KOTA KINABALU, March 2 (Bernama) -- The Sabah Journalists Association (SJA) has introduced two categories for the Kinabalu Press Awards (KPA) 2026, with entries officially open starting today.
SJA president Mariah Doksil said the two new categories - the Entertainment, Culture and Arts Photography Award and the Promising Journalist Award - are aimed at empowering media practitioners and nurturing emerging talent.
She said the latest additions bring the total number of categories offered at KPA 2026 to eight, covering entries in Bahasa Melayu, English and Chinese.
“These two new categories are to encourage greater participation among young journalists. In addition, they provide photographers with opportunities to broaden coverage that promotes local culture, arts, the music industry and local artistes.
“This move is expected to further stimulate healthy competition among media practitioners in Sabah and the Federal Territory of Labuan to continue producing outstanding work,” she said in a statement tonight.
She said SJA is once again honoured to appoint the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) as the secretariat for the management of participation and judging of the KPA 2026, and all entries must be submitted online via: http://www.mpi.my/wp/award/kpa-2026.
“SJA strongly encourages participants to submit high-impact articles. This is to ensure that they are not only competitive at the KPA level but also of a quality worthy of being brought to the national stage, such as the Malaysian Journalism Awards (HKM),” she said.
Mariah said entries for KPA 2026 are open only to news reports published between Jan 1 and Dec 31, 2025, and the closing date is March 15.
For enquiries regarding the categories, prizes, competition terms and conditions, refer to the website link or contact KPA 2026 Organising Committee chairman Mohd Nazllie Zainul (013-8542972) or SJA secretary Siti Aisyah Narudin (019-8508059).
-- BERNAMA
