Winners at the 2022 press awards "Mitigating marine plastic debris" on Tuesday afternoon in Hà Nội.—VNS Photo Nguyễn Hằng

HÀ NỘI — Reportage "The fight against plastic waste” by journalists Đỗ Thị Hòa and Phạm Ngọc Phức of the Việt Nam Television’s VTV24 channel, won the first prize of the 2022 press award "Mitigating marine plastic debris" on Tuesday afternoon in Hà Nội.

The award is co-organised by VTC News online newspaper under the Voice of Việt Nam, Việt Nam Administration of Seas and Islands, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Wildlife Fund - Việt Nam.

It is held annually since 2021, with the aim to raise awareness of ocean plastic pollution – one of the current pressing environmental issues.

The award is designed to honour authors who have contributed significantly to the protection of the marine ecological environment, Ngô Minh Hiển, deputy general director of the Voice of Việt Nam said at the award ceremony.

At the ceremony, organisers also gave the second prize for two articles. They consist of the article "Resolving difficulties to develop the plastic recycling industry" by the group of authors Nguyễn Thị Hạnh - Phạm Hồng Mạnh of Tuổi trẻ Thủ đô (Youth of the Capital) online newspaper and the article “Reducing ocean plastic pollution: From small actions to green aspirations" by author Hồ Minh Vân of Bình Thuận Newspaper.

Third prizes were for articles from VTC News online newspaper; the Voice of Việt Nam’s online newspaper and the Công Thương (Industry and Trade) newspaper.

Deputy editor in chief of VTC News online newspaper Ngô Văn Hải said the award-winning works all met the criteria of conveying the message of reducing ocean plastic waste to the public. All have a unique and impressive presentation form as well as an elaborate way of writing and selecting topics.

Through the works, authors conveyed new initiatives in reducing ocean plastic pollution, making recommendations to relevant ministries and agencies to reduce ocean plastic waste, giving examples of individuals who make great contributions to reducing litter in the ocean, and highlighting the role of businesses in the overall picture of reducing plastic waste, he said.

Also at the ceremony, organisers gave prizes for ASEAN regional photo contest “White pollution and its impacts on marine ecosystem”.

The contest is held parallel with the press awards and extended to Southeast Asian countries candidates to raise public awareness of local people in the ASEAN region, Hải said.

The first prize was given to the photo "Plastic" by Winniwat Traitongtanarat from Thailand.

The second prize was given to the photo series “Foreign tourists clean up trash after Typhoon Noru in Hội An by Phạm Đăng Khiêm from Việt Nam; and the photo "The Plastic sea grass" by Sirilert Phonsin from Thailand.

The press award brought together 312 journalistic works from nearly 70 reporters from 19 provinces and cities across Việt Nam and the photo contest attracted thousands of photos from more than 2,700 photographers in Southeast Asia. — VNS