Zaobao.com launches International Chinese Interactive News Awards 2015

SINGAPORE - Zaobao.com, the online portal of Lianhe Zaobao, the Chinese flagship newspaper of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), launched the inaugural International Chinese Interactive News Awards today.

The Awards, the first of its kind in East Asia, is held in conjunction with Zaobao.com's 20th anniversary this year.

The Awards aims to encourage media professionals and journalism students to hone and showcase their skills in news reporting and interactive media presentation. It also hopes to discover talents to broaden the scope and deepen the skill sets of Chinese language media around the world.

Mr Goh Sin Teck, Editor of Lianhe Zaobao, said: "Online interactive news has become an important form of news presentation which combines media and web techniques, thus providing readers with a reading experience for the internet age. Zaobao.com, set up by Lianhe Zaobao 20 years ago, is one of the world's earliest Chinese news websites.

It has since established a standing in the global Chinese news industry. We hope that through the Awards, we can inspire more creativity in the Chinese interactive news arena, thereby enhancing further the user experience of our readers in all platforms."

The Awards is organised by Zaobao.com and co-organised by Fudan University's Journalism School, Tsinghua University's Journalism and Communication School, Sun Yat-Sen University's Communication and Design School, and the University of Hong Kong's Journalism and Media Studies Centre. The Awards is supported by the Chinese Association for History of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Dr Zhou Zhao Cheng, Editor of Zaobao.com, said: "Interactive news is a new form of news presentation which media industries and academics are interested in. Zaobao.com is glad to partner some of China's top journalism institutions to organise the Awards. We hope to reach out to all Chinese media and journalism students around the world, as we come together to create more exciting interactive news experience for readers."

The panel of judges for the Awards include media professionals and academics. Their experience and knowledge will ensure that deserving winners of the Awards will meet the highest journalism, editorial and interactive design standards.

The Awards hopes to uphold the highest principles of journalism in an era where the media industry faces tough challenges and changes brought on by rapid developments in technology, falling subscription rates and the prevalence of social media. In this regard, Zaobao.com, which was set up 20 years ago, is well-poised as a leader in the Chinese media industry.

Winners of the Awards will walk away with prizes worth more than RMB 40,000 (about S$9,000). The top honour is the Best Online Interactive News award. Awards for the other categories include Best Original Interactive News, Most Promising Interactive News, Most Creative Interactive News, Best Interactive News Design, and Most Popular Interactive News.

Participants can take part as individuals or in a group of no more than three persons. Participants may use information from their original news reports, or news and information based on existing news reports as materials for their entries.

Participants can submit the entries via an online form or via the official website by 30 June 2015. The awards ceremony will be held in Beijing on 28 July.

Visit http://project.zaobao.com/interactivenewsawards for more information on the International Chinese Interactive News Awards 2015.