今年頒獎典禮中，由前公共電視董事長吳豐山以「傳播界應嚴格自律以贏得社會敬重」為題發表演講。他批評目前台灣電視談話節目中，出現了很多「資深媒體人」，什麼題目都可以談的怪現象。另外卓新獎基金會董事長蕭新煌，評審團主席林淇瀁也分別就今年卓新獎的特色、以及評審感想致詞，其他包括前卓新獎基金會董事長徐佳士、新聞局長林佳龍、聯合報社長王文杉、總編輯黃素娟，中時晚報社長陳國祥、中國時報總編輯黃清龍、民生報社長項國寧、新新聞週刊社長王健壯、天下雜誌發行人殷允芃等人也都是典禮上的貴賓。
今年卓新獎採頒獎典禮前就揭曉各獎項得主的做法，頒獎典禮的設計以充分榮耀得獎人為基調，給得獎人充分時間發表感言。例如平面媒體類新聞攝影獎得主中國時報王遠茂，就在台上將獲獎榮耀獻給他已過世的父親，場面令人動容；廣播類新聞節目主持人獎得主簡余晏，則呼籲大家重視小眾媒體，因為播她節目的寶島新聲廣播電台，就是一個由地下電台轉型的小型電台；電視類國際新聞報導獎得主，民視的陳佳誼、蘇祈發，也請邀他們一同赴阿富汗採訪的世界展望會義工上台，分享榮耀。
The Third Excellent Journalism Award was held on Dec. 3 at the Zhongshan Hall in Taipei City. Among the nine award categories this year, there were no winners for the Best Print Media News Commentary category and Best TV News Anchor category. There were nine recipients for the seven other award categories.
During the award ceremony, former Public Television Service chairman Wu Feng-shan delivered a speech on “Earning the Respect of Society Through Strict Self Regulation by the Broadcasting Industry.” Wu commented that a strange phenomenon exists today in Taiwan television where many “senior media personalities” could talk just about any subject on TV talk shows. Likewise, Michael Hsiao, chairman of the Foundation of Excellent Journalism Award, talked about the special features of this years’ Excellent Journalism Award, while Lin Chi-yang, chair of the panel of judges, shared his reflections in judging process. Other distinguished guests during the event included Hsu Chiah-shih, former chairman of the Foundation of Excellent Journalism Award; Lin Chia-lung, director-general of the Government Information Office; Wang Wen-shan, president of United Daily News; Huang Su-chuan, editor-in-chief of United Daily News; Chen Kuo-hsiang, president of China Evening Times; Huang Ching-lung, editor-in-chief of China Times; Hsiang Kuo-ning, president of Min Sheng Daily; Wang Chien-chuang, president of The Journalist; and Diane Ying, publisher of Commonwealth Magazine.
For this year’s Excellent Journalism Award, winners in each category were announced prior to the awards ceremony. The awards ceremony was designed to give the utmost honor to the winners and allow winners adequate time to express themselves. For instance, Wang Yuen-mao of China Times, winner of Journalism Photography in the Print Media category, dedicated his award to his late father and touched the hearts of the audience. Chien Yu-yan, winner of the Best News Program Host in the Broadcasting category, urged everyone to value the alternative media
Because TNT, the station that carries her program, evolved from a small underground broadcasting station. Chen Chia-yi and Su Chi-fa of Formosa TV, winners of International News Reporting in the TV category, invited on stage to share their honors the World Vision volunteers who had invited the two to visit and report on Afghanistan.
