VALLETTA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- The World Media Summit (WMS) global awards represent a significant contribution to combatting ignorance and promoting understanding between peoples, Dr. Joseph Cassar, former Maltese ambassador to China, said on Wednesday.
"Ignorance of each other's ways and lives has been a common cause, throughout the history of mankind, of that suspicion and mistrust between the peoples of the world through which their differences have all too often broken into war," Cassar said, citing the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Constitution.
Both at a local and international level, through the information they provide, the media have a special role in combatting such ignorance and in nurturing greater understanding between peoples, said the former ambassador.
"The World Media Summit (WMS) Global Awards for Excellence 2014 represent a significant contribution toward this end," the veteran politician said.
The four award-categories are "indicative of the marked effort to give greater acknowledgement to excellence in informative reporting but also to the diffusion of a wider awareness on crucial social issues that affect the lives of different communities," he said.
Meanwhile, the two Public Welfare Awards (for Exemplary News Teams in Developing Countries and for Exemplary News Professionals in Developing Countries), the Media Innovation Award and the Award for New Media Reporting, place particular emphasis on the problems being faced in the developing world, he said.
Initiated by the Xinhua News Agency, the WMS Global Awards for Excellence 2014 were judged by veteran journalists from international media organizations including the Associated Press, Reuters News, TASS, Kyodo News, Al Jazeera, Agence France-Presse, News Corporation, Polish Press Agency, Hearst Corporation and Paris Match.
"This wide spectrum of experience and policy orientations within the panel of judges, together with the range of subjects covered in the reportage of the nominations and award winners, underline the determination of global media organizations to work together in nurturing enhanced cooperation in promoting greater understanding between peoples, thus paving the way for lasting peace in our times," said Cassar.
The first-ever WMS Global Awards for Excellence were announced on Monday in Beijing, attracting extensive attention.
Al Jazeera English was awarded the prize for news teams in developing countries.
The media innovation award went to Behind the Bloodshed, a USA Today investigative report, which examined FBI data as well as local police records and media reports to understand mass killings in America.
The award for new media was given to Myanmar Emerges, by GlobalPost of the U.S. The multimedia report described Myanmar's emergence as one of the most important economic, political and cultural stories of 2013.
The awards are the first comprehensive news awards covering multiple media formats, including press, photo, video and integrated media.
Designed to become an authoritative, credible and globally influential news showcase, the awards are open to news agencies, newspapers, TV stations and news websites around the world.
