Coordinates: 51°30′47″N 0°07′52″W / 51.513°N 0.131°W / 51.513; -0.131

Soho
Palace Theatre, London, one of Soho's several entertainment venues
Soho  Soho shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ295815
London borough	Westminster
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	W1
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Cities of London and Westminster
London Assembly	West Central
List of places: UK • England • London

Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable transformation. It now is predominantly a fashionable district of upmarket restaurants and media offices, with only a small remnant of sex industry venues.

History[link]

The area of Soho was grazing farmland until 1536, when it was taken by Henry VIII as a royal park for the Palace of Whitehall. The name "Soho" first appears in the 17th century. Most authorities believe that the name derives from a former hunting cry.^[1][2][3][4] The Duke of Monmouth used "soho" as a rallying call for his men at the Battle of Sedgemoor,^[5] half a century after the name was first used for this area of London.

In the 1660s the Crown granted Soho Fields to Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans. He leased 19 of its 22 acres (89,000 m²) to Joseph Girle, who gained permission to build and promptly passed his lease and licence to bricklayer Richard Frith in 1677. Frith began the development. In 1698 William III granted the Crown freehold of most of this area to William, Earl of Portland. Meanwhile the southern part of what became the parish of St. Anne, Soho, was sold by the Crown in parcels in the 16th and 17th centuries, with part going to Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester.

Despite the best intentions of landowners such as the Earls of Leicester and Portland to develop the land on the grand scale of neighbouring Bloomsbury, Marylebone and Mayfair, Soho never became a fashionable area for the rich. Immigrants settled in the area, especially French Huguenots who poured in in 1688, after which the area became known as London's French quarter.^[6] The French church in Soho Square was founded by Huguenots in the 17th century. By the mid-18th century, the aristocrats who had been living in Soho Square or Gerrard Street had moved away. Soho's character stems partly from the ensuing neglect by rich and fashionable London, and the lack of redevelopment that characterized the neighbouring areas.

By the mid-19th century, all respectable families had moved away, and prostitutes, music halls and small theatres had moved in. In the early 20th century, foreign nationals opened cheap eating-houses, and the neighbourhood became a fashionable place to eat for intellectuals, writers and artists. From the 1930s to the early 1960s, Soho folklore states that the pubs of Soho were packed every night with drunken writers, poets and artists, many of whom never stayed sober long enough to become successful; and it was also during this period that the Soho pub landlords established themselves.

A detailed mural depicting Soho characters, including writer Dylan Thomas and jazz musician George Melly, is in Broadwick Street, at the junction with Carnaby Street.

In fiction, Robert Louis Stevenson had Dr. Henry Jekyll set up a home for Edward Hyde in Soho in his novel, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.^[7]

The Soho name has been imitated by other entertainment and restaurant districts such as Soho, Hong Kong; SoHo, New York; and Palermo Soho, Buenos Aires.

Broad Street pump[link]

John Snow memorial, with John Snow pub shown in the background

A significant event in the history of epidemiology and public health was Dr. John Snow's study of an 1854 outbreak of cholera in Soho.^[8] He identified the cause of the outbreak as water from the public water pump located at the junction of Broad Street (now Broadwick Street) and Cambridge Street (now Lexington Street), close to the rear wall of what is today the John Snow public house.

John Snow mapped the addresses of the sick, and noted that they were mostly people whose nearest access to water was the Broad Street pump. He persuaded the authorities to remove the handle of the pump, thus preventing any more of the infected water from being collected. The spring below the pump was later found to have been contaminated with sewage. This is an early example of epidemiology, public health medicine and the application of science—the germ theory of disease—in a real-life crisis.^[9]

Science writer Steven Johnson describes the 2006 appearance of places related to the Broad Street Pump cholera outbreak:

A replica of the pump, with a memorial plaque and without a handle (to signify John Snow's action to halt the outbreak) was erected near the location of the original pump.

Music scene[link]

The music scene in Soho can be traced back to 1948 and Club Eleven, generally revered as the fountainhead of modern jazz in the UK. It was located at 41 Great Windmill Street. The Harmony Inn was an unsavoury cafe and hang-out for musicians on Archer Street operating during the 1940s and 1950s. It stayed open very late and attracted jazz fans from the nearby Cy Laurie Jazz Club.

Soho was mentioned in Brecht's famous song "Mack The Knife":

The Ken Colyer Band's 51 Club (Great Newport Street) opened in the early fifties. Blues guitarist and harmonica player Cyril Davies and guitarist Bob Watson launched the London Skiffle Centre, London's first skiffle club, on the first floor of the Roundhouse pub on Wardour Street in 1952.^[12]

In the early 1950s, Soho became the centre of the beatnik culture in London. Coffee bars such as Le Macabre (Wardour Street), which had coffin-shaped tables, fostered beat poetry, jive dance and political debate. The Goings On, located in Archer Street,^[13] was a Sunday afternoon club, organised by Liverpool beat poets Pete Brown, Johnny Byrne and Spike Hawkins, that opened in January 1966. For the rest of the week, it operated as an illegal gambling den. Other "beat" coffee bars in Soho included the French, Le Grande, Stockpot, Melbray, Universal, La Roca, Freight Train (Skiffle star Chas McDevitt's place),^[14] El Toro, Picasso, Las Vegas, and the Moka Bar.

The 2i's Coffee Bar was probably the first rock club in Europe, opened in 1956 (59 Old Compton Street), and soon Soho was the centre of the fledgling rock scene in London. Clubs included the Flamingo Club ("which started in 1952 as Jazz at the Mapleton"), La Discothèque, Whisky a Go Go, Ronan O'Rahilly's ("of pirate radio station, Radio Caroline fame") The Scene^[15] in 1963 (near the Windmill Theatre in Ham Yard - formally The Piccadilly Club) and jazz clubs like Ronnie Scott's^[16] (opened in 1959 at 39 Gerrard Street and moved to 47 Frith Street in 1965) and the 100 Club.

Soho's Wardour Street was the home of the legendary Marquee Club (90 Wardour Street) which opened in 1958 and where the Rolling Stones first performed in July 1962. Eric Clapton and Brian Jones both lived for a time in Soho, sharing a flat with future rock publicist, Tony Brainsby.^[17]

Denmark Street is famous for its connections with British popular music, and is also known as the British Tin Pan Alley due to its large concentration of shops selling musical instruments. The Sex Pistols lived above number 6 Denmark Street, and recorded their first demos there. Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, and Donovan have all recorded there and Elton John wrote his famous song Your Song in the street.

Geography[link]

Soho has an area of approximately one square mile and may be thought of as bounded by Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the west, Leicester Square to the south and Charing Cross Road to the east. However apart from Oxford Street, all of these roads are 19th-century metropolitan improvements, so they are not Soho's original boundaries. It has never been an administrative unit, with formally defined boundaries. The area to the west is known as Mayfair, to the north Fitzrovia, to the east St Giles and Covent Garden, and to the south St James's. According to the Soho Society, Chinatown, the area between Leicester Square to the south and Shaftesbury Avenue to the north, is part of Soho, although some consider it a separate area.

Location in context[link]

Neighbouring areas of London

	Marylebone	Fitzrovia	Bloomsbury
	Mayfair		Covent Garden
		Soho    East
	St. James's Park	Chinatown	Strand

Soho today[link]

Colourful shop windows in a typical Soho backstreet in London

Soho is a small, multicultural area of central London; a home to industry, commerce, culture and entertainment, as well as a residential area for both rich and poor.

It has clubs, including the former Chinawhite nightclub; public houses; bars; restaurants; a few sex shops scattered amongst them; and late-night coffee shops that give the streets an "open-all-night" feel at the weekends. Many Soho weekends are busy enough to warrant closing off of some of the streets to vehicles; Westminster Council pedestrianised parts of Soho in the mid-1990s, but later removed much of it, apparently after complaints of loss of trade from local businesses.

Record shops cluster in the area around Berwick Street, with shops such as Blackmarket Records and Vinyl Junkies. Soho is also the home of London's main gay village, around Old Compton Street, where there are dozens of businesses thriving on the pink pound. On 30 April 1999, the Admiral Duncan pub on Old Compton Street, which serves the gay community, was damaged by a nail bomb planted by neo-Nazi David Copeland. It left three dead (two of whom were heterosexual) and 30 injured.

The Admiral Duncan pub, Soho landmark and site of the Soho nail-bombing

Soho is home to religious and spiritual groups, notably St Anne's Church on Dean Street (damaged by a V1 flying bomb during World War II, and re-opened in 1990), St Patrick's Church in Soho Square (founded by Irish immigrants in the 19th century), City Gates Church with their centre in Greens Court, the Hare Krishna Temple off Soho Square and a small mosque on Berwick Street.

On Valentine's Day 2006, a campaign was launched to drive business back into the heart of Soho. The campaign, called I Love Soho, was created by marketing manager Prannay Rughani (who also heads up the Paramount Pictures licensed multi-million pound Cheers bars in Europe, and in addition, the Soho Clubs and Bars Group), and features a web-site (www.ilovesoho.co.uk). The campaign was launched at the former Raymond Revuebar in Walkers Court made famous by its strip licence and neons, with such celebrities in attendance as Charlotte Church, Amy Winehouse and Paris Hilton. I Love Soho is backed by the former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, the Soho Society, Westminster Council and Visit London.

Gerrard Street is the centre of London's Chinatown, a mix of import companies and restaurants (including Lee Ho Fook's, mentioned in Warren Zevon's song "Werewolves of London"). Street festivals are held throughout the year, most notably on the Chinese New Year.

Theatre and film industry[link]

Soho is near the heart of London's theatre area, and is a centre of the independent film and video industry as well as the television and film post-production industry. It is home to Soho Theatre, built in 2000 to present new plays and stand-up comedy. The British Board of Film Classification, formerly known as the British Board of Film Censors, can be found in Soho Square.

Soho's key fiber communications network is managed by Sohonet, which connects the Soho media and post-production community to British film studio locations such as Pinewood Studios and Shepperton Studios and other major production centres across the globe. These include London, Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Rome, New York City, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Wellington and Auckland.

There are also plans by Westminster Council to deploy high-bandwidth Wi-Fi networks in Soho as part of a programme to further encourage the development of the area as a centre for media and technology industries.

Soho and the sex industry[link]

Agent Provocateur, 6 Broadwick Street

The Soho area has been at the heart of London's sex industry for over 200 years; between 1778 and 1801 21 Soho Square was location of The White House, a brothel described by Henry Mayhew as "a notorious place of ill-fame".^[18]

Before the introduction of the Street Offences Act in 1959, prostitutes packed the streets and alleys of Soho and by the early sixties the area was home to nearly a hundred strip clubs and almost every doorway in Soho had little postcards advertising "Large Chest for Sale" or "French Lessons Given". These were known as "walk ups". With prostitution driven off the streets, many clubs such as The Blue Lagoon became prostitution fronts. The Metropolitan Police Vice squad at that time suffered from corrupt police officers involved with enforcing organised crime control of the area, but simultaneously accepting "back-handers" or bribes.

Clip joints also surfaced in the 1960s; these establishments sold coloured water as champagne with the promise of sex to follow, thus fleecing tourists looking for a "good time". Also in 1960, London's first sex cinema theatre, the Compton Cinema Club (a membership only club to get around the law) opened at 56 Old Compton Street. It was owned by Michael Klinger and Tony Tenser who produced many of the early Roman Polanski films such as Cul-de-sac (1966).^[19] Michael Klinger also owned the Heaven and Hell hostess club (which had earlier been just a beatnik club) across the road and a few doors down from the 2I's on the corner of Old Compton Street and Dean Street.

Harrison Marks, a "glamour photographer" and girlie magazine publisher, had a photographic gallery located at No. 4 Gerrard Street and published several magazines such as Kamera, which sold from the late fifties till 1968. The model Pamela Green prompted him to take up nude photography, and she remained the creative force in their business until they split in 1967. The content, however, by today's standard is very innocent.

By the mid-seventies, the sex shops had grown from the handful opened by Carl Slack in the early sixties to a total of fifty-nine sex shops^[20] which then dominated the square mile. Some had secret backrooms selling hardcore photographs and novels, including Olympia Press editions.

By the 1980s, purges of the police force along with a tightening of licensing controls by the City of Westminster led to a crackdown on these illegal premises. By 2000, a substantial relaxation of general censorship, and the licensing or closing of unlicensed sex shops had reduced the red-light area to just a small area around Brewer Street and Berwick Street. Several strip clubs in the area were reported in London's Evening Standard newspaper in February 2003 to still be rip-offs (known as clip joints), aiming to intimidate customers into paying for absurdly over-priced drinks and very mild 'erotic entertainment'. Prostitution is still widespread in parts of Soho, with several buildings used as brothels, and there is a persistent problem with drug dealing on some street corners.

Soho continues to be the centre of the sex industry in London, and features numerous licenced sex shops. There is a clip joint on Tisbury Court and an adult cinema nearby. Prostitutes are widely available, operating in studio flats. These are sign-posted by fluorescent "model" signs at street level.

Windmill Theatre[link]

The Windmill Theatre was notorious for its risqué nude tableaux vivants, in which the models had to remain motionless to avoid censorship. It opened in June 1931 and was the only theatre in London which never closed,^[21] except for the twelve compulsory days between 4 and 16 September 1939. It stood on the site of a windmill that dated back to the reign of Charles II until late in the 18th century. The theatre was sold to the Compton Cinema Group. It closed on 31 October 1964 and was reconstructed as a cinema and casino.

Raymond Revuebar[link]

The Raymond Revuebar was a small theatre specialising in striptease and nude dancing. It was owned by Paul Raymond and opened on 21 April 1958. The most striking feature of the Revuebar was the huge brightly lit sign declaring it to be the "World Centre of Erotic Entertainment".

In the early eighties, the upstairs became known as the Boulevard Theatre^[22] and was used by a small group of alternative comedians called "The Comic Strip" before they found wider recognition with the series The Comic Strip Presents on Channel 4. It was also used as a "straight" theatre venue for a series of play premieres that included Diary of a Somebody (the Joe Orton diaries) by John Lahr, a rock opera version of Macbeth by Howard Goodall and The Lizard King (the Jim Morrison play) by Jay Jeff Jones.

The name and control of the theatre (but crucially, not the property itself) was bought by Gerald Simi in 1997.^[23] Gradually the theatre's fortunes waned, with Simi citing rising rent demands from Raymond as the cause.^[24]

The Revuebar closed on 10 June 2004 and became a gay bar and cabaret venue called Too2Much, designed by Anarchitect. In November 2006, it changed its name to Soho Revue Bar. The launch party included performances by Boy George, Antony Costa and Marcella Detroit.^[25] On 29 January 2009, the Soho Revue Bar closed.

Education[link]

Streets[link]

Map of Soho

• Berwick Street has record shops, fabric shops, and a small street market open from Monday to Saturday.
• Carnaby Street was for a short time the fashion centre of 1960s "Swinging London" although it quickly became known for poor quality 'kitsch' products.
• Dean Street is home to the Soho Theatre, and a pub called The French House which was during World War II popular with the French Government-in-exile. Karl Marx lived at numbers 54 and 28 Dean Street between 1851 and 1856.
• Denmark Street was a music publishing centre.
• Frith Street where John Logie Baird first demonstrated television in his laboratory, now the location of Bar Italia. A plaque above the stage door of the Prince Edward Theatre identifies the site where Mozart lived for a few years as a child.
• Gerrard Street was home to Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, the 43 Club and the Dive Bar, under the Kings Head. It is also the centre of London's Chinatown.
• Golden Square is a small urban square.
• Great Marlborough Street was once the location of Philip Morris' original London factory and gave its name to the Marlboro brand of cigarettes. It is also the former home of the London College of Music.
• Great Windmill Street (below Lexington Street on map - not indicated) was home to the Windmill Theatre "which never closed". The principles of The Communist Manifesto were laid out at a meeting in the Red Lion pub.
• Greek Street
• Old Compton Street was the birthplace of Europe's rock club circuit (2 I's club) and boasted the first adult cinema in England (The Compton Cinema Club). Dougie Millings, who was the famous tailor for The Beatles, had his first shop at 63 Old Compton Street which opened in 1962.^[26] Old Compton Street is now the core of Soho's gay village.
• In Soho Square are Paul McCartney's office MPL Communications, and the former Football Association headquarters.
• Wardour Street was home of the Marquee Club. Another seventies rock hangout was The Intrepid Fox Pub^[27] (97/99 Wardour Street).

Nearest underground stations and other transport issues[link]

The nearest London Underground stations are Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, Tottenham Court Road, Leicester Square and Covent Garden.

Night-time traffic surveys carried by Westminster Council between 10 pm and 4 am indicate that Old Compton Street, Dean Street, and Frith Street experienced the highest levels of traffic within the Soho area. The busiest location was Old Compton Street between the junctions with Dean and Frith Street, which experienced 'medium' levels of traffic for four of the six hours of the survey, including between 2 am and 4 am.^[28]

Westminster Council stated that the narrow footways can become very congested at night, particularly at weekends, with people drinking in the street, eating outside takeaways, queuing at entertainment venues or to use bank ATMs, and people passing through the area. There are a number of premises with tables and chairs located on restricted pavement areas and this can cause a non violent traffic - human interfacing conflict between pedestrians and traffic.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Soho

• www.sohomemories.org.uk
• London/Soho travel guide from Wikitravel
• The Soho Society
• The Survey of London: volumes 33 and 34, St Anne Soho (1966) — full text online
• The Soho Bombing in 1999

v t e City of Westminster Districts Aldwych Bayswater Belgravia Covent Garden (including Seven Dials) Fitzrovia Holborn Hyde Park Knightsbridge Lisson Grove Maida Vale (including Little Venice) Mayfair Marylebone Millbank Paddington Pimlico Queen's Park St James's St John's Wood Soho (including Chinatown) Victoria Westbourne Green Westminster Attractions West End theatre Westminster Abbey Buckingham Palace National Gallery Tate Britain Trafalgar Square Horse Guards more Parks and open spaces Green Park Hyde Park Kensington Gardens Regent's Park St James's Park Constituencies Westminster North Cities of London and Westminster Bridges Chelsea Bridge Grosvenor Bridge Hungerford Bridge Lambeth Bridge Vauxhall Bridge Waterloo Bridge Westminster Bridge Tube and railway stations Baker Street Bayswater Bond Street Charing Cross Charing Cross railway station Covent Garden Edgware Road(Bakerloo line) Edgware Road (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City Lines) Embankment Great Portland Street Green Park Hyde Park Corner Lancaster Gate Leicester Square London Victoria station London Paddington station Maida Vale Marble Arch Marylebone station Oxford Circus Piccadilly Circus Pimlico Queensway Regent's Park Royal Oak St James's Park St John's Wood Temple Tottenham Court Road Warwick Avenue Westbourne Park Westminster Other topics People from Westminster (district) Public art (architectural sculpture) Schools Category Commons

This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; suggestions may be available. (February 2009)

Natalia París Gaviria (born August 12 of 1973, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia) is a Colombian model. She is one of the most recognized models in Colombia, and offers her own brand of personal care products under her name.

External links[link]

• nataliaparis.com.co

Biography[link]

Natalia, whose mother was also a model, received her high school diploma from San Jose del la Vegas School. She is one of the more successful Colombian models, but is not well known at any international level.^{[citation needed]} Lately,^[when?] she has done a lot of work raising money for poor children both in her own country and elsewhere in the world. Presently, she is the exclusive model for Crystal Gold Beer and Besame Lingerie.

She was identified as the girlfriend of a top Colombian drug lord in the April 2011 Atlantic magazine.

This Colombian biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This biographical article about a model is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Jessica Soho is Filipino broadcast journalist, documentarian and news director who received a George Foster Peabody Award^[1] and was the first Filipino to win the British Fleet Journalism Award in 1998.^[2]

She has reported for the GMA network for 27 years.

A Ka Doroy Valencia awardee, Soho was also one of the 100 Filipino Women of Distinction chosen during the centennial celebration of the Philippines.

Her story of a hostage crisis in Cagayan Valley made her the first Filipino to win in the New York Film Festival for Coverage of a Breaking Story.

She helped conceptualize the one-hour documentary television program I-Witness, which ran for over 10 years becoming the longest running late-night program on the air as of 2009^[3]

Her documentaries on the Kidneys for Sale business and Kamao death sport made her the first Filipino reporter, with GMA Network as the first Filipino network, to win the George Foster Peabody Award on 1999.^[4]

Soho hosts Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho and was honored on October 14, 2008, by Quezon City with the Outstanding Citizen Award.^[5]

Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho (KMJS) was recognized as the Most Development-Oriented Magazine Program. Program host Jessica Soho got two awards – the Best Public Affairs Program Host and the Best Magazine Program Host in the Gandingan 2009: UPLB Isko’t Iska's Broadcast Choice Awards. Gandingan 2009 is the first award-giving ceremony in the field of broadcasting instituted by Community Broadcasters’ Society (UPCBS) of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). It pays tribute to the best broadcast programs that air over TV and radio.^[6]

In 2004, at the annual Cebu Federation of Beat Journalists event, she stated that "Provincial and regional journalists, in my view, are the real heroes in this profession. The dangers and risks you face and encounter are no doubt far greater than those that we face in Manila," in reference to the 55 journalists in the country that had been killed to date, "But despite the hazards of the job, journalists must work hard and strive to make Philippine media strong, robust and credible."^[7]

Her biggest break in news-casting entitled State of the Nation with Jessica Soho as a news anchor.

Career[link]

Jessica Soho is a Filipino reporter, host, producer and currently the acting news director of GMA Network. She joined the GMA team in the mid-80s, fresh from college, barely finished with her undergraduate thesis.

Soho's first voice-over report was a feature story on the inauguration of the Light Rail Transit from Baclaran to Monumento. Later she was assigned to the defense and military beat. Eventually, Soho's reputation and responsibility have increased dramatically since then.

At the UP College of Mass Communications, Soho met the journalist Luis Beltran who inspired Soho to finish Mass Communications.

She is the first Filipino to win in the New York Film Festival for Coverage of a Breaking Story for her account of a hostage crisis in Cagayan Valley. She also received the Ka Doroy Valencia Award given by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas. In 1994, she received the Grand Prize from the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union for her riveting coverage of a breaking news story. Soho is included in the list of 100 Filipino Women of Distinction.

In the documentary "Kidneys for Sale", Soho explored a depressed area in Manila and discovered the unemployed selling their kidneys to make ends meet.

Work History[link]

Jessica Soho is a graduate of the University of the Philippines.

An accidental journalist whose dream was to become a lawyer, Jessica started as a reporter in 1985, choosing to work in television despite her lack of training in broadcast journalism.

She learned the ropes at GMA-7, where she started as a news reporter covering the military-defense beat among other editorial beats. Then as now, she also covered unusual news events such as man-made and natural calamities, from killer earthquakes to super typhoons, even coup attempts and high-profile hostage situations.

She has helped produce a number of News and Public Affairs special and programs including the network’s election coverage from the 1980s until the most recent one.

She has also been sent on a number of significant overseas assignments such as the exile of the Marcoses in Hawaii; the Hong Kong Handover in 1997; President Corazon Aquino’s first state visit to Indonesia and Singapore in 1986; President Fidel Ramos’ state visit to France and Germany in 1993 and many more.

She has also reported on the plight of overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and South Korea.

She founded and conceptualized the program EMERGENCY. She was the first Executive Producer of the program.

She is one of the founders of the premiere investigative news magazine show, Brigada Siete. She was also the host and chief reporter of the program.

She was head of the Special Assignments Team (SAT) of GMA News and Public Affairs. This section produced special/investigative reports for GMA’s news programs, Saksi and Frontpage: Ulat ni Mel Tiangco.

She conceptualized I-Witness, the pioneering and highly-acclaimed documentary series of GMA. She is also one of the original hosts of the program.

On the side, Ms. Soho has been a member of the screening committee of TOYM for four (4) consecutive years. This committee screens and selects TOYM nominees.

Recently, Ms. Soho has pioneered in the coverage of world events such as the crisis in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Israel.

She is currently Vice President for News of GMA News & Public Affairs.

Awards[link]

• George Foster Peabody Award for Investigative Journalism.

• British Fleet Journalism Award, 1998^[2]

• 2003 Rotary Club of Manila, Journalism Awards, Hall of Fame Recipient

• 2002 PMPC Star Awards for Television, Best News Magazine Show and Best News Magazine Host – jessica soho reports

• 2002 Catholic Mass Media Awards, Best News Magazine Show – jessica soho reports

• 2002 KBP Golden Dove Awards, Best Public Affairs Program for Metro Manila and Best Public Affairs Host – jessica soho reports

• George Foster Peabody Award for Investigative Journalism. This is regarded as the Pulitzer Prize for Broadcasting. Two documentaries reported and produced by Ms. Soho, “Kidneys for Sale” and “Kamao” (Fist) has won for her network, the Philippines’ first Peabody award.

• New York Film and Television Festival for Coverage of a Breaking Story. Ms. Soho’s coverage of a hostage crisis in Cagayan Valley in Northern Philippines won the bronze in the festival. She is the first Filipino to have won this award and in the news category. She has also been a consistent finalist in this same festival since.

• Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Grand Prize Winner. “Kape at Balita”, hosted by Ms. Soho for both radio and TV won this award in Kyoto, Japan for coverage of a breaking story.

• Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award. Ms. Soho won this award in 1993. This is usually given to the best and brightest Filipinos in various fields.

• TV Journalist of the Year given by the prestigious Rotary Club of Manila. Ms. Soho won this award for two (2) consecutive years: 1989 and 1990.

• Golden Dove Awardee / Broadcaster of the Year (Ka Doroy Valencia Award) given by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters sa Pilipinas. She is the first recipient of this award.

• Journalist of the Year given by the Rotary Club District 3180

• Cultural Center of the Philippines or CCP Gawad Natatanging Parangal (Special Awardee) for two (2) consecutive years: 1989 and 1990.

• Best TV Special for “The Anatomy of Rape”, a documentary/special report hosted, reported and produced by Ms. Soho. The award was given by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

• Best TV News Magazine for “Within the Walls”, a documentary/special report hosted, reported and produced by Ms. Soho on prison life. The award was given by the Catholic Mass Media Awards.

• Political Reporter of the Year Award for coverage of “The Ipil Massacre” given by the Metro Pacific Corporation Journalism Awards.

• Best Host in the 1999 Golden Dove Awards given by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters sa Pilipinas.

• Fleet Street Awardee for Investigative Journalism given by the British Embassy in Manila in 1998.

• Special Award for Journalism given to the program I-WITNESS by the Star Awards for Television. The program was hosted then by Ms. Soho and three (3) other hosts : Cheche Lazaro, Luchi Cruz-Valdes and Mike Enriquez.

• Ambassador of Dreams given to Five Outstanding Filipinas led by the former President Corazon Aquino.

• 100 Filipino Women of Distinction. Ms. Soho was included in a book on top 100 Filipinos of the first 100 years of the Philippine Republic. The book was authored by Joy Buensalido and Abe Florendo.

• Community Outstanding Young Achievers (COYA) given by the Quezon City Capitol Jaycees and the Sampaguita Jaycees Inc.

• Outstanding Alumnae of the College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines.

• Outstanding Citizen of the Province of La Union and the City of San Fernando, La Union respectively given by the Governor and the Mayor.

• Finalist, Best Documentary in the Asian TV Festival for “Kamao” (Fist), a documentary on the plight of Filipino boxers.

• Finalist, Best Documentary and UNESCO Awardee in the 2000 New York Film and Television Festival for “Katas ng Payatas” (The Essence of Payatas), a documentary on the tragic garbage dump in Metro Manila.

• Outstanding Contribution in the field of Media for the successful People Power II revolt given by the Council on Philippine Affairs or COPA. COPA is composed of various organizations that make up the “civil society” in the Philippines.

• Outstanding Broadcast Journalist Award given by the Metrobank Foundation in October 2001.

• Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) Awardee for Media for 2001.

• Best Documentary Program for I-WITNESS given by the Star Awards for Television for 2001.

• Best TV News Magazine for I-WITNESS (episode by Jessica Soho) given by the Catholic Mass Media Awards for 2001.

• Best News and Current Affairs Special for 2001 given by the Asian TV Festival for SAKSI sa KASAYSAYAN. Ms. Soho was Supervising Producer for this special.

• Juror, 37th Grand Anvil Awards - Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP)

• Grandslam Winner, 2002

Golden Dove Awards Best Public Affairs Show for Jessica Soho Reports Golden Dove Awards Best Public Affairs Show Host for Jessica Soho Reports Star Awards for TV Best News Magazine Show for Jessica Soho Reports Star Awards for TV Best News Magazine Show Host for Jessica Soho Reports CMMA Best Public Affairs Show for Jessica Soho Reports CMMA Best Public Affairs Show Host for Jessica Soho Reports

• Best Public Affairs Presenter, Highly Recommended : 2001-2002 Asian TV Festival

• Journalism Awards for Broadcast Journalism Hall of Fame : Rotary Club of Manila, 2003

• Finalist, Best Social Issue/Current Events Program : New York Festival, 2004 (Mona Lisa Hospital, Jessica Soho Reports)

• Awardee, Mary Kay Philippines 3rd Anniversary, 2003 (Women with a Heart)

• Finalist, Unicef Children’s Rights Awards, 2004 (Missing Story, Jessica Soho Reports)

• Finalist, Best Current Affairs Program : Asian TV Awards, 2004 (Hospital, Lova Palooza and Manok ni Idol, Jessica Soho Reports)

• Finalist, Japan Prize, 2004 (Quiz Bee, Jessica Soho Reports)

• Finalist, Barcelona TV Awards, 2004 (Quiz Bee, Jessica Soho Reports)

• Best Magazine Show : Star Awards for TV, 2004 (Jessica Soho Reports)

• Anak TV Seal, 2004 (Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho)

• Certificate, Special Issues : US International Film and Video Festival, 2005 (Sana’y Muling Makapiling)

• Anak TV Seal, 2005 (Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho)

• Certificate Special Issues : US International Film and Video Festival, 2006 (Sana’y Muling Makapiling)

^[8]

• Anak TV Seal, 2007 (10 Most Admired Femal Personalities )

• Best Magazine Show : Catholic Mass Media Awards 2007 (Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho)

• Finalist, Best Infotainment : Asian TV Awards 2007 (Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho)

• Finalist, Best Public Service Program : Catholic Mass Media Awards 2007 ( Sana’y Muling Makapiling)

• Finalist, Social Issues Category : New York Film Festival 2008 ( Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho and Sana’y Muling Makapiling )

• Best Magazine Program Host : UPLB Gandingan Awards 2008 (Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho)

• Recipient 2nd Adamson University Media Awards 2012

Membership in Organizations/Conferences Attended

• Former Director and Secretary of the National Press Club

• Former President, Defense Press Corps

• Fellow, Nihon Shimbun Kyokai (Association of Newspaper Editors and Publishers of Japan)

• Grantee, International Visitors Program of the United States Information Service

• Delegate, Confederation of ASEAN Journalists (Singapore, 1991)

• Delegate, International Media Seminar organized by the United Nations Population Fund (Bali, Indonesia 1992)

• Delegate, Producers’ Meeting organized by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1992)

• Delegate, Radio-TV News Directors of America (RTNDA) Convention (Los Angeles, California 1996)

• Delegate, Radio-TV News Directors of America (RTNDA) Convention (New Orleans, Louisiana 1997)

• Delegate, Seminar on Democracy given by the British Council (Colchester, Essex, England 1998)

• Voting Member. Radio TV News Directors of America Convention

• Vice President for External Affairs UP College of Mass Communication Alumni Association

References[link]