Awards Finalists
SOPA announces the Finalists for the SOPA 2026 Awards for Editorial Excellence!
1. Excellence in Reporting on Women’s Issues (卓越女性議題報道獎)
Global
Finalist: CNN International, Economic plight of women in Asia
Finalist: The New York Times, The Secret Campaign in China to Save a Woman Chained by the Neck
Finalist: The Wall Street Journal, The Business of Fertility: Chinese Elites Turn to U.S. Surrogates for Babies
Regional/Local
Finalist: Frontier Myanmar, Hidden burdens of Myanmar women: Health, livelihoods, and early marriage
Finalist: Himal Southasian, The woman in the bathroom
Finalist: Press Trust of India, Women who are left behind: Another side of Assam floods
Chinese
Finalist: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 全球代孕產業/The Untold Stories of Transnational Surrogacy Industry
Finalist: 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
Finalist: Bloomberg, India’s Digital Nightmare
Finalist: Bloomberg, China’s Falling Prices
Finalist: The New York Times, How Did the C.I.A. Lose a Nuclear Device?
Regional/Local
Finalist: CNA, Singapore Budget 2025: What’s in it for you?
Finalist: The Straits Times, Lost games
Finalist: The Straits Times, How to make the best out of limited spaces
Chinese
Finalist: 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
Finalist: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 被高溫重塑的日常 /How Are Our Lives Forever Changed By the Heat?
Finalist: 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
3. Excellence in Audio Reporting (卓越音頻報道獎)
Global
Finalist: BBC World Service, Student Predator: Surviving Zhenhao Zou
Finalist: Bloomberg, Tariffed: Toymaker vs Trump
Finalist: The Economist, Scam Inc
Regional/Local
Finalist: CommonWealth Magazine, Taiwanology：Seeking Peace in Taiwan: An Israeli and a Palestinian in Dialogue
Finalist: Himal Southasian, Saffron Siege
Finalist: The Economic Times, A Spoonful of Death
Chinese
Finalist: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 世界的台積電？/When TSMC Goes Global
Finalist: 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
Finalist: 西郊密林 Western Forest, 铜锣湾二楼的阿海/Ah Hai’s CWB 2nd Floor
4. Excellence in Video Reporting (卓越視頻報道獎)
Global
Finalist: BBC News, The Schools That Break Children
Finalist: Financial Times, Japan’s demographic time bomb
Finalist: The Wall Street Journal, The Gold Rush East: Inside Singapore’s Fort Knox
Regional/Local
Finalist: TaiwanPlus, What Matters More: Indigenous Culture or Animal Rights?
Finalist: The Migration Story, Beneath The Panel | The Hidden Losses of India’s Solar Parks
Finalist: The Quint, Why Indian Cities aren’t Walkable
Chinese
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
Finalist: 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: 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
5. Excellence in Human Rights Reporting (卓越人權報道獎)
Global
Finalist: Financial Times, The dark truth behind supermarket tuna
Finalist: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (US), Stuff (New Zealand), China Targets
Finalist: The Wall Street Journal, Tibet’s Forgotten Resistance
Regional/Local
Finalist: Himal Southasian, Climate refugees from Bangladesh face a political storm in India
Finalist: Frontier Myanmar, Rakhine in crisis: Begging to survive amid starvation
Finalist: Frontier Myanmar, Myanmar’s election under fear: the ending is already known
Chinese
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
Finalist: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 香港勞工的危脆生命 /Hong Kong Workers: Precarious Work, Precarious Lives
Finalist: 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
6. Excellence in Feature Writing (卓越專題特寫獎)
Global
Finalist: Bloomberg, India’s Boiling Point
Finalist: 1843 the Economist, How one man got off death row in a country with a 99% conviction rate
Finalist: 1843 the Economist, Would you pass the world’s toughest exam?
Regional/Local
Finalist: Australian Broadcasting Corporation, How a Thai worker was taken hostage in a foreign war
Finalist: 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
Finalist: 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
Finalist: 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
Finalist: The Associated Press, Made in America, Watched Worldwide
Finalist: Bloomberg, China’s AI Surge
Finalist: Reuters, China quest for tech self-sufficiency
Regional/Local
Finalist: Project Multatuli English, #AutomationFever series
Finalist: The Australian Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald, UnWise: the downfall of tech billionaire Richard White
Finalist: The Straits Times, Punggol Digital District
Chinese
Finalist: 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
Finalist: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 情色的未來/Desires Decoded
8. Excellence in Magazine Design (卓越雜誌設計獎)*
Finalist: Bloomberg, Bloomberg Markets Magazine’s Japan Issue
Finalist: 艺术界 LEAP, 下海游/Across the Sea
Finalist: Tasting Kitchen, TK62 Cubanacán
9. Excellence in Arts and Culture Reporting (卓越藝術及文化報道獎)
Global
Finalist: Bloomberg, Mumbai’s Overhaul
Finalist: Financial Times, The ‘wild’ writer who told the truth about work in China
Finalist: The Wire China, “A Vicious Cycle”
Regional/Local
Finalist: Frontier Myanmar, The junta’s cultural crusade
Finalist: 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
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
Finalist: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 中國影像新秩序/Rewriting China’s Screen
Finalist: 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
10. Excellence in Bahasa Indonesia News Reporting (亞洲出版業協會印尼語新聞報道獎)
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
Finalist: 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: Project Multatuli, Serial #DaruratKekerasanAparat/ #PoliceViolenceEmergency Series
11. Excellence in Explanatory Reporting (卓越解釋性報道獎)
Global
Finalist: Financial Times, Why Trump can’t build iPhones in the US
Finalist: The New York Times, Inside South Korea’s Martial Law Crisis
Finalist: The Wall Street Journal, Inside ‘Fortress China’
Regional/Local
Finalist: 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
Finalist: The Straits Times, How South-east Asia navigates the minefields of big-power rivalry
Chinese
Finalist: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 香港世紀大火：解讀報導系列/Hong Kong Mega-Fire: Burning Questions
Finalist: 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
Finalist: Bloomberg, India’s Jane Street Crackdown
Finalist: Reuters, Fast lane
Finalist: The New York Times, China and Rare Earths
Regional/Local
Finalist: IFR Asia, Missing seal thwarts lenders to Chinese property developer
Finalist: The Australian Financial Review, Chairman Stokes: The inside story of Seven (as told by the board)
Finalist: The Australian Financial Review, ‘We didn’t have a hope in hell’: KWM’s cautionary China tale
Chinese
Finalist: 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
Finalist: 遠見雜誌 Global Views Monthly, 全球熱錢下一站．台灣 Taiwan: Asia’s Next Global Capital Hub
Finalist: 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’
13. Excellence in Infographics (卓越數據圖像獎)**
Combined (Global/Regional groups)
Finalist: Reuters, Air India crash
Finalist: Reuters, Scammed into scamming
Finalist: The New York Times, How the Fire in Hong Kong Became So Deadly
Chinese
Finalist: 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
Finalist: 今日新聞 NOWNEWS, 心理假。心裡放個假/Mental health, take a mind break!
Finalist: 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
14. Excellence in Reporting Breaking News (卓越突發新聞獎)**
Combined (Global/Regional groups)
Finalist: Agence France-Presse, Myanmar earthquake: ‘This is a mass casualty area’
Finalist: CNN International, CNN coverage of the India-Pakistan war
Finalist: The Wall Street Journal, The Disaster of Air India Flight 171
Chinese
Finalist: 香港01 HK01, 香港大埔宏福苑大火/Hong Kong Tai Po Fire Tragedy
Finalist: 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
Finalist: Financial Times, China is making trade impossible
Finalist: The Economist, From restaurant scandals to booming museums and economic battles
Finalist: The New York Times, China and Trump’s America
Regional/Local
Finalist: Culpium, AI Isn’t the Doctor You Need in a Cancer Crisis
Finalist: The Diplomat, Criminal Governance in Plain Sight: Cambodia’s State-Linked Cyber-Scam Economy (An Opinion Essay Series)
Finalist: The Straits Times, Indonesia’s textbook rewrite can’t erase a dark history
Chinese
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
Finalist: 灼見名家 Master-Insight.com, 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
Finalist: 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?
16. Excellence in Reporting on the Environment (卓越環境報道獎)
Global
Finalist: Reuters, Against the grain
Finalist: The Gecko Project, The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and Deutsche Welle, Green cars, toxic costs: Inside a nickel titan’s pollution and cover-ups
Finalist: The New York Times, Power Moves
Regional/Local
Finalist: Davao Today, National Greenwashing Program: From Green Dreams to Barren Realities
Finalist: Earth Journalism Network, Dark Side of the Boom
Finalist: Mongabay.com, In southern Myanmar, armed groups and the military junta profit as toxic mines devour landscapes
Chinese
Finalist: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 極端天氣來臨時系列/In the Age of Extreme Weather
Finalist: 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
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
Finalist: Agence France-Presse, Botox under burqas: Cosmetic surgery in vogue in Afghanistan
Finalist: Bloomberg, Fight Over Borneo’s Jungle
Finalist: Reuters, Hong Kong fire
Regional/Local
Finalist: CNA, Malaysia’s charcoal workers who risk life and health to do the work shunned by most
Finalist: 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
Finalist: 端傳媒 Initium Media, 香港世紀大火/The Hong Kong Mega-Fire Series
Finalist: 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: 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?
18. The Scoop Award (獨家新聞獎)
Global
Finalist: Financial Times, China bans tech companies from buying Nvidia’s AI chips
Finalist: Nikkei Asian Review, Is North Korea’s ‘princess’ walking a path toward succession?
Finalist: The Guardian, Aung San Suu Kyi’s life in detention
Regional/Local
Finalist: Bangkok Tribune, The Poisoned Rivers: From gold to rare earth, unregulated mining in Myanmar poisons the Mekong and its tributaries in Northern Thailand
Finalist: DealStreetAsia, The Collapse That Shook VC in Southeast Asia – eFishery Series
Finalist: The Straits Times, CDL’s Kwek Leng Beng seeks to fire son Sherman as CEO over ‘attempted coup’
Chinese
Finalist: 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
Finalist: 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
Finalist: Reuters, Contest in the Pacific
Finalist: The Wall Street Journal, Uncovering Asia’s New Networks of Digital Financial Crime
Finalist: The Washington Post, Chinese organized crime goes global
Regional/Local
Finalist: Himal Southasian, Pills, Perils, Profits: A Himal investigative series on Southasian pharma
Finalist: 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
Finalist: 香港01 HK01, 偷拍群組調查/HK01 Investigation: Inside the Voyeurism Rings
Finalist: 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
Finalist: 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?
20. SOPA Award for Young Journalist (亞洲出版業協會最佳新人記者大獎)*
Finalist: BBC中文 BBC Chinese, 余美霞 Abel U
Finalist: The Economist, Sarah Wu
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)*
Finalist: BBC World Service, Make Me Perfect: Manufacturing Beauty in China
Finalist: The New York Times, China’s Malaise and Its People’s Endurance
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.