Awards come and go but some stay for a long time to come.
Not due to the predictable glamour that comes with it but because of the controversy surrounding the subject of your work which won you the award in the first place.
- Recognition.
- Honour.
- Awe-inspiring.
These words don’t even begin to describe the sort of feeling you get when you win the prestigious Red Ribbon Media Awards which honours excellence in journalism and creative media content related to HIV/AIDS in Malaysia.
Stories that live to tell
A subject which is still a taboo to many in Malaysia and around the world.
You will need to get into the lives of people living with HIV/ AIDS to tell their stories.
You will need to join in the fight to reduce the stigma that remains a barrier for people living with HIV to access lifesaving HIV treatment and health services.
You will need to get onboard the fight to end AIDS by 2030, through words and visuals.
A daunting task but not impossible.
Just as how powerful HIV treatment and science is in fighting this stigma, so are words and images.
If you understand the magnitude of this fight, you will understand how special we feel as journalists who are always driven to set the record straight.
Especially in the name of justice and fairness.
Quality media content at AIDS 2018 Amsterdam
Our sincere thanks and appreciation to the Malaysian AIDS Foundation for honouring us with the Special Jury Award for our report entitled: Human Resources Ministry mulling laws to protect employees living with HIV/AIDS. For this we were granted a full scholarship to participate in AIDS 2018 held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands from July 23 – 27, 2018.
We aspire to make good our attendance at this internationally renowned event as we aim to produce quality media content and contribute to the greater HIV/AIDS discourse.
Themed red and silver, the Red Ribbon Media Awards 2018 which was previously a regular fixture of the then biannual MAF fundraiser Red Ribbon Gala, made its return after a six-year hiatus to honour excellence in journalism and creative media content related to HIV/AIDS in Malaysia.
The Awards were aligned with the goal of Strategy 3 of the Ministry of Health Malaysia’s National Strategic Plan for Ending AIDS 2016 – 2030 that seeks the role of key stakeholders, especially the media, in reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination.
Outstanding Achievement in Web-based Media
Media practitioners whose HIV/AIDS-related works were produced in Malaysia between January 2016 and December 2017 were eligible to enter in three categories: Outstanding Achievement in Print Media, Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Media and Outstanding Achievement in Web-based Media.
Entries were judged by a panel of media and HIV/AIDS experts based on accuracy of content; use of appropriate, sensitive and inclusive language; relevance and impact of the work within the context of HIV/AIDS in Malaysia, as well as originality and creativity of the work.
The Red Ribbon Media Awards were part of a yearlong celebration to mark MAF’s silver jubilee, a milestone that is characterised by sustained reduction in new HIV infections, improved access to HIV prevention and treatment for key populations and strengthened multi-sectoral commitment led by the Ministry of Health Malaysia to ending AIDS by 2030.
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