This post was originally published as a press release on 26 January 2022.

AWARE’s limited-series podcast, Saga, has been named a finalist in the Human & Civil Rights (Awareness – Not for Profit) category at the inaugural Anthem Awards.

Saga, which earned a large following and widespread acclaim in 2021 following its release, is one of 40 finalists in that category, including such industry leaders as World Vision International, UN Foundation, the It Gets Better Project and NAACP. Finalists in other categories of the Anthem Awards include The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, The New York Times’ 1619 Project, the National Football League’s “Lift Every Voice & Sing” with Alicia Keys and Anthony Mackie, an art installation inspired by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and work from PBS, CNN, Google, PayPal, AirBnB, NASA, Jessica Alba’s The Honest Company, the Lady Gaga-founded Born This Way Foundation and others.

The Anthem Awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, which launched The Webby Awards in 1996 to honour excellence on the internet. The Anthems shine a spotlight on social good and philanthropic endeavours, online and offline, by people, companies and organisations across the globe. The inaugural competition received nearly 2,500 entries from 36 countries worldwide.

Anthem finalists were selected via 10,000 votes from Academy members, including actor-producer Daniel Dae Kim, actor-activist Ashley Judd, Mozilla CEO and Chairwoman Mitchell Baker, Ad Council President and CEO Lisa Sherman, GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, The Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation Director of Philanthropy Shayla Tait, XQ Institute CEO and Co-Founder Russlynn Ali and New Ventures CEO and Chair Alexis M. Herman, a former U.S. secretary of labour.

“We are over the moon to receive the news about Saga being named an Anthem finalist,” said Ms Margaret Thomas, President of AWARE. “It is absolutely extraordinary to think that a low-budget, completely independent podcast from Singapore has been placed in the company of these international giants of social impact.”

Saga, Singapore’s first-ever longform narrative podcast, told the story of the 2009 takeover of gender-equality organisation AWARE, known as the “AWARE Saga”. Saga was hosted by journalist Bharati Jagdish and written and produced by Jasmine Ng and Kelly Leow, with an original score by Singapore band .gif. In 2021, Saga held a top-20 position on the Spotify Singapore Podcast chart, and ranked within the top 5 podcasts of its category (Society & Culture) across all platforms. As of January 2022, the podcast has racked up close to 100,000 plays across platforms.

The AWARE Saga remains a major landmark in Singapore civil society history. At an Annual General Meeting on 28 March 2009, an unexpected influx of newly registered members turned up to elect other new members onto the executive committee of AWARE, effectively taking control of the organisation. Despite initial denials that they were acquainted with each other or had an agenda, most of the new committee were members of the same church and had planned the takeover largely due to their objections to AWARE’s sexuality education programme. On 2 May 2009, around 3,000 women and men attended an Extraordinary General Meeting, during which the new exco lost a vote of no confidence and stepped down, returning AWARE to the leadership of long-time members.

Called “one of the stories of the year” (Kah Gay, Ethos Books), “masterfully told” (Kenneth Paul Tan) and “a necessary educational resource” (Loo Zihan), Saga was praised for its treatment of themes such as inclusion, solidarity and civic engagement. It was produced over the course of two years in 2019 and 2020. Around 50 individuals were interviewed for the podcast: including former AWARE presidents Constance Singam, Kanwaljit Soin and Dana Lam, and notable names Pam Oei, Irene Ang, Tommy Koh, Teo You Yenn, Gillian Koh, Imran Taib and Siew Kum Hong.

Winners for the inaugural Anthem Awards will be announced on Tuesday, 15 February, 2022 and celebrated at the first annual Anthem Voices virtual conference as well as at a star-studded virtual Awards Show on Monday, 28 February, 2022.

“We are so proud of what we are building at The Anthem Awards and are humbled by the positive response and extraordinary support from global brands and national organizations to artists, creators and local individuals making an impact in their community,” said Jessica Lauretti, Managing Director, The Anthem Awards.

Listen to Saga on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Official website

About The Anthem Awards

The Anthem Awards, the Webby Awards’ newest initiative, was developed to recognize the breadth of social good work (online and offline) around the globe by honoring the organizations, brands, and people creating long-lasting impact; including, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion; Education, Art, & Culture; Health; Human & Civil Rights; Humanitarian Action & Services; Responsible Technology; and Sustainability, Environment, & Climate. By amplifying the voices that spark global change, the Anthem Awards are defining a new benchmark for impactful work that inspires others to take action in their communities. Founded in partnership with the Ad Council, Born This Way Foundation, Feeding America, Glaad, Mozilla, NAACP, NRDC, WWF and XQ. anthemawards.com