From numerous local and international awards haul on air and online, GMA Public Affairs marks another milestone after amassing more than 20 million subscribers on YouTube.
Spanning three decades of blazing the trail in producing compelling stories, GMA Public Affairs continues to receive recognition here and abroad.
This year alone, it proudly represented the Philippines on the global stage and took home accolades from prestigious award-winning bodies yet again.
At the Cannes Corporate Media and TV Awards last October, The Atom Araullo Specials: Munting Bisig won the Silver Award for Documentaries and Reports (TV, Online, and Cinema) in the Human Concerns and Social Issues category. The same documentary took home the Best Asian Documentary award at the 4th Asia Contents Awards (ACA) in Busan, South Korea in the same month. It also brought home the Gold World Medal at the 2022 New York Festivals TV & Film Award earlier this year.
Earning another NYF win this 2022 was Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho (KMJS), which received a Bronze medal for its “Bestida ni Ranelyn (Ranelyn’s Dress)” story in the Health/Medical Information category.
Long-running public affairs program I-Witness is also dominating the international awards scene this year with several wins. Atom Araullo’s documentary “Koronang Tinik (Crown of Thorns)” earned a Bronze medal in the Documentary: Climate Change & Sustainability category at the 2022 New York Festivals TV & Film Award. Another I-Witness documentary, “Virus Hunters” by Sandra Aguinaldo, took home a Finalist Certificate under the Documentary: Science & Technology category.
At the 11th Deauville Green Awards in Deauville, France, I-Witness made the country proud yet again, taking home the Trophee Argent or Silver Trophy for Howie Severino’s “Mask Land’’ story.
The Atom Araullo Specials is also this year’s National Winner for “Best Documentary” at the Asian Academy Creative Awards for the documentary “Mata sa Dilim.” The program joins Born to be Wild: Primate Planet and Lolong as National Winners in Best Natural History/Wildlife Show and Best Visual/Special Effects categories, respectively.
Earlier this year, infotainment program AHA! was shortlisted at the Prix Jeunesse International Festival 2022, which is considered the Oscars of Children’s TV.
Meanwhile, GMA News and Public Affairs’ Eleksyon 2022 digital campaign Dapat Totoo emerged as the “Best in Audience Engagement” at the World Association of News Publishers, Digital Media Awards Worldwide 2022 held in Zaragoza, Spain. It likewise took home the “Best in Audience Engagement” honor at the Digital Media Asia Awards 2022 held in Singapore this November.
In 2020, the GMA Public Affairs YouTube channel gave GMA Network its second Diamond Play Button. The first 10M-subscriber feat was achieved by GMA Entertainment in 2019. Last year, GMA News also surpassed 10 million subscribers, making GMA the only Philippine network to own three YouTube Diamond Creator Awards.
The GMA Public Affairs YouTube channel has tallied 12.7 billion views from 2009 to date. It likewise recorded 1.1 billion hours of watched videos as of this writing.