BEIJING, Sept. 4 -- The WMS Global Awards for Excellence, which is launched by the World Media Summit (WMS) and opened for entries on July 1, have attracted worldwide attention and participation, according to the WMS Secretariat here Thursday.

Up to now, the awards have received nearly 400 entries from media organizations and professionals in 90 countries and areas.

Deadline for entries is 24:00 GMT, Sept. 30, 2014. The categories include awards for public welfare, media innovation and new media reporting. The awards for public welfare also include two sub categories, which are awarded for exemplary news team as well as news professionals in developing countries.

The Secretariat said the categories of the awards are set on the basis of consultation and consensus among members of the WMS Secretariat. The awards for public welfare are especially set up for media organizations and professionals in developing countries, which usually need to pay much more efforts for journalism. At the same time, the awards also aim to encourage more media organizations and professionals to devote to humanitarian. The reporting fields of the team or the individual can be, but is not confined to the field of public welfare.

The award for media innovation is reserved for the media teams that adopt innovative and creative perspectives, approaches or patterns in journalism to meet the digital challenge and provide better public service, it said. The award for new media reporting aims to encourage reporting that uses multimedia or trans-media tools and techniques.

Each award will have one winner with a cash prize of ten thousand US dollars. A number of honorable mentions will be named in order to cover and encourage more entrants, it said.

Entries, which must be published, released or broadcast by media organizations, can be submitted on the WMS official website (www.worldmediasummit.org). The working language is English. There are no language limitations to entries, but copies of an English translation should be attached, based on which reviews and judgment are made.

The Secretariat said preparation for judging is under way, and the judging process is scheduled in October.

The awards are launched upon the decision made during the Second WMS Presidium Meeting held in Hangzhou last October. The awards honor "truth, objectivity, excellence" in journalism, the secretariat said, and are aimed to encourage all people working in the media sector to hone their professional skills and pursue excellence, while inspiring media setups to work with the times in the spirit of innovation.