The World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) announced the winners of the South Asian Digital Media Awards 2022, the sixth edition of digital media awards for South Asia. These prestigious awards recognise the outstanding digital media projects delivered by news publishers from across the region. An eminent panel of international judges evaluated the entries.
The 2022 edition saw news publishers competing under thirteen categories for ‘Gold’, ‘Silver’ and ‘Bronze’ awards. The ‘Gold’ winners automatically enter WAN-IFRA’s World Digital Media Awards competition.
The winners are:
Best News Website
Gold: https://www.thequint.com/, The Quint
Silver: Best News Website – Hindi, TV Today Network
Bronze: Best News Website – English, TV Today Network
One jury commented: This (website) continues to be a strong, independent journalistic voice, that genuinely experiments with formats and storytelling, and feels deeply digital. Another jury commented: Impressive range of offerings and formats that will cater to many types of readers. While the design is clean, it offers quite a lot for the reader/browser. The format of explainers in 5 cards is useful for people who don’t want to be overwhelmed by information. And Another jury: It is a refreshing offering, having a daily live chat with anchors. And the integration of vertical video is something that more publications should take inspiration from as they look to appeal to people who don’t have time to read a long article.
Best Use of Video
Gold: ABP CENTENARY CAMPAIGN, ABP PVT. LTD.
Silver: Rising Waters and Sinking City, The Quint
Bronze: Dhal Char, Deutsche Welle
A jury said: Nice, gentle structure with good narrative reveal and pace. Beautifully shot and edited. I felt like it could have benefitted from some graphics.
Best Newsletter
Gold: Morning Expresso, The Indian Express
One jury commented: Heartened to see the commitment to Morning Expresso for 2.5 years, the liveliness and variety of the offering, and the impressive array of other newsletters. And another juror said: This is an excellent entry – congratulations!
Best Data Visualisation
Gold: Islamophobia 365, The Quint
Silver: Seeds of Protest, The Quint
Bronze: Artemis Moon Mission, India Today Group Digital
A jury said: A really important and newsworthy topic given an alternative treatment to make it visually arresting, informative and easy to understand. The treatment makes the content stand out (rather than taking second stage to the design). Another jury said: Thorough, insightful and definitive. Superb use of graphics to tell a difficult story. The following jury mentioned: Outstanding, important reporting. The data visualisation is highly compelling, easy to understand and engage with. Congratulations to this team for first-rate work that can serve as a model for newsrooms around the world.
Best Digital Subscription Initiative
Gold: Indian Express Subscription, The Indian Express
Silver: TH Newsletters, The Hindu
Bronze: New Subscription Model, The Daily Prothom Alo
A juror commented: A very strong entry that demonstrates clear goals that the project has delivered on. Very solid numbers that are well documented. Another mentioned: Well stipulated and forward-looking strategies for long-term growth of the initiative. Another juror said: The initiative has high engagement, and pretty good growth.
Best Trust Initiative
Gold: Women in Journalism, Afghanistan Women News Agency
Silver: Sach Ke Sathi Flagship, Jagran New Media
Bronze: BBC Young Reporter India, BBC News
First juror commented: What an inspirational set of ambitions conveyed clearly. A real winner. The second jury commented: This is valuable work – media for women and by the women of Afghanistan. The teaching and mentoring component are an important aspect of this project and of the future of journalism in Afghanistan. The third jury commented: It’s a brave and important effort under difficult conditions. It obviously fills an important gap in the media space in Afghanistan and provides needed information from a point of view that is under-represented – that of women.
Best Podcast
Gold: Shet Market, Sakal Media Private Limited
Silver: Ankahee Baatein, People Like Us Create (Pluc)
Bronze: 3 Things, The Indian Express
First juror commented: An outstanding entry – congratulations. I did want to know more about your business strategy for the podcast i.e. how you are marketing/cross-promoting it and how you plan to make it financially sustainable as an editorial product. Second juror commented: Near flawless entry – congratulations. Curious about the business strategy/future growth of this podcast product. The third juror commented: High quality, good consistency, impressive metrics and meets a specific audience need.
Best in Audience Engagement
Gold: ABP CENTENARY CAMPAIGN, ABP PVT. LTD.
Silver: Padma Bridge Inauguration Campaign, The Daily Prothom Alo
Bronze: Kanneerakaruthu Kalyanam Campaign, M M Publications Limited (Vanitha)
A juror said: Great piece, well shot, nicely graded, with fabulous performances and beautifully structured, just maybe a little too long.
Best ePaper-Concept
Gold: The Hindu e-Paper,The Hindu
Silver: Interactive epaper, DT Next
Bronze: The Daily Prothom Alo eEdition, The Daily Prothom Alo
One juror commented: An intelligent digital first approach that increases community and recognises how the audience consumes content. Having reader accessible quizzes provides a key relationship otherwise missing from many digital experiences. Very strong candidate. Another juror said:This is a great example of how print products can be diversified and where the brand has leveraged their understanding of product-market fit. I like how ‘Learning Corner’ gamifies learning, and acts as a tool for deepening engagement. And the following jury mentioned: Some great results! An interesting extension of the print offering with clear goals.
Best Digital Advertising Project
Gold: Bkash Eid Ayojon, The Daily Prothom Alo
Silver: Abashon Mela (Real Estate Fair), The Daily Prothom Alo
A juror said: This campaign has used several approaches from affiliate marketing, celebrity influencers to creating lifestyle pieces that resonate with the target audience – all while weaving in the convenience of cashless payment powered by the brand partner. It’s a well strategised digital advertising campaign. And the following jury commented: This is a big, high-impact campaign, which drives healthy media results. I like how the team combined editorial content with influencer marketing and social extension in their strategy. It’s a very clever use of ‘full funnel’ marketing with upper-funnel awareness driven by inspiring content that then links through to conversions through the affiliate strategy. A very good campaign, huge congratulations.
Best special project for COVID-19 / Pandemic Reporting
Gold: India’s Girls Out Of School, The Quint
Silver: Breaking News, Dainik Jagran-inext
Bronze: HH Covid Actions, Hindustan Media Ventures Limited
A juror commented:I really liked this video series. It represented an important byproduct of the pandemic. And the following juror mentioned: Good to highlight a consequence of the pandemic, the girls who were impacted such that they had to give up their schooling and presumably part of their childhood. The third juror commented: Smart newsroom innovation that got crucial information out there to a wide audience, and a blueprint for the future of the media org.
Best Use of Short Form Video
Gold: Trending & Current Affairs, The Hindu
Silver: Mini profiles during UP Election, BBC News
Bronze: Breaking News, Dainik Jagran-inext
Best Native Advertising / Sponsored Content Campaign
Gold: Banega Swasth India, NDTV Convergence
Silver: COIMBATORE UNLIMITED, The Hindu
Bronze: Ask Him Today, The Quint
One juror commented: Any commercial content campaign running in a ninth season is to be commended. Congratulations for showing their client immense value through the campaign. In addition to its impressive ambassadorship, the stories affiliated with the campaign are heartfelt and meaningful. All good native advertising should be able to stand alone editorially – and these certainly do. May this partnership last another nine seasons, and more! And the following juror commented: An impressive full-funnel solution that utilises an omni-channel approach to branded content. I commend the team for their strategic approach to the project. Each tactical execution showed value to the user and advertiser alike, resulting in impact for the client. Bravo!
Panel of Jury
The entries were evaluated by an international panel of jury that included Corinne Podger (Director – Digital Skills Agency- Australia), Adam Tinworth (Consultant-Reed Business Information), Juan Velasco (5W Infographics LLC, USA), Simon Scarr (Singapore), Murdoch Davis (USA), Frank Denton (Vice President – Journalism, Morris publishing groups-USA), Ola Henrikkson Independent media consultant (Sweden), Robb Montgomery (Mobile journalism author, Founder, USA), Kavita Chandran (Singapore), Dean Arnett – (Independent and freelance-Video production specialist-UK) , Kevin Anderson (Director of professional services at PugPig- UK), Danny Spears (Chief Operating Officer, The Ozone Project), David Warmsley (Editor-in-Chief, The Globe and Mail, Canada), Javier Garza (Editor, EnRe2 Laguna, Mexico), Kathy English VP (Content Integrity & Editorial Standards Dotdash Meredith-Canada), Margret Muller (Director, Digital Publishing – RP Digital GmbH- Germany), Aileen Rae Perez (Social Media Manager – GMA Network Inc., Philippines), Cahyo Listyanto (GM Technology, Product & Data, Harian Kompas- Indonesia), Cherish Leow (Assistant VP, Branded Content & Editorial Solutions – Astro Awani Network Sdn Bhd-Malaysia), Chris Janz Media Advisor-Australia), Lyn-yi Chung (Deputy Chief Editor, CNA Digital-Singapore), Karen Lim (Supervising Editor – Mediacorp, Singapore), Lee Williamson (Regional Editorial Director, Tatler Asia Limited, Hong Kong), Eoghan Weeney (Digital Media Consultant-Germany), Rebecca Skippage (Disinformation Editor BBC News– UK), and Kuang Keng (Data editor Pulitzer centre, Malaysia).
Award ceremony
WAN-IFRA congratulates all the winners. The award ceremony will be held on 16 March 2023 during the Digital Media India 2023 Conference in New Delhi.
Further details and the ‘Hall of Fame’ (winners) of the previous editions of the award are available at the South Asian Digital Media Awards webpage.
Contact and Inquiries
For further information, please contact: Magdoom Mohamed, Managing Director, WAN-IFRA South Asia, Chennai, India (magdoom.mohamed@wan-ifra.org) or Thai Anban, Manager – Business Development, WAN-IFRA South Asia, Chennai, India (thai.anban@wan-ifra.org).
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