MEN and women in media are once again invited to participate in the Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards where fabulous prizes await the winners
Now on its fifth year, the activity aims to promote journalistic excellence in the field of agriculture and to recognize the works of media people who are dedicated to increase public awareness to the development of Philippine agriculture.
The contest is open to all Filipino journalists as well as to the correspondents of any local publications or broadcast companies.
Contestants must be a resident of the country. Each entry should be an original work, and must have been published or broadcast first in a Philippine publication, television or radio.
The Bright Leaf Awards is composed of ten categories such as Best Agriculture News Story, Best Agriculture Feature Story, Best Agriculture TV Program/Segment, Best Agriculture Radio Program/Segment, Agriculture Photo of the year, Tobacco Photo of the Year, Agriculture Story of the Year and Tobacco Story of the Year.
All entries must be submitted on or before 7 p.m. of August 31, 2011. For more information, contestants may visit the official website of the Bright Leaf, log on to www.brightleafawards.com.
Last year, three local journalists brought honors to the city as they bagged awards in the prestigious 2010 Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Award.
Photojournalist Andy Zapata, Baguio correspondent of the Philippine Star, won the Tobacco Photo of the Year award. Entitled “The Best among the Best,” his winning entry was a distinctive portrait of a tobacco farmer surrounded by leaves. Zapata is the winner in this category for three consecutive years.
The Agriculture Photo of the Year was awarded to Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) Northern Luzon Bureau photographer Edgardo Espiritu. His entry, ”Luntiang Daan,” features a rice-terraces farming family showing a Kalinga mother holding her baby as she watches her three other children at play in a wide green field of palay.
The two photojournalists each received a cash prize of P25,000, an iPod, trophy and an all expense paid trip to Asia.
DZWX Bombo Radio Baguio anchorman Delfrado ‘Jun’ Villanueva won the Best Radio Segment on Agriculture entitled “The Life in the Farm”. This won him a cash prize of P60,000 and a trophy.
“I encourage my fellow journalists to join in this prominent movement as it enhances and showcases our work as media and at the same time gives us a chance to win fabulous prizes,” said Villanueva. (Joseph B Zambrano)