Campus News Awards makes history with record participation

Guests pose for a group photo during the 2023 Campus News Awards presentation ceremony at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Guangzhou on Dec 4, 2023. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)

Over 100 outstanding student reporters from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and the Chinese mainland gathered in Guangzhou, Guangdong province on Monday to share their joy at winning the 2023 Campus News Awards, as well as celebrate the annual journalism prize's 12th anniversary.

This year, the award received over 1,000 entries produced by more than 3,600 college students in 84 colleges from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, Taiwan and the Chinese mainland, marking the highest level of participation in terms of the number of entries, participants and participating colleges since the award's launch in 2012 by China Daily.

Addressing the award ceremony, Hong Kong Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki said that the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that talents are the first resource

Awards under a total of 28 award categories were presented during the ceremony held on the campus of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) on Monday, including the awards for Best in News Reporting, Best in News Writing, and Best in Data Journalism. Many awards have both Chinese-language and English-language categories.

The ceremony was attended by over 200 guests, including leaders of the media industry, journalism scholars as well as teacher and student representatives from Tsinghua University, the University of Hong Kong, Shih Hsin University and University of Macau.

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Addressing the award ceremony, Hong Kong Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki said that the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that talents are the first resource.

Chan said that the journalism sector is an important driving force for social progress and development, and The Campus News Awards, organized by China Daily Hong Kong, has been nurturing young talents for the journalism sector for many years, allowing students from across the Taiwan Strait, Hong Kong and Macao to put what they have learnt into practice, and to hone their skills in reporting and multi-media production.

A group of students from the Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College, won the Best in News Video Reporting award in the English-language category.

Eric Chan Kwok-ki, Chief Secretary for Administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, gives a speech in a video message during the 2023 Campus News Awards presentation ceremony at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Guangzhou on Dec 4, 2023. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)

Two members of the team – Liu Ruiming and Hou Yitong — said their video, titled "The Changing Functions of Temples — Commercialization and Entertainment" explored the trend that more and more young people become interested in going to temples for entertainment and some of the controversy generated by such behavior.

This is the fifth year that Lim Chi-yuk, associate professor from the department of journalism of Taiwan's Shin Hsin University, took her students to participate in the Campus News Awards.

READ MORE: Tour deepens bonds among young cross-Straits journalists

Lim said that it might be her last time to attend this ceremony as she will retire soon. "This year we won 15 awards, which is the best achievement ever. It means a lot to me," Lim said.

"The most meaningful point of this award is that it allows students to communicate with other students from different places and have the chance to jump out of their small zones and see a bigger world," she added.

This year, for the first time, the award ceremony of the Campus News Awards was held in the Nansha District of Guangzhou – which lies in the geometric center of the Pearl River Estuary and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Prior to the award ceremony, the award's organizer invited teachers and students to visit Pony.ai, an autonomous driving technology firm, and an experience center of XPeng Motors, one of the mainland's leading electric car makers, on Monday morning.

Zhou Li, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily Group and editor-in-chief of China Daily Hong Kong Edition, delivers a speech during the 2023 Campus News Awards presentation ceremony at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Guangzhou on Dec 4, 2023. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)

Students and teachers from the department of mass communication of Taiwan's Tamkang University called the tour "impressive". Wan Yu-feng, the adjunct professional expert from the Tamkang University, said that visiting Pony.ai helped her get a sense of the road to the future. "I feel like we are stepping into the future, seeing the city of the future, witnessing the road to the future," said Wan.

Li Xu, a student from the University of Macau, said the visit enhanced her understanding of self-driving applications. She added that the University of Macao has also developed autonomous driving through new artificial intelligence technologies, but the overall unmanned driving technology is rare in Macao. "Visiting the enterprise is a good way to let Macao students know more about the new technologies in the mainland," Li said.

ALSO READ: Young reporters: Campus News Awards a 'rewarding experience'

In 2012, China Daily Hong Kong established the Campus News Awards. The competition aims to encourage college students to actively participate in campus news reporting and hone their all-round skills as future journalists. The establishment of the awards highlights the profession of journalism and reflects the characteristics of journalism that keep pace with the times. 

More than 100 veteran journalists, university journalism professors and professionals from relevant government departments served as judges, ensuring the objectivity and fairness of the review. This competition has become a prominent exchange platform for journalism students from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and the mainland.