Asian journalists present
Press Freedom Award to PCIJ

The Asia Journalist Association (AJA), an independent organization of journalists throughout Asia, recently presented the AJA Award for Press Freedom to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) during its 5th General Assembly in Seoul, South Korea.

“This award is presented to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) which has ventured and continues to venture into the farthermost towns and hovels of the country. In Mindanao they have reported the struggle between indigenous people and communities and the uneasy balance between peace and conflict that centuries of enmity have generated,” the award reads.

The AJA counts member organizations from over 20 countries, including Korea, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mongolia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Laos, India, Israel, Taiwan and Australia. It also has associate member organizations in the United States, Mexico, and South Africa.

AJA members have been supportive of Philippine media in the past. In 2005, AJA journalists organized a rally in South Korea to call for a stop to threats to Filipino journalists. The organization also delivered notes of protest to the Philippine embassy in South Korea over the murder of Filipino journalists.