GMA News Online earns 3 finalist spots in 2021 SOPA Awards

GMA News Online has earned three finalist spots in the 2021 Society of Publishers Asia Awards (SOPA) for Editorial Excellence.

The special report, “The Children Are All Grown Up Now,” is a finalist for the Excellence in Reporting on Women’s Issues and Excellence in Feature Writing (Regional) categories.

Written by Kaela Malig with illustrations and web production by Margaret Claire Layug and Jannielyn Bigtas, it follows the story of three girls who were raped in their own homes.

It tackled the fear and trauma they faced for being harmed by the people they felt closest to and how they continued with their lives until they became adults.

“What I Wore That Day,” meanwhile, is a finalist in the Excellence in Journalistic Innovation (Regional) category.

The story, written by Malig, showed  the heartbreaking fact that sexual harassment was not caused by what someone was wearing.

Women described what they wore on the day they became victims and were visualized through video by Lala Lacsina and Yvan Limson and illustrations by Layug and Kristel Serrano.

The SOPA Awards, established in 1999, is “a tribute to editorial excellence in both new and traditional media, and was designed to encourage editorial vitality throughout the region.”

This year’s winners will be announced via live tweeting and streaming through SOPA’s Twitter account on June 24 at 7 p.m. – RC, GMA News