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The significance of the first-ever World Media Summit (WMS) Global Awards for Excellence and the awards' importance to developing countries have been lauded by overseas media.
The creation of the Global Awards was a landmark event in the history of world journalism and it will have significant influence on world media, said Nikolay Paska, a former senior editor with Tass news agency.
The creation of the awards demonstrated Xinhua News Agency's strategic thinking of following the changing media epoch and brave innovation and reform, which also enhances Xinhua's international influence, he said.
The creation of the Public Welfare Awards category for news teams and professionals from developing countries is not only a kind of respect for the endeavoring media professionals in developing countries, but also is important for developing countries to have more say in the world, he added.
Palestine magazine "This Week in Palestine" won a Honorable Mention in Public Welfare Awards category in the WMS Global Awards for Excellence 2014 in Beijing.
Palestinian Deputy Information Minister Mahmoud Khalifa told Xinhua that the government highly appreciates such competitions organized by China as it reveals China's interest in sharing its rich media experiences with developing countries like Palestine.
"China is saving no efforts to help and assist media outlets and individuals in developing countries. Such competitions motivate journalists and give them an important chance to be more creative and this will definitely help them serve their national cause," Khalifa said.NEW
Ambika Varma, senior producer of the New Delhi TV station (NDTV) who was in charge of its famous program "Truth vs Hype" , said that before her program was only broadcast inside India and little known externally.
She said the event would promote the program, which has won Award for Exemplary News Team in Developing Countries, to draw attention from abroad.
It would also draw attention to the problem of communal conflict in India, the subject which has won the award, she said.
Another winner of the same prize, the Delhi-based Outlook weekly, said it was glad to learn the news.
A spokesperson of the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Krisha Prasad said the magazine is greatly dedicated to the public welfare of the country and by winning the prize, it has proved its own social role.
The magazine is famous in India for reporting heavily on social issues.
Meera Srinivasan, a correspondent of The Hindu in Sri Lanka who has won the Award for Exemplary News Professional in Developing Countries, said she is excited to learn about the news.
She said all the products she submitted to the prize committee were about political, social and economic issues of Sri Lanka which is now experiencing a special period of development while facing numerous challenges.
She thanked Xinhua for leading the endeavor to promote media reporting of social responsibility in developing countries.
Winners of the WMS Global Awards for Excellence 2014 were announced in Beijing on Monday.
The idea of the awards was initiated at a WMS presidium in October 2013. It was the first comprehensive media awards created by the WMS, which embraces various media formats and covers the whole world. They are open to news agencies, newspapers, TV stations and news websites around the world.
The awards this year set four awards -- Award for Exemplary News Teams in Developing Countries (Public Welfare Awards category), Award for Exemplary News Professionals in Developing Countries (Public Welfare Awards category), Media Innovation Award, and Award for New Media Reporting.
