Manila Bulletin took home the Best Automotive Print Feature plum at the recent 2021 Henry Ford Awards for Journalism.
Organized by Ford Philippines, the annual Henry Ford Awards (HFA) recognize excellence and professionalism in Philippine automotive journalism, honoring the work of the country’s esteemed roster of motoring journalists. This year’s event was held virtually, attended by over 130 journalists, dealer partners, and Ford executives.
Taking the top honor for the Automotive Print Feature category was Eric Tipan, with his article, What Happens When Cheap Oil Meets A Pandemic. The story explains how low fuel trading prices across the globe may not necessarily equate to low prices at the pump. It also explores the nature of oil as a global product and how events halfway across the globe can affect its price and logistics.
2021 marks the 20th year of the HFA. This year, the HFA has awarded winners from 16 categories, including the newly-introduced Go Further Changemaker Award which recognized five journalists who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help his or her fellow countrymen at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
Awards were bestowed on categories like Best Automotive Column, Green Feature, Industry Feature, Road Safety, Technology, Online Feature, Online Lifestyle Feature, Print Lifestyle Feature, Best Photograph, Video, and many more.
The winners this year were selected from over 200 entries submitted by members of the automotive print, online and broadcast media.
“The 20th Henry Ford Awards has become more meaningful this year as we paid tribute to the great work of Filipino motoring journalists who continue to keep the industry alive and their readers informedamid the pandemic. This year’s winners truly raised the bar in delivering automotive news that is timely and relevant to the public,” said EJ Francisco, AVP for Communications, Ford Philippines.
Board of Judges
The winners were determined by an esteemed panel of judges from the academe, corporate, and creative industries.
For the first phase, which evaluated the entries on overall composition, style, and substance, the judges were Dr. Maria Margarita Alvina-Acosta (Dean, Department of Communication, Miriam College), Dr. Arminda Santiago (Professor & Dean, College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines – Diliman), Dr. Severino Sarmenta (Lecturer, Department of Communication, Ateneo de Manila University) and Dr. Cheryll Soriano (Professor, Department of Communication, De La Salle University – Manila).
On the other hand, the judges for the second phase looked at resonance, relevance and overall impact of the entry to the reading audience. They were Joshua Aquino (Country Lead for Communications, Microsoft Philippines), Owen Cammayo (Vice President and Head of Corporate Affairs, Bank of the Philippine Islands), Ritzi Ronquillo (Chair, Awards Committee for the 2021 Gold Quill Awards, InternationalAssociation of Business Communicators), and Mervin Wenke (Head of Communications and Public Affairs, Google Philippines).
Finally, the special judges for this year responsible for judging photos, videos, design and layout, content publishing, and website managementincluded Cecile Alcantara (President, Coca-Cola Foundation), Pat Dy (Photographer), Jason Magbanua (Videographer), Dino Ocampo (Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather) and Carlo Ople (Vice President and Head of Marketing Communications, PLDT Home).
For the complete list of winners as well as the latest updates from Ford Group Philippines, click on this LINK.