GMA News Online wins three prizes at 2022 SOPA Awards

GMA News Online bagged three prizes at the Society of Publishers Asia Awards 2022 (SOPA) for Editorial Excellence.

Atom Araullo's special report, "The Hunger Pandemic," won the Excellence in Feature Writing (Regional) award and received an honorable mention in the Excellence in Photography (Regional) category.

The report follows the story of Ben Rivero and his dogs, who has long survived on "pagpag" or restaurant leftovers and how the situation worsened amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"A deeply researched and reported story on record hunger in the Philippines, where a pandemic has driven the poorest of the poor to eat leftover food from dumpsters called 'pagpag,'" read the comments from the judges.

Meanwhile, GMA News Online also won Excellence in Explanatory Reporting (Regional) for "Boys Don't Cry" by Joahna Lei Casilao and Kaela Malig.

The report takes a deep look at how Filipino boys are taught to keep silent after suffering sexual abuse. Four survivors told their stories and how they live with their painful experience.

"This expose describes in excruciating powerful detail the reasons for and results of sexual abuse of young boys in the Philippines. The reporting is thorough and the writing is masterful. It brings to light a little-discussed festering problem with sensitivity and courage," the judges commented.

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."

—MGP, GMA News