Among them, India managed a lone spot, with Mint, HT Media being shortlisted in Group B of the category, Excellence in Reporting on Women’s Issues, for the feature ‘The Widows of Beed’. Written by Namita Bhandare and published on 4 May 2016, the feature focuses on how the widows and children of the farmers of Beed who committed suicide are coping.

Now in their 19th year, the awards are widely considered the most prestigious in the Asia Pacific publishing industry and a world-class benchmark of journalistic best practice.

Participating media competed in 17 categories, including two new categories this year — Excellence in Journalistic Innovation and Excellence in Video Reporting — to reflect the region’s evolving media landscape and growing use of digital tools and short-form videos.

The entries were assessed by a judging panel of more than 100 media professionals, including journalists, editors and columnists from some of the region’s most influential publications, along with academics from a number of Asia’s leading journalism schools. 

The winners will be named at the Sopa Awards gala dinner to be held on 15 June at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Chris Patten, Hong Kong’s last governor, will deliver a keynote speech at the dinner by video from London. Coming just two weeks before the 20th anniversary of the Hong Kong handover, Patten will share his thoughts on the future of Hong Kong and the current worldwide backlash against globalisation.

Sopa will also organise workshop and media tours at Google, Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters during the afternoon of 15 June.