Motoring journalists feted at 3rd Henry Ford Awards

For the past three years, Ford Motor Company has been giving due recognition to motoring journalists who have supported the automotive industry by providing the public with accurate news reports and information. This December gathering is usually marked by merry-making and proverbial pat-in-the-back exchanges as the members of the motoring media are generally a supportive bunch, happy to be simply doing their part in promoting the growth of the local automotive industry. This year’s staging of the Henry Ford Awards was no different.

Truth be told, while we at The Philippine STAR were hopeful we’d be given one award or another (as the past two Henry Ford Awards nights have been marked by various successes for this broadsheet), we kept our expectations to a reasonable level as we knew that the law of averages could very well catch up with us soon (In this year’s Honda Media Challenge, we also proved our worth as we finished atop the heap despite some very stiff competition from our friends at Manila Bulletin and C! Magazine). It was thus with much pride that we sent our contributor Lester Dizon to the stage to receive the "Best Published Photograph for a Broadsheet" award for his photograph entitled "Wet Track Demo" which came out in a story about the new Goodyear Ducaro last August 13, 2003.

The photo, taken during a performance run of a Goodyear Ducaro tire in Luxembourg, was of a car rushing at breakneck speed over a wet surface. The judges justified their choice by saying, "Making the blurry nature of the broadsheet work to its advantage, this photograph leaves not only a trail of water from a wet track, but likewise leaves an imprint on race enthusiasts who can just imagine what it would be like to glide on that fast track." Dizon would later come up the stage again, this time to receive an award for his work on the website Autoindustriya.com called "Driving in a Downpour" which won the "Best On-line Feature Story" award.

Despite the double-whammy of Dizon, however, it was The Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Tessa Salazar who came home with the most accolades as the feisty young lady won the "Best Auto Event Story", "Best Auto Innovation Story" and "Best Auto Industry Story" categories one after the other. Another big winner was Ron de los Reyes of the television show Auto Review, whose feature "Ford Everest Ride & Drive in Thailand" bested major entries from broadsheets, magazines and television shows alike by bagging the "Best Ford Feature Story". Other winners were James Deakin of C! Magazine for "Best Published Photograph for Magazine", Ardie Lopez and the rest of Auto Extreme for "Best Auto TV Feature" and Jason Ang of Motioncars.com for the "Best Ford Centennial Story".

In the end, however, it wasn’t the awards that mattered as much as it was the bigger goal that we in the motoring media have committed our lives’ work to — that of helping this still burgeoning industry get to a level of respectability that it deserves. Before the end of the Henry Ford Awards night, we — motoring media (winners and non-winners alike) and the people behind the Henry Ford Awards — found ourselves united in toasting the year that was while looking forward to a year that could mark bigger strides not just for Ford but for the local automotive industry in general as well. For while it may be nice that an industry giant like Ford takes pains to give back some recognition to us in the media, it’s really the readers, the viewers and the buying public that ought to be our bottom line. Which is why next year, we’ll all still be here to give you the highs and lows of the local motoring world. We’ll be doing it gladly, too, pat in the back or not.

Postscript: Thanks to Anjo Perez of the Manila Bulletin for the photograph of this year’s Henry Ford Awardees. This is just another example of how united we are in our efforts to help the industry reach greater heights.