committee for the journalism awards, trimmed them down to top three finalists in each category.
The list of finalists was then submitted to the board of judges, composed of former Chief Justice Reynato Puno, former UP College of Mass Communication dean Luis Teodoro, RCM vice president Benjamin Diokno and Rotarian Cesar Bautista, who chose the final winners for four journalists and four media outfits.
Other RCM Journalism Award 2010 winners were Ed Lingao of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Journalist of the Year; Carolyn Arguillas of PCIJ, Investigative Journalist of the Year; Ted Failon of ABS-CBN, Broadcast Journalist of the Year; and Alex Badayos of Sun Star Cebu, Photojournalist of the Year.
Completing the list of winners were dwIZ’s Siyasat, as Radio Program of the Year; Sun Star Cebu, Community Newspaper of the Year; GMA News Online, Special Citation for New Media Approaches.
