MALOLOS, Bulacan — PMFTC Inc., on February 27, launched the 12th Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards in Central Luzon, the country’s rice granary.
As an agricultural company, the Bright Leaf is PMFTC’s way of honoring the most important and outstanding agricultural news stories that were able to raise the discourse of critical agriculture issues and celebrating the best photographs that captured the spirit of Philippine agriculture in a single frame.
“As one of the pioneer award-giving bodies in agriculture journalism, Bright Leaf continues to honor and give due recognition to journalists and photographers, who are the people behind the stories that pay tribute to the struggles and successes of our country’s farmers and other producers. They are the brave messengers, who bring to public attention the importance of agriculture in our everyday lives,” said PMFTC External Affairs Director Bayen Elero-Tinga.
This year’s Bright Leaf competition introduces a new and special category— the Best Online Story, which will be awarded to the best agriculture news or feature story published in an online news website. The addition of this new award category is in keeping with the current trend of readers getting their information speedily in the digital space.
The launch took place at the Bistro Maloleno in Malolos, Bulacan and was well-attended by Bulacan-based journalists from print and broadcast news agencies.
In the last 12 years, the Bright Leaf Awards has truly built a legacy of being the premier agriculture journalism competition in the country. From only 82 entries in its first year, Bright Leaf now reaps hundreds of entries as the judges search for the best exemplars of agricultural journalism in 2018.
With the theme 12 Years of Bounty for the season, Bright Leaf invites journalists nationwide to submit entries to the following categories:
- Agriculture Story of the Year
- Agriculture Photo of the Year
- Tobacco Story of the Year
- Tobacco Photo of the Year
- Best Television Program or Segment
- Best Radio Program or Segment
- Best Agriculture News Story-National
- Best Agriculture News Story-Regional
- Best Agriculture Feature Story-National
- Best Agriculture Feature Story-Regional
- Best Online Story
After the Malolos launch, Bright Leaf will be visiting key cities across the Philippines to engage media practitioners and invite them to join the Bright Leaf Awards.
There is no entry fee for joining the competition. Journalists and photographers may submit as many entries for consideration. However, an entry may not be submitted in more than one category. Entries should be published, aired, or broadcast between September 1, 2017, to August 31, 2018.
The deadline for entries is September 1, 2018.
Entries may be in English or any of the Philippine languages. For entries that are not in English, participants will need to submit an English translation.
Winners will be announced during the 2018 Bright Leaf Awards ceremony in November and will be receiving cash prizes, iPads, and an all-expense-paid trip to an Asian country.