South China Morning Post wins big at Online Journalism Awards for coverage of Hong Kong protests, coronavirus pandemic, Tiananmen crackdown anniversary

Judges praise the newspaper’s use of interactive multimedia content and in-depth analysis to tell biggest stories of the year
The Post was one of the first to report on the emergence of the coronavirus in Wuhan at the end of last year, deploying infographics and other visual content

Hong Kong media

Kathleen Magramo

Published: 5:32pm, 17 Oct 2020

Why you can trust SCMP

The South China Morning Post was a big winner at this year’s Online Journalism Awards honouring the best of digital reporting and storytelling from around the world.

The Post triumphed on Saturday in the “general excellence in online journalism” category for large newsrooms over its coverage of the Hong Kong protests, coronavirus pandemic and 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

During the tumult of 2019’s anti-government unrest and the emergence of the health crisis at the turn of the year, the newsroom found engaging ways to reach and inform audiences using social and visual platforms, according to award organisers, the Online News Association.

Editor-in-chief Tammy Tam welcomed what she described as “important global recognition for our commitment to excellence in journalism”.

“It’s highly encouraging and rewarding to see all the hard work we have put in being appreciated with these prestigious awards, especially after the sacrifices our journalists have made in covering Hong Kong’s social unrest and the coronavirus pandemic,” she said.

“Our coverage of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown was also exemplary storytelling, explaining to the world the profound impact it continues to have on both this city and the country as a whole.”

In relation to its protests coverage last year, the Post was recognised by the SmartNews-sponsored award for its interactive infographics explainers and analysis series, accompanied with visual narrative and long-form videos, as well as its use of data.

The newsroom’s award-winning digital feature stories included Insights into Hong Kong protests; Hong Kong protests, one year on and live blog updates on the demonstrations as they happened.

The Post was also acclaimed for being one of the first newsrooms to break the story on the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan on December 31, using interactive multimedia content, FAQs, in-depth series and infographics – including one tracking global infections as early as January 21 to help explain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A deep-dive six-part series on the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown and an award-winning video of dissidents in exile were also commended for their reportage and presentation.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Post honoured for coverage of protests, pandemic

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