Tempo and International Media Win SOPA Award for Nickel Pollution Investigation in Obi Island
The Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) has awarded its prestigious journalism prize to a collaborative investigation led by Tempo and The Gecko Project, alongside The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Deutsche Welle, KCIJ Newstapa, and The Guardian. The award was announced on Thursday, 18 June 2026, in Hong Kong. SOPA is a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the highest standards of journalism.
Tempo Deputy Editor-in-Chief Bagja Hidayat stated that this prestigious Asian journalism award demonstrates the increasing importance of media collaboration in an era of disruption. The coverage focused on heavy metal pollution around nickel concessions on Obi Island, North Maluku. According to Bagja, nickel pollution encompasses many dimensions of public interest. “We opened up this pollution issue to remind everyone that social and economic rights are interconnected with environmental rights. Therefore, this award is for you, the supporters of quality journalism,” Bagja said on Thursday evening.
Alon Aviram, the journalist from The Gecko Project who led the collaborative project, explained that the investigation uncovered how, for over a decade, mining by Harita Nickel caused cancer-causing chemicals to leach into the waters of Obi Island. Harita is known as one of Indonesia’s largest nickel producers. Internal testing results from Harita showed that these carcinogenic substances had contaminated a village’s drinking water source. However, residents were never informed. Publicly, the company insisted the water was safe. “We also found that Harita concealed evidence of pollution in fish.”
Several studies indicated hazardous levels of heavy metals in fish from local waters, which are a primary food source for the community. Despite this, the company declared the fish safe for consumption and even altered the content of a key study to “soften” its conclusions. As a result, villagers continued to consume the fish without ever knowing the risks they faced.
The collaborative report can be read in articles titled “Adu Data Pencemaran Laut Obi di Sekitar Konsesi Harita” and “Mobil Bersih, Air Tercemar: Rahasia Beracun Raksasa Nikel”. In a written statement following the award, the SOPA Editorial Committee explained the prize was given in recognition of and attention to cross-media collaboration in a reporting category that is increasingly gaining public attention. “We are proud to recognise an outstanding year for journalism in the Asia-Pacific region,” said James Wilson, Asia News Editor at the Financial Times and Vice-Chair of the SOPA Editorial Committee.
Wilson noted that for this 28th SOPA Awards, the committee received over 700 entries from various global, regional, and local media organisations, including those in Mandarin and Indonesian. “Topics concerning Chinese politics and economics, along with their regional and global influence, were prominent themes in many of this year’s winning and finalist entries.” The SOPA Awards 2026 were managed by an Administration Panel led by veteran journalist Chris Yeung, with 115 journalists, former journalists, and journalism academics from around the world participating as volunteer judges. Harry Surjadi served as Chair of the Judging Panel for the Indonesian language category. Another Indonesian media outlet, Project Multatuli, won two awards: one for best regional technology coverage for a series on artificial intelligence, and another for best Indonesian-language report for a series on state apparatus violence.