Post named Asia's top English paper

The South China Morning Post was last night named as the best English-language newspaper in Asia.

The Post won the top award for excellence in newspapers from the Society of Publishers in Asia (Sopa).

'This award is a welcome recognition of the efforts made by the Post and its journalists during a particularly busy and challenging period of Hong Kong's history,' editor Jonathan Fenby said after receiving the award at a dinner ceremony in the SAR.

The Post has already won 18 prizes for reporting, features and photography this year in the two main Hong Kong press awards.

The Sopa top prize for Chinese newspapers was won by Ming Pao, while the magazine awards were taken by Business Week and the Chinese edition of Reader's Digest.

One of the judges, Adi Ignatius of Time Asia, said: 'If I were to nominate a single person who did the most for independence of the press in Hong Kong in the crucial years of the transition, it would be Jonathan Fenby.