BEST NEWS COVERAGE The Inquirer’s coverage of the papal visit was cited for having “the most inspired and thought-provoking images, stories, essays and articles.”
Count them as papal blessings.
This year’s Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) anniversary on Wednesday savored the memory of Pope Francis as many of the winning stories in different mass media categories centered on his phenomenal visit to the Philippines in January.
One of the five awards garnered by the Inquirer during the 37th CMMA ceremonies was best news coverage for the newspaper’s reportage of the fourth papal visit in the Philippines.
The CMMA cited the awardees in the print category for having “the most inspired and thought-provoking images, stories, essays and articles that have moved and possibly changed many lives for the better.”
Francis’ visit was the first major news event this year that the Inquirer covered in full force, with its different platforms delivering an integrated report.
The Inquirer reportorial team for the visit included Lito B. Zulueta, TJ Burgonio, Christian V. Esguerra, DJ Yap, Leila B. Salaverria, Jocelyn R. Uy, Tina G. Santos, Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Connie E. Fernandez and the Inquirer Visayas Bureau.
3 other finalists
Zulueta, Inquirer Lifestyle editor for arts and books, was the only Filipino print media representative on the papal plane, Shepherd One. He was with the Vatican Press Corps throughout the Asian tour.
The Inquirer coverage of the Pope’s visit to the Philippines bested three other finalists in the best news coverage category. One of the finalists was another Inquirer entry, the coverage of the so-called Benhur Luy Files by Nancy C. Carvajal.
Carvajal’s work featured articles on the documents submitted to the Senate blue ribbon committee by the National Bureau of Investigation in the committee’s probe into the pork barrel scam.
Top news photograph
Other Inquirer awardees include photographer Lyn Rillon, who won the top award in the news photograph category for her work “Wall of Hope.”
“Wall of Hope” refers to the colorful therapeutic wall mural that adorns the lobby of Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City, where kids at the outpatient department wait for treatment.
Seven of the eight other finalists in the news photograph category were all from the Inquirer.
Rillon was also nominated for her “Real Men Do Cry,” while Raffy Lerma was a finalist for his photos, “Dark Day” and “Sign of Independence.”
Also named finalists in the same category were Joan Bondoc for her “Bringing Light to Darkness” and “Fathers’ First Embrace”; Niño Jesus Orbeta for “Sleeping it Off,” and Rem Zamora for his photo, “As Far As the Eyes Can See.”
Other Inquirer winners
“The Peacemakers,” a special report on peace initiatives in conflict-torn Mindanao by Fernando del Mundo, chief of the Inquirer investigative team, bested four other finalists in the best special feature category.
The Inquirer’s Gilbert Daroy was unopposed in the best editorial cartoon category. He won the top prize for his work, “Pope Francis breaks the ice between the United States’ Obama and Cuba’s Castro.”
Daroy’s other work, “Justice Secretary De Lima’s Dilemma on Napoles Affidavit Implicating Senators and Congressmen,” was also nominated as a finalist.
Queena Lee-Chua’s “All in the Family” column in the Inquirer tied with Francis Kong’s “Business Matters” column in the Philippine Star for the top prize in the best business column category.
Inquirer columnist Randy David’s “Public Lives” was one of the five finalists in the best opinion column category.
Pope John Paul II award
The CMMA Pope John Paul II Award was given to the Papal Committee on Documentation and Coverage.
That award, named after Pope John Paul II, who was renowned as a great communicator, was given to a group or a person who utilized the mass media in promoting evangelical service.
“The Varsitarian,” official student publication of the University of Santo Tomas, won a special citation for its special edition on Pope Francis’ apostolic and state visit to the Philippines.
According to the Varsitarian website, the special issue featured articles putting the papal visit in historical context and discussing the significance of Francis’ rise to the See of Peter. The graphic-rich publication also outlined preparations made by the university, the Church and the government for the visit.
TV specials
Rival networks ABS-CBN and GMA 7 also received awards for their papal visit coverages.
GMA 7 won the best special event coverage award for its “Ang People’s Pope Sa Pilipinas,” while ABS-CBN News DocuCentral received special citations.
ABS-CBN’s “Ako at ang Santo Papa” received the citation for TV special.
DocuCentral’s “Ang Mabuting Pastol: Pope Francis sa Pilipinas” shared the special citation for TV special coverage with “Thank You sa Malasakit: Pope Francis sa Pilipinas,” ABS-CBN’s marathon coverage of the visit.
‘God’s good news’
The theme for this year’s CMMA is “Communicating the Family: A Privileged Place of Encounter with the Gift of Love” based on the message of Pope Francis for World Communications Day on Jan. 24.
During the award ceremonies, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle urged members of Filipino families to communicate with one another.
“Let us not wait for tragedy to strike. In our everyday existence, let us communicate to one another. Let us communicate to our members of the family. Tell them ‘You are good news. You may not be perfect, we are all wounded in this family but you are God’s good news to us,’” Tagle said.
284 finalists
For this year’s 37th Catholic Mass Media Awards, the CMMA Foundation received a total number of 803 entries in 60 mass media categories in print, radio, television, advertising, music, the Internet and student CMMA.
Of these, 284 made it as finalists.
The CMMA was established in 1978 by the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, then archbishop of Manila, as the means by which the Church pays tribute to those who “serve God by means of the mass media.”
Other awardees for the papal visit include ABS-CBN’s TV ad on the apostolic visit titled, “Thank You sa Malasakit, Pope Francis,” which won best public service TV ad.
The song “We Are All God’s Children,” the official theme of the papal visit sung by Jamie Rivera got back-to-back awards—best inspirational song and best music video. Its titular album received a special citation for best inspirational album.
Rivera’s other song, “Papa Francisco, Mabuhay Po Kayo!” shared the best secular song award with “Ipagpatuloy Mo, Galing ng Filipino,” the theme for The Filipino Channel’s 20th anniversary.