GMA News Online hands out first webby awards

For web-savvy journalists, it's definitely more fun to work at GMA News Online, which presented its first ever in-house awards Thursday to honor staff achievements. Reporter Andreo Calonzo, who covers the House of Representatives, won the Best News Story award for his article “In historic 113-104 vote, House approves RH bill on second reading.” The story was cited for “providing an incisive account of a cliff-hanger decision on one of the most contentious issues in recent Philippine history.”  

The Best Feature Story award went to “Falling in love with Chai in India” written by Amanda Lago during her trip to the subcontinent last year, which was cited “for its captivating narrative of a journey to discover the wonders of tea.” The Best Multimedia story award was given to the interactive piece “Who's who in the CJ Corona impeachment trial” for “giving a clear perspective on the cast of characters involved in the year's most important news event.” It was produced by the Multimedia Team at the time headed by Paolo Ferrer, with assistance from researcher Anna Mae Lamentillo and artist Analyn Perez. The award for Innovation of the Year was presented to the sports team, Wayne Manuel, and New Media Inc. for the live scoring application that was first used to provide a running tally of the voting during the Corona trial and subsequently adapted for sports coverage. It was cited as “an engaging tool that gives readers a ringside view of important news events.” The Reporter of the Year award went to Kimberly Jane Tan “for her in-depth reportage on the Corona trial and substantive coverage of the Senate.” Meanwhile, the Editor of the Year award was given to senior news editor Raffy Jimenez “for directing daily reportage and upholding the credibility of the news section that has helped make it the most visited part of the website.” Finally, the Writer of the Year award was presented to the Lifestyle section's Melay Lapeña “for ably producing both news and feature stories that have garnered much praise for both content and style.” The GMA News Online staff nominated the finalists and through a digital secret ballot chose the winners. GMA News Online Editor-in-Chief Howie Severino handed out plaques of recognition to all the winners. – YA, GMA News