Sinag bags int'l award for student training program

MANILA, Philippines - A small Filipino printing press and publishing firm based in Laguna won the Nataza Prize in the World Young Reader Awards for sponsoring campus journalism training of budding journalists from private and public schools.

Sinag Publishing and Printing Services of Calamba City was given the Nataza Price by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) based in Paris, France, the global organization of the world’s press, representing more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries.

The Nataza Prize is an award for projects of newspaper printing plants that teach the young about newspapers and journalism.

Sinag printing won the top prize through its social responsibility program, the Sinag Journalism Training Seminars.?

The Sinag seminars are free journalism seminars for students from both public and private schools in the province of Laguna. First launched in October 2008 and re-launched last February, these seminars offer lectures and workshops on journalism, such as editorial and news writing. While students of public schools in Laguna have various venues to compete in campus journalism, it is only the Sinag Journalism Training Seminars which provide such a venue for private school students. Hundreds of students have attended the seminars.

“This printing plant’s journalism seminar activity is clearly a fitting tribute to the person after whom this category is named, as the commitment is clear to assuring that the youth learn about the importance and fragility of a free press and about how to do good journalism,” the WAN-IFRA jury, which judged the awards in Brazil, said of Sinag.

The Nataza Prize is named after Nataza Vuckovic Lesendric (1966-2011), a Serbian who founded and ran a distribution system and then a printing plant for the independent press under the regime of Slobodan Milosevic. She introduced modern practices to the management of both operations while supporting press freedom and introducing the young to this concept.

The prize will be awarded on Oct. 12 in Vienna, Austria, at the 63rd World Newspaper Congress and 18th World Editors Forum. Also to be given to prize winners is 1,000 Euro cash, sponsored by Norske Skog, the Norway-based global paper producer.?

Sinag owners Ruel Landicho and Raia dela Peña-Landicho said they are overwhelmed by the international recognition given to their small company.

“When we started the Sinag Journalism Seminars in 2008, we never thought this would ever happen. We are shocked and amazed by this good news,” said Landicho.

“We are very happy with this award, for it proves that you don’t have to be a big company to do a successful social responsibility program, and that even small entrepreneurs can give back to one’s community in a big way,” said Dela Peña-Landicho.