MANILA, Philippines – Daniel Razon is one of the leading journalists vying for the Best Journalist on Twitter in this year’s Shorty Awards.

Nominations for the Filipino veteran broadcaster skyrocketed a few days after his name was submitted under Journalist Category of the 2nd Annual Shorty Awards, topping William Bonner of Jornal National (National Journal); Rachel Maddow of MSNBC; investigative journalist and Blackwater author Jeremy Scahill; and Steven Ertelt of Lifenews.com.

“Honestly, I am not inclined to shorten any word as much as possible”, Razon said in the Shorty Interview. He maximizes the 140 characters in delivering Bible-inspired and educational tweets, an unusual gesture for a journalist. “I want to think that each tweet I make connects well to those who look at it in the right perspective.”

At the height of the Haiti earthquake Razon’s tweet revealed the biblical fact why such catastrophe happens. “The IRC estimated 50,000 people were killed in cataclysmic earthquake in Haiti. Are you wondering why earthquake happens? Job 9:5-6.” It was reposted by 49 tweeters out of his 3,210 followers, and counting.

Despite his busy schedule as a TV host of Good Morning Kuya! and Munting Pangarap on UNTV and his public service efforts, Razon makes time to tweet but says he can go without it for a day or two. What really prompts him so? “A mind that thinks, a heart that cares, a spirit that says there is so much to share, that’s why I was prompted to be in Twitter.”

Another Filipino, an international televangelist Bro. Eli Soriano was nominated in this year’s Shorty Award for education. Bro. Eli is best known for his award winning religious TV and radio program, Ang Dating Daan or The Old Path. Kuya Daniel mentions Bro. Eli as the person he admires most for his intelligent use of Twitter.

This year’s Shorty Award is ‘more rigorous as the final decision will also be based on the judgment of a panel of critics’, according to Greg Galant, one of the founders of Shorty Awards. Votes will be valued according to an algorithm called shorty rank that evaluates how credible voters are. Some of the categories from the previous Shorty Awards were removed and replaced by new sorts such as journalist, art, celebrity, design and small business. The nominations was opened earlier this month with up to 27 categories, including tech, nonprofit and others.

The Shorty Awards honor the best producers of short real-time content based on popularity votes among Twitter users and a review by members of the Real Time Academy of Short Form Arts and Sciences. It is supported by The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation that upholds excellence in journalism worldwide and commits to strengthening the vitality of the 26 Knight communities.

For tweeters, Razon has a 140-character piece of advice, “Every tweet we make, every word we use to compose a tweet reveals the kind of character we have. Let’s make use of the space worth following.”

Nominate Daniel Razon at the Shorty Awards and follow his tweet here.

Written by Chris Anne Gonzales