Reporters from India, PRC, Fiji Islands, and Nepal Scoop Top Prizes at ADBI's 2005 Developing Asia Journalism Awards

TOKYO, JAPAN (1 April 2005) – Journalists from India, Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC), Fiji Islands, and Nepal received the top prizes in Tokyo last night at the 2005 Developing Asia Journalism Awards (DAJA), sponsored by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Institute.

The event, in its second year, recognizes excellence in journalistic reporting by those covering development trends and issues in the region. Prizes for 2005 were awarded for reporting in four strategic areas of development, with winners and runners up each receiving cash prizes ranging from US$1,500 to $250.

In addition, there are four special prizes of $2,000 each plus trophy. India's P.K. Savad Rahman, 25, a reporter at the country’s Madhyamam Daily, a Malayaalam language paper, was named Development Journalist of the Year at the awards ceremony held at The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo.

The PRC's Xi Xiumei, 29, a reporter at China Global Business and Finance, was awarded  Development Woman Journalist of the Year for her article on the underground money market. Fiji Islands’ Vasiti Valatia Ritova, 41, of Pacnews, won the Island Journalist Award, while Sanjaya Dhakal, 29, of Nepal's Spotlight magazine, was named Young Development Journalist of the Year.

There were this year almost 140 entries from across ADB’s developing member countries. From these, 17 finalists from nine countries – including Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, and Viet Nam - were invited to a two-day program in Tokyo culminating in the awards ceremony last night.

They were selected by a jury of four that included presiding judge Anthony Rowley, Tokyo Correspondent of the Business Times of Singapore and Field Editor for Oxford Analytica; Yoshio Murakami, Adviser on International Affairs to the Asahi Shimbun; Suvendrini Kakuchi, a Sri Lankan journalist reporting for Inter Press Service; and Monzurul Huq, Tokyo correspondent for two Bangladeshi papers, Daily Star and Prothom Alo.

In the judges' summary, Mr. Rowley said that even in an age of daily lurid TV images, print journalists such as the DAJA entrants "can still stir our feelings and produce shock or anger, or sadness that people should have to endure degradation and extreme poverty. Or they can make us feel joy at the triumph of the human spirit in coping with suffering and adversity."

Besides being overall winner, Mr. Rahman also won top prize in the Women and Development category for his article on the plight of prostitutes in the brothels of Mumbai. Mr. Dhakal was runner-up in that category for his article on domestic violence against women. Muhammad Irfan Shahzad, 28, of Pakistan was awarded second runner-up.

Last year's Development Journalist of the Year, Massoud Ansari, 34, of Pakistan’s Newsbeat magazine, was one of five reporters who was a repeat finalist this year. He was placed first this year in the People and Development category, with the PRC’s Abigail Liu, 26, named runner up and Ma. Dios Labiste of the Philippines, 49, second runner-up. There were honorable mentions for entries from two other returning finalists, Lalitha Sridhar, 35, of India, and Jofelle Tesorio, 30, of the Philippines; as well as Amer Farooq, 35, of Pakistan.

In a double triumph for Nepal’s Spotlight magazine, its managing editor Keshab Poudel, 44, topped the poverty issues category. Runner up was Chee Yoke Heong, 42, of Malaysia, and second runner up was another returning finalist, Zofeen Tufail Ebrahim, 43, of Pakistan. There was an honorable mention for this year's youngest finalist, Aida Kosymalieva, 20, of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Ms. Xi topped the Development Agencies and Development category, with returning finalist Hoang Tu Giang, 32, of Viet Nam, named runner up and Raymond Zhou, 42, of the PRC, second runner-up.

ADB Institute Dean Peter McCawley said the awards were part of his organization's support for improved governance in Asia and the Pacific. "One of the key institutions of governance in the region which needs strengthening is the media," he said.

"Through sponsoring the DAJA program, the ADB Institute aims to lend support to the efforts of journalists from developing countries who write high quality reports about key social and economic issues facing the region. It is our aim to recognize both the individuals themselves, the individual journalists, as well as the importance of the specific issues they choose to highlight."

Mr. Rowley said the DAJA entrants have shone a light into dark places where grinding poverty and crippling disease still lurk in certain parts of Asia.

"They have shown us a side of life where exploitation, corruption and crime still cripple the lives of so many of the region’s poor," he said. "And they have once again reminded us that no matter how much the developing community is doing to reduce poverty and relieve suffering there is a very long road to travel in this direction."

The Tokyo-based ADB Institute, organizing the awards for the second year, was established in 1997. The Institute works to help build capacity, and knowledge related to poverty reduction and other areas that support long-term growth in developing economies in the Asia and Pacific region.

For further inquiries, please contact the Journalism Awards Group.