Winners of 1st NTU Public News Contest named

2014-11-28

Recipients of the inaugural National Taiwan University Public News Contest were honored in a ceremony Nov. 26, showcasing the journalistic skills and robust civic participation of students from the Taipei City-based institution.

Staged at the NTU Multimedia Production Center, the event saw nine stories spanning multimedia news, print press and video features receive certificates and share prize money of NT$75,000 (US$2,458). The pieces were selected from 24 submissions.

“NTU is pleased to co-host the award with UDN News Group and encourage the students to care more about society through news reporting,” NTU Academic Affairs Office Dean Juang Rong-huay said. “We are proud to see the winning stories covering such a diverse array of topics.”

The pieces were selected for their critical analysis of key social issues in 2014. Best Multimedia News, Print Press and Video Feature awards went to “Yellow Ribbons of History” by a seven-member team led by Chen Chen-hua, “Farmland Paradox in Taiwan’s Yilan County” by Lin Ting-yi, and “Cordoned Besras in NTU” by Hung Yu-wen and Lin Pin-wei, respectively.

According to Juang, “Yellow Ribbons of History” vividly describes the ideals of opposition activist Lin Yi-hsiung and lives of many similar figures in the past. “This online story gives readers a comprehensive understanding of Taiwan’s social movements and its praiseworthy participants,” he said.

Equally outstanding is “Farmland Paradox in Taiwan’s Yilan County.” The piece offers an accurate and detailed discussion of excessive land development in the northern Taiwan county after the amended Agricultural Development Act took force in 2000.

Another top performer is “Cordoned Besras in NTU,” covering NTU Nature Conservation Club efforts at protecting the endangered birds of prey nesting on the school campus from overenthusiastic onlookers.

“The report carefully records the cordoning process and is extremely moving,” Juang said. “It is sincere in tone, carrying no sensational elements found in many news videos nowadays.”

Given the high standard of submissions in the competition, Juang said NTU is confident the award will help set the tone for socially aware reportage. “We are confident the contest is certain to attract more outstanding entries going forward.”

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=224529&CtNode=413)