Students from nearly 100 universities on the Chinese mainland, the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, and Taiwan expressed their excitement at the Campus News Awards 2024 ceremony in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, on Monday.
Organized by China Daily Hong Kong since 2012, the Campus News Awards received about 1,000 entries in Chinese and English, produced by more than 3,000 students. This year also witnessed a rise of 30 percent in the number of participating institutions from Taiwan compared with last year.
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A total of 28 awards were presented, including Best in News Writing, Feature Writing, Headline Writing, News Page Design, Feature Photography and New Media Reporting. Nearly 300 students from 39 schools were shortlisted, with the Hong Kong Baptist University winning the most awards.
More than 300 guests attended the event at Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC), including government officials, representatives of the media industry, journalism scholars and teachers.
Among the heavyweights to address the ceremony were Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration Warner Cheuk Wing-hing, who praised the Campus News Awards as an important platform for communication between media students.
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Cheuk described the award for the best documentary, which was presented for the first time this year, as a valuable life experience for participating students to explore social realities and express their concern for society. He encouraged students to become not only recorders, but also participants and promoters in building society.
Zhou Li, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily Group and editor-in-chief of China Daily Hong Kong, said that the rise of short video platforms and other new media is transforming information consumption habits.
“Journalism students should not only be equipped with digital skills, but also the ability to create and disseminate content across various platforms,” Zhou said, stressing that the learning and application of these skills must be rooted in a steadfast commitment to journalistic ethics.
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He said Zhuhai was chosen to host the event to allow students to experience the cultural life of the Chinese mainland, particularly the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Echoing Zhou, UIC President Chen Zhi said he hoped that the award-winning students will maintain their professional passion, and continue to scale new heights in their journalism and media careers.
Kent Wong Siu-kee, managing director of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, said the competition could facilitate mutual communication among students and cultivate talent for the journalism industry.
Liu Dexi, the co-winner of the Best in Feature Writing (Chinese), expressed his hope to unleash his potential in the media sector and bring people’s voices to a wider audience.
“When I noticed there were volunteers narrating movie stories for the visually impaired, I found it meaningful and decided to write a story about it without thinking of winning any award,” said the journalism student from Beijing Foreign Studies University.
‘Magic’ of cultural heritage
Earlier in the day, guests and students had an opportunity to appreciate traditional craft and technological innovation at the renowned jewelry brand Chow Tai Fook's diamond processing and jewelry manufacturing hub in the neighboring Shunde city.
As part of the activities for the Campus News Awards for the second consecutive year, the visit aimed to boost the understanding of Chinese traditional handicrafts and facilitate cultural exchanges.
Deeply impressed with the "magic" of goldsmithing, Wang Yu, an undergraduate majoring in communication studies at Fo Guang University in Taiwan, said she found it breathtaking to see meticulously created gold ornaments.
"The goldsmith’s skillful hands are like a magic wand, turning a piece of unpolished gold into an exquisite art piece. This is the marvel of a cultural heritage," Wang said.
She called the trip "an eye-opening experience", as it was her first time traveling to the Chinese mainland. "Before I came here, I had hardly learned of anything about the Greater Bay Area. The region is full of places worth our exploration," she said.
The annual Campus News Awards were established to encourage journalism students to participate in news reporting and hone their skills in news writing and multimedia storytelling, as well as to promote cultural exchange.
