GMA Public Affairs honours Jessica Soho's 40th year in journalism

Marking Jessica Soho 40th year in journalism in 2025, GMA Public Affairs launches “Jessica Soho @40: Telling the Story of Filipinos” a digital special that is available beginning on May 30 on GMA Public Affairs’ YouTube channel.

Jessica Soho never planned to be a journalist. She had her sights set on Political Science, with hopes of becoming a lawyer. But the road to law school came with too much math—so she decided to take up journalism instead, mainly because it only required one math subject. “I am an accidental journalist, motivated firstly by my fear or phobia of Math,” she often says, with her trademark laugh. But after four decades of telling the stories that matter, nothing about her journey seems like an accident.

From her first assignments—covering coup attempts, typhoons, and disasters—to high-risk, near-death coverage in the field, Soho has braved danger not for fame, but for truth. And with every step, she raised the bar for journalism in the Philippines.

A FILIPINA TRAILBLAZER
A true pioneer in broadcast journalism, Soho has not only blazed a trail but also set new benchmarks for Philippine media on the global stage. She made history in 1999 by winning the country’s first-ever George Foster Peabody Award for her groundbreaking reports "Kidneys for Sale" and "Kamao"—a distinction she would earn again in 2014 for the coverage of "Typhoon Haiyan."

She became the first Filipino to be nominated and to win in the New York Festivals (NYF) TV & Film Awards. She holds the distinction of having won all the medal categories at the NYF.

This year, her show "Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho" (KMJS) won a Bronze Tower Trophy at the 2025 New York Festivals TV & Film Awards for its investigative documentary "Nickel and Dime: The Cost of Mining in Homonhon Island". The same episode was nominated at the 2024 Association for International Broadcasting (AIBs) Awards in London under the Sustainability category.

In 2024, her documentary "Secret Slaves: The Jessica Soho Special Report on Human Trafficking" won Gold at the ContentAsia Awards for Best Current Affairs Programme Made in Asia for Regional Asia and/or International Markets.