Awards Finalists
SOPA Announces 2026 Awards for Editorial Excellence Finalists and Winners!
1. Excellence in Reporting on Women’s Issues (卓越女性議題報道獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: The New York Times, The Secret Campaign in China to Save a Woman Chained by the Neck
Honorable Mention: CNN International, Economic plight of women in Asia
Finalist: The Wall Street Journal, The Business of Fertility: Chinese Elites Turn to U.S. Surrogates for Babies
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: Himal Southasian, The woman in the bathroom
Honorable Mention: Frontier Myanmar, Hidden burdens of Myanmar women: Health, livelihoods, and early marriage
Finalist: Press Trust of India, Women who are left behind: Another side of Assam floods
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 全球代孕產業/The Untold Stories of Transnational Surrogacy Industry
Honorable Mention: 鏡傳媒 Mirror Media, 晶片戰爭沒有女人的臉：台灣「矽盾」背後的母親群像 系列報導/The Hidden Cost of Taiwan’s Silicon Shield: A Generation of Mothers
Finalist: 多多益善 Right Plus, 【身心障礙女性的婚育路】從「完美的母親」解放，摸索多元家庭的樣貌 /The Path to Marriage and Motherhood for Women with Disabilities: Breaking Free from the ‘Perfect Mother’ Myth
2. Excellence in Journalistic Innovation (卓越新聞報道創新獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: Bloomberg, India's Digital Nightmare
Honorable Mention: Bloomberg, China’s Falling Prices
Finalist: The New York Times, How Did the C.I.A. Lose a Nuclear Device?
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: CNA, Singapore Budget 2025: What’s in it for you?
Honorable Mention: The Straits Times, Lost games
Finalist: The Straits Times, How to make the best out of limited spaces
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 消失的樂園新生的人 - 台灣八仙粉塵燃燒事件十週年/Ten Years After the Formosa Fun Coast Explosion
Honorable Mention: 報導者 The Reporter, 動態模擬「宏泰輪」詭跡：台、歐斷纜危機的中國陰影/Taiwan’s Undersea Crisis: Tracing Chinese-Owned Ships Suspected of Cable Damage
Finalist: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 被高溫重塑的日常 /How Are Our Lives Forever Changed By the Heat?
3. Excellence in Audio Reporting (卓越音頻報道獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: The Economist, Scam Inc
Honorable Mention: Bloomberg, Tariffed: Toymaker vs Trump
Finalist: BBC World Service, Student Predator: Surviving Zhenhao Zou
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: The Economic Times, A Spoonful of Death
Honorable Mention: CommonWealth Magazine, Taiwanology：Seeking Peace in Taiwan: An Israeli and a Palestinian in Dialogue
Finalist: Himal Southasian, Saffron Siege
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 報導者 The Reporter, 未成年的他們為跨越「性別」付出了什麼？/The Cost of Crossing Gender for Transgender Youth
Honorable Mention: 西郊密林 Western Forest, 铜锣湾二楼的阿海/Ah Hai’s CWB 2nd Floor
Finalist: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 世界的台積電？/When TSMC Goes Global
4. Excellence in Video Reporting (卓越視頻報道獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: BBC Eye and BBC Global China Unit, The Schools That Break Children
Honorable Mention: Financial Times, Japan's demographic time bomb
Finalist: The Wall Street Journal, The Gold Rush East: Inside Singapore’s Fort Knox
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: TaiwanPlus, What Matters More: Indigenous Culture or Animal Rights?
Honorable Mention: The Quint, Why Indian Cities aren't Walkable
Finalist: The Migration Story, Beneath The Panel | The Hidden Losses of India’s Solar Parks
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 商業周刊 Business Weekly, 掏空台灣還是稱霸世界？ 》直擊！為了台積電美國5兆投資，到沙漠蓋竹科/Hollowing Out or Dominating the World? Inside TSMC’s NT$5 Trillion Bet, Replicating Hsinchu Science Park in US Desert
Honorable Mention: 今周刊 Business Today, 海草消失，魚蝦也不見— —台灣海洋的重大危機/Vanishing Seagrass, Disappearing Fish: Taiwan’s Ocean Crisis
Finalist: BBC中文 BBC Chinese, 深偽色情與法律真空：港大「N號檔」事件調查/Deepfake Porn and a Legal Void: Investigating HKU’s ‘N Folder’ Case
5. Excellence in Human Rights Reporting (卓越人權報道獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (US), Stuff (New Zealand), China Targets
Honorable Mention: The Wall Street Journal, Tibet’s Forgotten Resistance
Finalist: Financial Times, The dark truth behind supermarket tuna
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: Frontier Myanmar, Rakhine in crisis: Begging to survive amid starvation
Honorable Mention: Frontier Myanmar, Myanmar's election under fear: the ending is already known
Finalist: Himal Southasian, Climate refugees from Bangladesh face a political storm in India
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 報導者 The Reporter, 不向時間低頭──童年性侵倖存者揭開黑幕，挑戰追訴期高牆的漫漫長路/Against Time and Silence: Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors’ Long Fight to Challenge the Statute of Limitations
Honorable Mention: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 香港勞工的危脆生命 /Hong Kong Workers: Precarious Work, Precarious Lives
Finalist: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 不隱藏的禮拜：錫安教會大抓捕後，中國地下基督徒走向何方？/After the Raid: China's Underground Christians Following the Zion Church Crackdown
6. Excellence in Feature Writing (卓越專題特寫獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: 1843 The Economist, Would you pass the world’s toughest exam?
Honorable Mention: 1843 The Economist, How one man got off death row in a country with a 99% conviction rate
Finalist: Bloomberg, India’s Boiling Point
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: Australian Broadcasting Corporation, How a Thai worker was taken hostage in a foreign war
Honorable Mention: Hong Kong Free Press, ‘Place of heartbreak’: One month since fatal fire, Wang Fuk Court residents reel from trauma, pondering their future
Finalist: The Japan Times, The making of Shinzo Abe’s assassin
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 長篇現場：跨國代孕的代價，在她們身上/Surrogate Mothers: the Bodies that Paid the Price
Honorable Mention: 鏡傳媒 Mirror Media, 熱血是怎麼冷卻的—急診體制病危下的醫師出走潮/How the Passion Cooled: The Physician Exodus and the Crisis of an Ailing ER System
Finalist: 報導者 The Reporter, 回到9歲那年的河灘── 一位童年性侵倖存者，29年後獨立蒐證追尋真相/Returning to the Riverbank at Nine: A Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivor’s Independent Search for Truth, 29 Years Later
7. Excellence in Technology Reporting (卓越科技報道獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: The Associated Press, Made in America, Watched Worldwide
Honorable Mention: Reuters, China quest for tech self-sufficiency
Finalist: Bloomberg, China’s AI Surge
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: Project Multatuli English, #AutomationFever series
Honorable Mention: The Straits Times, Punggol Digital District
Finalist: The Australian Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald, UnWise: the downfall of tech billionaire Richard White
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 情色的未來/Desires Decoded
Honorable Mention: 天下雜誌 CommonWealth Magazine, 《天下雜誌》833期〈星馬大賺中立財 新亞洲AI廊道〉/Singapore and Malaysia: A New Asian AI Corridor
Finalist: 信報財經月刊 Hong Kong Economic Journal Monthly, 中國尖端晶片技術短期難超美國 記憶體賽道有望領跑/The Great Chip War: China's Bottlenecks in Cutting-Edge Tech and the Memory Chip Opportunity
8. Excellence in Magazine Design (卓越雜誌設計獎)*
Award for Excellence: Tasting Kitchen, TK62 Cubanacán
Honorable Mention: 艺术界 LEAP, 下海游/Across the Sea
Finalist: Bloomberg, Bloomberg Markets Magazine’s Japan Issue
9. Excellence in Arts and Culture Reporting (卓越藝術及文化報道獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: Financial Times, The ‘wild’ writer who told the truth about work in China
Honorable Mention: Bloomberg, Mumbai’s Overhaul
Finalist: The Wire China, "A Vicious Cycle"
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: Frontier Myanmar, The junta’s cultural crusade
Honorable Mention: PostMag, The Chinese baristas keeping Italian cafe culture alive
Finalist: The Korea Times, Korean Art Odyssey: Status and realities of Korean art in overseas museums
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 報導者 The Reporter, 跟唱紅色主旋律？台灣獨立樂團西進中國的靈魂拷問/Playing to the Main Melody? Taiwan Indie Music‘s China Predicament
Honorable Mention: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 中國影像新秩序/Rewriting China's Screen
Finalist: BBC中文 BBC Chinese, 十公里外的自由：金門如何成為中國「敏感電影」的觀影天堂/Ten Kilometres from Freedom: How Kinmen Became a Haven for China's ‘Sensitive’ Films
10. Excellence in Bahasa Indonesia News Reporting (亞洲出版業協會印尼語新聞報道獎)
Award for Excellence: Project Multatuli, Serial #DaruratKekerasanAparat/ #PoliceViolenceEmergency Series
Honorable Mention: Mongabay Indonesia, Sisi Gelap Hilirisasi Nikel Indonesia: Krisis Lingkungan dan Ancaman bagi Masyarakat Adat di Halmahera/The Dark Side of Indonesia’s Nickel Downstreaming: Environmental and Indigenous Crisis in Halmahera
Finalist: Konde.co, Stop Misogini Teknologi: Manipulasi AI Sampai TPPO Berbasis Disinformasi Mengancam Perempuan/Stop Tech Misogyny: Women Under the Threat of AI Manipulation to Disinformation-Based Human Trafficking
11. Excellence in Explanatory Reporting (卓越解釋性報道獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: Financial Times, Why Trump can’t build iPhones in the US
Honorable Mention: The Wall Street Journal, Inside ‘Fortress China’
Finalist: The New York Times, Inside South Korea’s Martial Law Crisis
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: The Straits Times, How South-east Asia navigates the minefields of big-power rivalry
Honorable Mention: Frontier Myanmar, 'Hard to fight': Weapon shortages hamper resistance groups
Finalist: Project Multatuli English, A Lopsided War: 83,000 Soldiers and Police Powering Indonesia’s Violent Agenda in Papua
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 香港世紀大火：解讀報導系列/Hong Kong Mega-Fire: Burning Questions
Honorable Mention: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 從自辯到判罪，黎智英案法庭全紀錄/Jimmy Lai: A Court Chronicle
Finalist: 報導者 The Reporter, 廢墟少年二部曲：凝視深淵──被排除的少年與救贖的協力者們/Youth in the Ruins Part II: Adolescents Left Behind and Those Who Catch Them
12. Excellence in Business Reporting (卓越經濟報道獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: Reuters, Fast lane
Honorable Mention: The New York Times, China and Rare Earths
Finalist: Bloomberg, India’s Jane Street Crackdown
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: The Australian Financial Review, Chairman Stokes: The inside story of Seven (as told by the board)
Honorable Mention: The Australian Financial Review, ‘We didn’t have a hope in hell’: KWM’s cautionary China tale
Finalist: IFR Asia, Missing seal thwarts lenders to Chinese property developer
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 商業周刊 Business Weekly, 台灣世紀豪賭 到美國蓋竹科/Taiwan’s Century Gamble: Replicating Hsinchu Science Park in US Desert
Honorable Mention: 報導者 The Reporter, 一通電話踏進債務流沙──揭開「融資租賃」的高利結構與剝削真相/A phone call that pulls you into the quicksand of debt — Unmasking the usurious structure and exploitative truths of ‘finance leasing’
Finalist: 遠見雜誌 Global Views Monthly, 全球熱錢下一站．台灣 Taiwan: Asia's Next Global Capital Hub
13. Excellence in Infographics (卓越數據圖像獎)**
Combined (Global & Regional Local groups)
Award for Excellence: Reuters, Scammed into scamming
Honorable Mention: Reuters, Air India crash
Finalist: The New York Times, How the Fire in Hong Kong Became So Deadly
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 天下雜誌 CommonWealth Magazine, 馬太鞍溪堰塞湖 致災關鍵事件簿/How a Landslide Lake Turned Deadly: Reconstructing 64 Critical Days of the Matai'an
Honorable Mention: 報導者 The Reporter, 從數據找病灶，用設計改風險：盤點台灣119座道路圓環問題/From Data to Design: Risks in Taiwan’s 119 Traffic Circles
Finalist: 今日新聞 NOWNEWS, 心理假。心裡放個假/Mental health, take a mind break!
14. Excellence in Reporting Breaking News (卓越突發新聞獎)**
Combined (Global & Regional/Local groups)
Award for Excellence: CNN International, CNN coverage of the India-Pakistan war
Honorable Mention: The Wall Street Journal, The Disaster of Air India Flight 171
Finalist: Agence France-Presse, Myanmar earthquake: 'This is a mass casualty area'
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 香港01 HK01, 香港大埔宏福苑大火/Hong Kong Tai Po Fire Tragedy
Honorable Mention: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 馬太鞍堰塞湖潰壩事件/The Matai’an Landslide
Finalist: 星洲日报 Sin Chew Daily, 重回气爆现场/Beyond the Blast: The Unfinished Crisis in Putra Heights
15. Excellence in Opinion Writing (卓越評論獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: The Economist, From restaurant scandals to booming museums and economic battles
Honorable Mention: The New York Times, China and Trump's America
Finalist: Financial Times, China is making trade impossible
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: The Diplomat, Criminal Governance in Plain Sight: Cambodia’s State-Linked Cyber-Scam Economy (An Opinion Essay Series)
Honorable Mention: Culpium, AI Isn't the Doctor You Need in a Cancer Crisis
Finalist: The Straits Times, Indonesia's textbook rewrite can’t erase a dark history
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 明報 Ming Pao, 長和賣港口風波──做足功課 理智應對/CK Hutchison Port Deal Uproar — Research Thoroughly and Handle With Good Sense
Honorable Mention: 亞洲週刊 Yazhou Zhoukan, 香港怎樣面對苦澀的過去/How Does Hong Kong Face Its Bitter Past?
Finalist: 联合早报 Lianhe Zaobao, 南侨机工冷战苍凉 英雄定格漫长悲剧/WWII Nanyang Volunteer Drivers and Mechanics in Cold War Silence: The Protracted Tragedy Behind a Heroic Image
16. Excellence in Reporting on the Environment (卓越環境報道獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: The Gecko Project, The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Deutsche Welle, KCIJ Newstapa, Tempo and The Guardian, Green cars, toxic costs: Inside a nickel titan's pollution and cover-ups
Honorable Mention: The New York Times, Power Moves
Finalist: Reuters, Against the grain
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: Earth Journalism Network, Dark Side of the Boom
Honorable Mention: Mongabay.com, In southern Myanmar, armed groups and the military junta profit as toxic mines devour landscapes
Finalist: Davao Today, National Greenwashing Program: From Green Dreams to Barren Realities
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 報導者 The Reporter, 煙囪下的國中小：發展競逐中遺落的學童呼吸權/Schools in the Smog: The Forgotten Right to Breathe Amidst Economic Pursuit
Honorable Mention: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 極端天氣來臨時系列/In the Age of Extreme Weather
Finalist: 聯合報 United Daily News, 光電風災啟示錄：90天追蹤廢棄物處理亂象 揭開政策暴衝4年翻船內幕/Typhoon Apocalypse: A 90-Day Investigation into Floating Solar Waste Pollution and Policy Failures
17. Excellence in Photography (卓越攝影獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: Reuters, Hong Kong fire
Honorable Mention: Agence France-Presse, Botox under burqas: Cosmetic surgery in vogue in Afghanistan
Finalist: Bloomberg, Fight Over Borneo’s Jungle
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: CNA, Malaysia’s charcoal workers who risk life and health to do the work shunned by most
Honorable Mention: Hong Kong Free Press, The Hong Kong inferno: Tai Po fire at a glance
Finalist: The Japan Times, The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 歪脑 Wainao, 盐碱地上的中国农村现实，“田园牧歌”还是“乡下人的悲歌”？/China’s Rural Reality on Saline-Alkali Land: Pastoral Ideal or a Peasant’s Lament?
Honorable Mention: 報導者 The Reporter, 自黑泥中起身：花蓮光復鄉災後紀實/Rising from the Black Mud: After the Disaster in Guangfu Township, Hualien
Finalist: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 香港世紀大火/The Hong Kong Mega-Fire Series
18. The Scoop Award (獨家新聞獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: Nikkei Asian Review, Is North Korea's 'princess' walking a path toward succession?
Honorable Mention: Financial Times, China bans tech companies from buying Nvidia’s AI chips
Finalist: The Guardian, Aung San Suu Kyi’s life in detention
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: DealStreetAsia, The Collapse That Shook VC in Southeast Asia - eFishery Series
Honorable Mention: Bangkok Tribune, The Poisoned Rivers: From gold to rare earth, unregulated mining in Myanmar poisons the Mekong and its tributaries in Northern Thailand
Finalist: The Straits Times, CDL's Kwek Leng Beng seeks to fire son Sherman as CEO over 'attempted coup'
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 香港01 HK01, 獨家揭發工程分判商偽造假證書 涉醫院、機場、市區重建工程/HK01 Exclusive: Fraudulent Certifications Uncovered in Critical Infrastructure and Urban Redevelopment Works
Honorable Mention: 信報財經新聞 Hong Kong Economic Journal, 教育雞棚系列報道/'Education Chicken Coop' Series
Finalist: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 一場加州華人代孕風波，與被意外揭示的中國富人跨境資本流轉模式/A Surrogacy Scandal in California, and a Window into How China's Elite Move Their Money
19. Carlos Tejada Award for Excellence in Investigative Reporting (卓越調查報道獎)
Global
Award for Excellence: Reuters, Contest in the Pacific
Honorable Mention: The Washington Post, Chinese organized crime goes global
Finalist: The Wall Street Journal, Uncovering Asia’s New Networks of Digital Financial Crime
Regional/Local
Award for Excellence: Himal Southasian, Pills, Perils, Profits: A Himal investigative series on Southasian pharma
Honorable Mention: Hong Kong Free Press, ‘Is it a coincidence?’ – Hong Kong independent bookstores, publishers face simultaneous tax probes
Finalist: The Wire, The Forced Guilt Project
Chinese
Award for Excellence: 经济观察网 The Economic Observer, 揭秘三体公司原CEO许垚投毒杀人案始末/Unveiling the Truth: The Poisoning Murder Case of Former CEO of 'Three-Body' Company
Honorable Mention: 報導者 The Reporter, 消失的住院醫師：健保兆元時代，擋得住「直美」風潮與急重難科持續失血嗎？/The Vanishing Residents: Can a NT$1 Trillion Budget Save Taiwan’s Critical Care from the Aesthetics Boom?
Finalist: 香港01 HK01, 偷拍群組調查/HK01 Investigation: Inside the Voyeurism Rings
20. SOPA Award for Young Journalist (亞洲出版業協會最佳新人記者大獎)*
Award for Excellence: The Economist, Sarah Wu
Finalist: BBC中文 BBC Chinese, 余美霞 Abel U
Finalist: The Wire China, Rachel Cheung
21. SOPA Award for Public Service Journalism (亞洲出版業協會公共服務新聞大獎)*
Award for Excellence: The New York Times, China’s Malaise and Its People’s Endurance
Finalist: BBC World Service, Make Me Perfect: Manufacturing Beauty in China
Finalist: The Wall Street Journal, Uncovering Asia’s New Networks of Digital Financial Crime
* One award across all three groups
** Combined Global/Regional groups (due to not receiving more than 5 entries)
Note: This list is based on the titles of entries as submitted. Due to system limitations, the above links may lead to just one story in each entry, even for entries that consisted of a package of related stories. The judges took into consideration the entire package of stories in making their decisions.
Please be reminded that any articles on this list used for promotional purposes at any time should wherever possible display the SOPA 2026 Awards logo and include a link to www.sopawards.com. Thank you.
