Two International Journalism Year 4 students Angela Cheung and Crystal Tai were named winner and first runner-up respectively at Asia Digital Journalism Student Award 2018.

Angela’s winning video is called “Swipe for the One – A Mobile Experience”. She said that news reports always describe Hong Kong as a difficult place for dating because of gender imbalance, high expectations and busy schedules, therefore she used mobile dating apps, such as Tinder to match dating partners as a starting point for discussions on related issues.

Angela said that identifying interviewees, researching data of Tinder and the post-production of the motion graphics took a lot of her time. Though she put a lot of effort into thinking about the best way to illustrate the interviewees’ feelings about dating apps, she didn’t consider the project difficult at all. Angela thanked Senior Lecturer of the Department of Journalism Ms Jenny Lam for her guidance and said the award means a great deal to her as she embarks on a career in journalism.

The first runner-up video is called “Home, through the lens of alternative storytellers”. Crystal remarked that having a proper home is a fundamental right of everyone, but is out of reach of most Hong Kong people. Rather than simply presenting the statistics and the astronomical housing prices, she interviewed five people from different walks of life: a man who was once homeless, a Pakistani construction worker, a newlywed, a photographer, and a container home designer to talk about their ideal home.

Crystal said that getting the award was a bonus to her and also a recognition to artistic journalism, the form of journalism she is pursuing.

Crystal also said that she did not discover her passion for motion graphics and animation until Year 3 of her university studies. Since then, she has come to realise that there is no limit to what she can create. She is now working as a motion graphic designer and hopes her passion can open up opportunities to go overseas for learning and subsequently contribute to career advancement.

Asia Digital Journalism Student Award 2018 provides a platform for prospective journalists to put “new ways of storytelling” into practice by utilising digital technology to tell stories.