We’re very pleased to announce that The Washington Post has been honored for journalistic excellence by the Society of Publishers in Asia, the voice of the media and publishing industry in the Asia-Pacific region.
SOPA gave its 2024 award for Excellence in Reporting on the Environment to “Clean Cars, Hidden Toll,” which investigated the unintended harm done to communities, workers and the environment by the mining and processing of minerals for electric vehicles. The series, pursued across Asia and Africa, was reported by Rebecca Tan, Gerry Shih, Evan Halper, Rachel Chason, Katharine Houreld, Dera Menra Sijabat, Aaron Steckelberg, Hannah Dormido, Ruby Mellen, Steven Rich and Cate Brown, and photographed by Lorenzo Tugnoli, Joshua Irwandi, Chloe Sharrock, Ilan Godfrey and Arlette Bashizi.
An honorable mention for Excellence in Technology Reporting went to “Rising India, Toxic Tech,” which investigated how Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his rightwing allies have been using technology to tighten their grip on the country and promote their Hindu nationalist agenda. The series, which was a joint effort of the International, Business and Data staffs, was reported by Gerry Shih, Joseph Menn, Pranshu Verma, Karishma Mehrotra, Anant Gupta and Clara Ence Morse.
A finalist recognition for the SOPA Award for Public Service was given to “The Collection,” an investigative series reported by Nicole Dungca, Claire Healy and Andrew Tran that revealed the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of tens of thousands of human remains. As part of the series, Healy, Dungca and visual artist Ren Galeno produced an illustrated narrative about Maura, an 18-year-old Indigenous Filipino woman whose brain was likely sent to the Smithsonian after she died at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.
The full list of 2024 SOPA Awards winners and finalists can be found here.
Please join us in congratulating our honorees.
