The Star's R.AGE team wins top journalism prize

The Star's award winners with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (fifth from right) and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Star's R.AGE team has won Malaysia's top journalism prize – the prestigious Kajai Award at the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) Awards Friday night.

It also won in the Best Investigative Reporting category for its Predator In My Phone project.

"It's nice to finally win an MPI Award, because we've been so busy at R.AGE we've missed the deadline for the past three years!" said its editor Ian Yee.

The awards come two days after they received two gold awards at the Asian Media Awards, and five months after their World Young Reader Prize win in Washington DC.

R.AGE was established in 2005 as The Star's youth section.

In October 2015, the small team decided to revamp itself into a multimedia documentary journalism outfit, specialising in hard-hitting investigative pieces aimed at young Malaysian audiences.

"We've had an unbelievable year in terms of awards, but what's more important to us is knowing that our work is making a difference.

"That's why we have to dedicate this award to all the young Malaysians out there who have responded to our work and helped make a change in their communities," added Yee.

The Star also won awards for best frontpage design by Tung Eng Hwa and best photojournalism by Art Chen Soon Ling.

 

The front page designs by Tung which earned him the prize.

 

Art Chen's pix of the Holi festival won him the photojournalism prize.