The finalists for the 2014 Asian Media Awards were announced at ITV, The London Studios on Monday evening (29th September).
The event sponsored by Asons Solicitors and the University of Salford was attended by invited finalists, partners and special guests.
Keynote speakers on the night were Yasmin Alibhai-Brown of the Independent and Asif Zubairy, ITV’s Commissioning Editor for Entertainment.
Nominations in 2014 aim to reward those working in journalism, television, radio, marketing and PR.
Asif Zubairy told those gathered, “It’s an achievement in itself to be nominated for an award tonight and I congratulate all nominees from online, print, internet bloggers, PR experts as well as old school media like radio and TV whether you win or not.
“Being successful in the media requires creativity, dedication and – in my experience – a lot of long hours.
“In focusing on doing the best job possible, it’s easy to get consumed by the ideas, the look and sound of what you’re working on and the effect it has on the public so I’d just ask everyone in this room to remind the next generation of media superstars of their roots: they’re not just media superstars, they’re Asian media superstars.”
The 2014 Journalist of the Year category features some of the leading media professionals from across the UK. The category is made up of reporters from Sky News, The Evening Standard and the Mail on Sunday.
MediaCom and Press Association Training are supporting the event with judging panel members from Al-Jazeerah English and Blue Rubicon among others.
Investigations into child trafficking (Ross Kemp: Extreme World), the plight of asylum seekers (BBC Asian Network) and childless couples (BBC Radio 4) make up the list in this year’s Asian Media Awards Best Investigation category.
A special feature into the lives of first generation immigrants is also included in the list this year as is Robb Leech’s eye-opening film ‘My Brother The Terrorist.’
Soap stars, Jimi Mistry, Nitin Ganatra and Chris Bisson are joined by Sunetra Sarker who plays Dr Zoe Hanna on Casualty in the Best TV Character award.
In the radio sections the BBC Asian Network again led with a number of nominations. However, there was a focus on smaller regional radio stations going above and beyond the communities they serve. Both Awaz FM Glasgow and Sabras Radio of Leicester were named in the Regional Radio Station of the Year award alongside Sunrise Yorkshire and Asian Star Radio of Slough.
Sunrise London which is looking to re-invent itself after an uncertain year is also named in the Radio Station of the Year category.
The London Indian Film Festival is included in the Best Live Event category. Two plays which aim to challenge controversial subject matters are also included. The first of which is ‘Nirbhaya’ a stage production by Ensemble. The second is ‘States of Verbal Undress’ by Manchester based RASA. The play is written by Rani Moorthy.
The highly contested Media Agency of the Year award features five of the UK’s leading PR and media agencies. 2013 winners Media Moguls are again nominated alongside Mediareach who were also shortlisted last year.
New on the list this year are Curzon PR, Spritz Creative and Here&Now365.
Four of the most innovative Asian news, entertainment and music websites are featured in our Best Website category this year. The list includes Desiblitz.com, Bizasialive.com, Simplybhangra.com and UKAsiaonline.com.
The Best Blog and Commentary category rewards four sites each catering for a range of readers. Look! A Singh.com aims to celebrate Sikhs in the media. AsianCulturevulture.com includes articles to showcase creative work by South Asians. The RedNotebook.co.uk is a fashion and style blog and columnist Priya Mulji’s Blog explores issues relating to love, dating, relationships and lifestyle.
You can view the full finalist shortlist here.
The Asian Media Awards take place at the Hilton Deansgate Manchester on 28 October 2014.
The Asian Media Awards 2014 is supported by Asons Solicitors, University of Salford, Hilton Hotels, Manchester Metropolitan University, Routes into Languages, ITV, Mediacom, Press Association Training, Supreme Dream, Cleartwo, Karma Foods, AMT Lawyers & Studio 4 Photography.
