Malaysiakini Kini News Lab Bag Journalism Awards Again

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Malaysiakini and its special project arm Kini News Lab bagged four awards at this year’s Malaysian Press Institute-Petronas Journalism Awards for their reporting in 2022.
The news portal was named the winner of the newly created ‘Best Multimedia Journalism’ category, which came with an RM10,000 prize, a trophy, and a certificate.
This was for Kini News Lab's three interactive features, two of which were regarding the 15th general election, namely ‘Understanding GE15’ and ‘Understanding the Power of Young Voters’.
The third feature was called 'Do You Have Enough for Retirement? Let's Find Out', a special report on retirement savings which helps users calculate how much they might have when they retire.
This is the third time in four years Kini News Lab had won the first prize in this category since it was introduced in 2019.
The team consists of Lee Long Hui, Ooi Choon Nam, Yan Jing Tian, Syariman Badrulzaman, Andrew Ong Kok Heng, and Raveena Preet Kaur Nagotra.
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Malaysiakini associate editor Martin Vengadesan, meanwhile, topped the 'Best Columnist/Feature Writing' category through his articles ‘Irdina's brilliance shatters 'Malays need protector' spiel, ‘Marhaen, kayangan and the infuriating minimum wage debate’, and ‘When your friends don't know they're racists’.
Malaysiakini Chinese edition reporter Low Choon Chyuan won third place for the 'Excellence in Investigative Reporting' category, while photographer Azneal Ishak bagged third place for the ‘Excellence in Photo Essay’ category.
Low won the award through his three articles: ‘27 quarries to open up in Bukit Lagong Forest, Selangor GLCs involved’, ‘Bukit Lagong: More quarries with royal, political links unearthed’, and ‘Loophole for developers: Cutting forest reserve projects into small pieces’.
For the photo essay category, Azneal submitted his work from the Batang Kali landslide tragedy titled: ‘Tragedi Batang Kali - 9 hari misi mencari dan menyelamat’.
The prestigious Kajai Award went to Harian Metro's Yusmizal Dolah Aling through his articles ‘Terima Kasih Laoshi’, ‘Hadiah Raya Paling Bermakna’, ‘Rohana Abdullah kini warga Malaysia’, and ‘Sanjung Budi Laoshi’.
The award came with an RM30,000 prize, a trophy, and a certificate.
James Alexander Ritchie, a former executive director for New Sarawak Tribune, was named as the recipient of this year's Special Award, while Borneo Post managing director Henry Lau Lee Kong was named as this year's Tokoh Media Negara.
The winners from all categories received their awards from Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil and his deputy Teo Nie Ching while Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim handed out the prestigious Kajai Award.
Vengadesan, when met after the event, said: “Bringing news to the people is important, but I also believe that opinion writing has a vital role in the newsroom.
“It enables you to put things in perspective and make important observations. I am grateful to be given the space to share my thoughts and explore issues through humour.” - Mkini

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