CDN’s Mayol ‘Reporter of the Year’ in Globe awards

Ador Vincent S. Mayol of Cebu Daily News was recognized as “Reporter of the Year for Print” in the 2nd Globe Cebu Media Excellence Awards for his three-part series on how people with disabilities overcome their limitations.

Achievers in print, TV, radio, photography and digital media were handed trophies last night in a ceremony at the Cebu City Marriott Hotel as part of the celebration of Cebu Press Freedom Week.

The telco giant is a “partner” of the media in bringing out the “objective truth” in relevant, accurate reports and images, said Antonio Jocel de Guzman, head of Globe Telecom’s External Affairs, in his welcome remarks.

He noted that while the new world of social media is preoccupied with “subjective truth” and personal experiences, media organizations are still relied on to deliver “accuracy and the objective truth”.

Mayol’s series “Giving PWDs a chance” published June 10-12 in CDN explored the struggles of PWDs earning a living. He interviewed a blind masseur and a machine operator born with no hands, among others, and looked into various laws and Cebu ordinances that protect the welfare of PWDs.

“I realized that if only PWDs would be given a chance, they too could transcend their condition,” explained Mayol in choosing the topic.

“These people may be different before human eyes but they are precious in God’s sight. In dealing with them, we too open our hearts to Jesus,” he said.

Two new categories were added this year in the Globe awards – Photojournalist of the Year and Social Media Advocate of the Year.

The Globe Cebu Media Excellence Awards was launched last year to recognize the best works of the Cebu media and to promote professionalism in the industry.

A total of 49 out of 114 entries were considered by a panel of judges headed by Philip Tan, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Other winners were: Sun Star Cebu’s Mayette Q. Tabada and Cherry Ann Lim for Feature Story of the Year in print for “Breast Wars: Life saving with breastfeeding”; The Freeman’s Michael Acebedo Lopez as Columnist of the Year for his piece “My vote is for Nelson”, Sun Star Cebu’s Amper Campana as Photojournalist of the Year for his photo titled “He’s my Brother”.

Blogger Bjornson A. Bernaldes’ web log “Bjorn Cebuano Media” earned him the award of Social Media Advocate of the Year.

In the broadcast category, GMA 7’s Alan Domingo won two trophies as Reporter of the Year for Television for “Asinuka” and Feature Story of the Year for Television.

Radio station dyHP’s Astra Zina Logarta was recognized as Reporter of the Year for Radio.

Nancy R. Cudis won as Blogger of the Year for her web log “The Memowriter – Geting to know our National Artists for Literature”. It’s her second time to win the Globe award for this category. The main criteria for print and broadcast selections was content (50 percent) which shows adherence to truth and responsible journalism as shown in accurate, fair and balanced presentation, and depth of reporting. Style was given 25 percent, and social impact had a weight of 25 percent. For bloggers and social media advocates, the criteria was content (50 percent), reader-friendly presentation and design and reader engagement (20 percent) and social impact (30 percent).