MANILA, Philippines—She “herded” a convoy of fuel-miser subcompact cars and went head-to-head with the “cowboys” of comparative test drives. Still, this lady motoring journalist came out on top.
For her comprehensive two-part test drive series on budget-priced compact cars in the Philippines, Philippine Daily Inquirer Motoring reporter Tessa R. Salazar won the 2008 Henry Ford Award for Best Automotive Test Drive/Best Automotive Event Story awarded on Dec. 3 at Teatrino in Greenhills, San Juan.
The two-part series, “Give way to the ’Mite-y 4’ convoy!” and “Pint-sized cars—in size and price—are in,” published in Inquirer Motoring on July 30 and Aug. 6 pitted four budget-priced compacts (three were Chinese cars) against each other in a head-to-head fuel-efficiency run. A hybrid Toyota Prius served as the pace car.
The series bested four other finalists from car magazines and newspapers.
On Aug. 18, Salazar also won a bronze trophy at the Toyota Driving Tomorrow Journalism Awards for her story on LPG-powered vehicles titled, “Spiking fuel prices activate ‘survival mode’” which appeared in Inquirer Motoring on July 23.
Salazar pocketed P40,000 for the Henry Ford Awards and P20,000 for the Toyota Driving Tomorrow Journalism Awards. It was the first journalism competition initiated by Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. during its 20th anniversary celebration.
The Henry Ford Awards (HFA), now on its eighth year, received 152 entries in 14 categories. The entries underwent a two-phase judging process.
Honest appraisal
In citing Salazar’s winning piece, the HFA said: “The pint-sized cars are given an honest but fair assessment in this feature that allows readers a shotgun seat ride through a test drive of 4 pint-sized cars. What makes the article even more interesting is the comparison with a hybrid car’s promise of fuel efficiency, the main selling driver of the mini-compacts.”
“The writing is effortless and even conversational, adding to its consumer appeal. As one reads through the engaging prose, one feels as if one were riding with the writer—from one small car to another. The result? Information that is useful and decision-driving,” the citation said.
“[The article wins] for its honest appraisal of the features and riding comfort of mini-compacts, allowing would-be consumers an important glimpse into how they might make the decision to consider owning one,” it added.
Lone female
Salazar, a consistent HFA winner since 2001, is the lone female journalist in this year’s roster of winners. In 2003, she bagged three HFA journalism awards—the first grand slam in the awards’ history, thereby earning her a slot in the HFA’s Hall of Fame. This year’s win is her sixth HFA.
This year, the HFA’s biggest winner is James Deakin, C! Magazine editor in chief, FM radio NU107’s “Counterflow” host and Star motoring columnist. He garnered three HFAs for his feature stories on the environment and motorsports as well as his piece on the new Ford Focus.
Other winners are Top Gear editor in chief Vernon Sarne (two awards), Ron delos Reyes of “Auto Review” (Channel 4), Ulysses Ang of www.motioncars.com, C! Magazine’s Chris Van Hoven, Chinese Commercial News’ Alex Young, C! Magazine’s Iñigo Roces, and Philippine Gazette’s Revoli S. Cortez.
Business Mirror’s motoring section was adjudged the best for the second year.
A new category was added this year for aspiring student journalists. Raphael Sta. Cruz of College of Saint Benilde’s The Benildean won for best automotive feature by a student.
Henry Ford Awards judges
The first-phase judges were Mario Marasigan, director of the Energy Utilization and Management Board, Department of Energy; Jaime Beaver Flores, professor of the Department of Communication, Ateneo de Manila University; Anthony Divinagracia, editor in chief of UST’s The Varsitarian; Leah Huang, group account director of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide Manila; Steven Tan, vice president for marketing and sales of Ford Group Philippines.
The second-phase judges were composed of Ford Group Philippines president Rick Baker; Bert Suansing, assistant secretary of the Land Transportation Office; Augusto Lagman, president of the Automobile Association Philippines; professor Rachel Khan, chair of the Journalism Department, University of the Philippines Diliman; Peachy Pacquing, planning director of Ogilvy and Mather Philippines.
The HFA forms part of the commitment of the Ford Group Philippines to recognize journalists who have supported the automotive industry by providing consumers with accurate news reports and information. The program itself was recently awarded a Philippine Quill award for excellence by the International Association of Business Communicators. HFA is one of the automotive industry’s most prestigious, longest-running and most competitive journalism awards.
Some of the judges of the Toyota Driving Tomorrow Journalism Awards were Dr. Jaime Ong, award-winning author and De La Salle professor; Chi-Chi Robles, broadcast professor of both Ateneo de Manila University and UP Diliman; and David Celdran, director for current affairs, ABS-CBN News Channel and member of the board of directors of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
