255 Journalists To Vie For Awards At Malaysian Journalism Night 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 (Bernama) - Some 255 journalists and 507 articles representing 26 media organisations will vie for the Kajai Award and Malaysian Journalism Awards (MJA) in conjunction with Malaysian Journalism Night (MJN) 2012 on March 30. Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) Chief Executive Officer Chamil Wariya said there are 255 entries this year, the highest since the introduction of MJA's new format in 2009, compared to 198 entries in 2011. "This shows that journalists have realised the role of MPI in recognising their work. The increased participation has positively affected the quality of works in contention. "We see an improvment in writing, television news, videos, documentaries, photographs and news production," he said at the presentation of contribution and sponsorship for Malaysian Journalism Night 2012 here Friday. At the event, MPI received RM357,000 (nearly US$117,000) from 47 corporations and government agencies for Malaysian Journalism Night 2012, the 32nd since it was introduced in 1980. Chamil said there is significant increase in the A. Samad Ismail junior journalist and best article categories that require journalists to send at least three articles to qualify. "For the two categories, the MPI would like to see the commitment of journalists in writing throughout the year and they can't use the same article for two different categories," he added. Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) Editor-in-Chief Yong Soo Heong said journalists competing in the A. Samad Ismail junior journalist and best article categories are evaluated based on their commitment and quality of articles written. "If they (journalists) send three articles but two are below the quality expected by MPI, their chances of winning may be slim. It is better for them to send five or six articles for the two categories as they are evaluated based on quality and commitment made," said Yong who is also a member of MPI Governing Council. For MJN, a total of 12 MJA categories are open to media practitioners to participate where the best entry will be named winner of Kajai Award that carries RM30,000 (US$9,800) cash prize and a gold coin weighing 100 grammes. (US$1=RM3.05) - BERNAMA