TNP wins big for visual journalism

This article is more than 12 months old

The New Paper bagged four awards yesterday at the English/Malay/Tamil Media (EMTM) Awards, held annually by Singapore Press Holdings. KRYSTAL CHIA and DANELIA CHIM (tnp@sph.com.sg) report

Mar 04, 2016 06:00 am

Visual journalism has been a hallmark of The New Paper since it was launched in 1988.

Yesterday, three out of the four awards won by TNP at the English/Malay/Tamil Media (EMTM) Awards, held annually by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), were for visual journalism, which includes videos, infographics and illustrations.

The standout winner was Mr Billy Ker, 27, who became the first artist to win the Young Journalist of the Year.

TNP's editor Dominic Nathan, 52, said: "TNP does some of its best storytelling through artwork and Billy represents a new generation of communicators who will keep us relevant to a younger audience.

"From our early days, TNP realised that as a tabloid, we should show instead of tell. It is part of our DNA."

Said Mr Ker: "I feel very honoured as the award is not commonly associated with artists."

The other TNP winners were:

Illustration of the Year: Mr Celestino Gulapa

Best Video of the Year: Mr Gregory Loo and Mr David Lee

Special Award of the Year for Excellence (in Teamwork): Mr Melvin Singh and a team of 22 reporters, sub-editors, editors, designers and artists. (See reports)

Mr Nathan added that awards are a way for people in the industry to see where they stand.

"I think awards give us a good indicator of where we are now - the transformation of TNP from a largely print newsroom to a largely digital one," he said.

'BLEND'

Mr Ken Jalleh Jr, who heads the art department, said of the two individual winners from the art department: "It's a sweet double made more satisfying by the synergistic blend of experience and youth."

"It reflects the depth and range of skills of TNP's creative department, our diversity, versatility, consistency," added Mr Jalleh, who is chief executive officer of TNP offshoot Think (thinktnp.com), which offers creative services.

The EMTM Awards are held annually to celebrate and honour the achievements of SPH's English, Malay and Tamil newsrooms.

He's the first artist to win the award

AWARD: Young Journalist of the Year

WINNER: Mr Billy Ker, 27, infographic journalist

WHAT: Award-winning infographics and illustrations over recent years, such as "Olá Brasil" for the 2014 Fifa World Cup and "Red, white & sold!" for the SG50 celebrations.

HE SAYS

"I feel honoured as the award is not commonly associated with artists.

"I did not expect to win as I was up against three outstanding journalists. I am glad my hard work has paid off.

"I am inspired by my job. Every news story is something new and I get to learn a lot about different topics.

"The biggest challenge is having to deal with tight deadlines as our assignments are often for the next day's papers. It is all about managing my time well."

Mr Ker is the first artist to win the Young Journalist of the Year award since it was first handed out in 1996.

He joined The New Paper in 2013 and won the 2014 EMTM award for Best Page Design.

He is also a rare double winner of two Society for News Design Awards for Feature Design Pages, in 2013 and 2014.

WINNER: Young Journalist of the Year Billy Ker and two of his award-winning infographics. PHOTOS: THE NEWPAPER, JONATHAN CHOO

S'pore's stories,  our stories

AWARD: Special Award of the Year for Excellence (in Teamwork)

WINNERS: News consultant Melvin Singh, and a 22-member team

WHAT: "A 50-year flashback"

The SG50 package published in the National Day 2015 edition features prominent events as a flashback of every year since independence. It was the stories of Singapore that truly allowed the TNP newsroom's team spirit to shine through.

MELVIN SAYS:

TEAM SPIRIT: The team that won the Special Award of the Year for Excellence (in Teamwork).

"It was a radical idea to turn the paper into a homage of our 50 years, and condense all that history into bite-sized pieces.

"It was a labour of love that brought out the best in a newsroom packed with experience, skill and tenacity. Couldn't have done it without our resource centre colleagues and their collective institutional memory.

"I suppose in telling the story of the country's 50 years since independence, they all realised they were telling their own story. So a country's history is really made up of the stories of every individual over those 50 years. How not to be interested and passionate?"