ADBI Journalist Awards

This recognition of the key role that the media plays across the Asia-Pacific region brings me to the third main matter that I want to refer to today. As a step towards showing practical support for good journalism, the ADB Institute has developed a program that we hope will provide international acknowledgement of the best work done by national journalists in the region on issues that relate to good governance and good policy-making.

Beginning with our announcement today, the ADB Institute will be supporting annual awards for development journalism. The purpose of the awards is to publicly recognize the efforts make by Asian journalists from developing countries who provide high-quality, balanced coverage of the real issues affecting growth and development. Details of the program are provided in the guidelines that have been distributed but in brief, the program will work as follows.

• Applications will be invited each year from eligible journalists from across the Asia-Pacific region. An important aim is to recognise and support the work of regional journalists from developing countries who are writing about the region. So to be eligible, journalists must be nationals from developing countries.
• Because this is the first year of the program, we have decided to make the period for eligible entries extend from January 2001 to February 2004. As a first step, we are concentrating on the print media although it may be possible to expand to other media in future.
• Prizes will be awarded for six main subject categories. In addition, it is planned that special prizes will be awarded in the four main categories of (1) Development Journalist of the Year, (2) Development Woman Journalist of the Year, (3) Young Development Journalist of the year, and (4) Islands Journalist Award.
• A high-quality independent panel of judges who have extensive international experience of work in journalism will judge the entries.
• The first, second, and third prizewinners in each of the main subject categories as well as prize-winners in the four separate categories will be flown to Tokyo to attend the award ceremony, probably in the first week of April next year. In addition, the prize-winners will be invited to spend some additional time in Tokyo to visit various media agencies and operations here.

More detailed information is in the guidelines which have been distributed today and which are being posted on ADBI's web site.