Call for entries to the 2020 Plaridel Journalism Awards

SAN FRANCISCO – A call for entries is now in full swing for 9th Plaridel Journalism Awards, the Philippine American Press Club USA announced. However, the award ceremony for the winning entries will be held online due to the pandemic.

The Plaridel award ceremony will be held on Thursday, October 22, 2020 at 6 p.m., Pacific Standard Time.

As in the past, entries must have been published or aired through a Filipino American or mainstream media anywhere in the U.S. between June 1, 2019 thru May 31, 2020.

All entries for this year’s competition will be submitted via online only. No mailed entries will be accepted. Deadline for submission is August 31, 2020. For more information on The Plaridel Awards guidelines and categories, please visit www.papcusa.org.

The Plaridel, established in 2012, was created to inspire and empower journalists of Filipino descent by acknowledging and celebrating excellence in journalism.

Now on its 9^th year, The Plaridel has become a benchmark among Filipino American journalists in rating news and contents nationwide. With the caliber of the judges chosen for The Plaridel, PAPC is confident that winning articles are outstanding in content, form and style among other aspects of good journalism.

Trophies will be given to the winners with the best written articles or reportage that provide a unique perspective on the issues and concerns of Filipino Americans and/or the community at large.

Categories for print and online articles include Investigative/In-Depth Story; Commentary or Editorial Essay; International Reporting; Feature, Food and Entertainment Stories, and Youth Voice among others. For Broadcast TV and Radio, the categories are Community Reporting, and Documentary. The category that is gaining importance in this age of visuals is Photojournalism.

Philippine American Press Club, U.S.A. (PAPC) is now in its 32nd year of providing a venue for its members to network and affirm their journalistic endeavors as they chronicle the lives and times of their compatriots, promote and share their culture and history, champion their causes and provide a vehicle where readers/listeners can voice their concerns and ideas for the betterment of the community and society at large.

The name Plaridel was chosen in honor of Marcelo H. Del Pilar, a Filipino patriot, journalist and publisher who as an expatriate brought his craft and zeal to Europe in the late 1800s. He was a prolific writer who kept his constituents abreast of the goings on in their expat community as well as in their homeland. In him PAPC has found a hero – a person to emulate and an inspiration to Filipino American writers and publishers everywhere, who continue in their journalistic aspirations and service to their constituents in the new land they now call home.

The Philippine American media has been providing news and information to the community since the 1920s. While publishers are dwindling in numbers these days, the present members of PAPC-USA – stalwarts all of Filipino American media – still maintain their loyal audience. Presently, the total nationwide monthly circulation of the combined major publications online, in print and broadcast is approximately at 3-million.