INMA unveils 40 first-place winners at Global Media Awards, Ukrainian association takes top prize

By Dawn McMullan

INMA

Dallas, Texas, USA

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INMA today announced 40 first-place recipients during its 2025 Global Media Awards competition, with the Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine taking home the global “Best in Show.”

During an emotion-filled awards ceremony at the Edison Ballroom in Midtown New York in front more than 400 guests, the winners were unveiled across 20 categories aimed at surfacing innovation and best practices in news brands, optimising the use of media features, subscriptions, product, advertising and commerce, artificial intelligence, and newsroom innovation.

Photos from the evening can be found here.

INMA Global Media Awards Dinner guests enjoy cocktails at Midtown Manhattan’s Edison Ballroom, which has been entertaining since the 1930s.
INMA Global Media Awards Dinner guests enjoy cocktails at Midtown Manhattan’s Edison Ballroom, which has been entertaining since the 1930s.

Winning the coveted “Best in Show,” the top award of the evening, was the Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine’s “Rescuing Freedom: The Campaign to Save Ukrainian Regional Journalism,” an outstanding and crucial campaign to support independent media in war times, with an impressive impact at the community level, clearly showing what most journalists and media organisations should be doing to rescuing freedom and democracy.

The Ukrainian associations CEO, Oksana Brovko, was presented the grand prize on the New York stage by INMA President Gert Ysebaert to a sustained standing ovation. Brovko thanked INMA and members for supporting the regional press in Ukraine in brief remarks. 

“These awards today are because of the brave world of Ukrainian journalists but also because of you all who are standing with us,” Brovko told INMA members. “Together, we are stronger.”

The INMA awards competition, which has been rewarding media excellence since 1937, evaluates news media companies across two segments: national brands and regional brands. 

This year, two companies garnered two first places: The Hindu in India and VG in Norway.

The Global Media Awards Dinner drew more than 400 guests and celebrated 40 first place winners among nearly 200 finalists.
The Global Media Awards Dinner drew more than 400 guests and celebrated 40 first place winners among nearly 200 finalists.

The 2025 Global Media Awards competition attracted 839 entries from 286 market-leading news media brands in 49 countries. Participants included newspaper media, magazine media, digital media, television media, and radio media.

An international jury of 60 media executives from 26 countries selected 198 finalists earlier this year.

Global Media Awards Dinner guests celebrate their achievements after hours.
Global Media Awards Dinner guests celebrate their achievements after hours.

Judges also selected the best in six world regions from the finalists:

  • Best in Africa: Business Insider Africa for “For Leading Social-First Business Journalism in Africa” 
  • Best in Asia/Pacific: The Waikato Times/Stuff for “Democracy.AI”
  • Best in Europe: Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine for “Rescuing Freedom: The Campaign to Save Ukrainian Regional Journalism”
  • Best in Latin America: La Nación for “S.O.S. Animals of Argentina”
  • Best in North America: Atlanta Journal-Constitution for “Reinventing a 155-year legacy: The app is at the heart of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Journey to Becoming a Modern Media Company”
  • Best in South Asia: Prothom Alo for “Echoes of Defiance: Inspiring a Generation Through Truth and Resilience”

“The Global Media Awards showcased just how boldly news media companies are stepping beyond long-standing formulas to better connect with readers in this fast-changing, often challenging news landscape,” said Earl J. Wilkinson, executive director and CEO of INMA. “This year’s winners are among the most creative and inspiring we’ve ever seen — and we couldn’t be prouder of all our amazing finalists!”

About INMA

The International News Media Association (INMA) is a global community of market-leading news media companies reinventing how they engage audiences and grow revenue. The INMA community consists of 22,000+ members at 1,000+ news media companies in 90+ countries. INMA is the news media industry’s foremost ideas-sharing network with members connected via conferences, reports, Webinars, virtual meetings, an unparalleled archive of best practices, and strategic initiatives focused on digital subscriptions, artificial intelligence, product & tech, advertising, newsroom transformation, and the emerging relationship between publishers and Big Tech platforms. Click here for more about INMA.

2025 Global Media Awards winners

Editor’s note: Regional brands represent a single brand serving a city or region. National brands represent a single brand with a national reach. Honourable mentions are listed alphabetically.

Category 1: Best Brand Awareness Campaign

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 2: Best Public Relations or Community Service Campaign

Regional Brands

National Brands

Catetory 3: Best Use of an Event to Build a News Brand

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 4: Best Idea to Encourage Reader Engagement

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 5: Best Initiative to Bolster Next-Generation Readership

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 6: Best New Video Product or Feature

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 7: Best New Audio/Voice Product or Feature

Regional Brands 

National Brands

Category 8: Best Use of Print

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 9: Best Use of Social Media

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 10: Best New Digital Product

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 11: Best Product Iteration

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 12: Best Initiative to Grow Subscriptions

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 13: Best Initiative to Engage and Retain Subscribers

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 14: Best Idea to Grow Advertising Sales

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 15: Most Creative Use of Advertising Formats

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 16: Best Commerce Product or Service

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 17: Best Use of AI for Internal Productivity

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 18: Best Use of AI in Customer-Facing Products

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 19: Best Innovation in Newsroom Transformation

Regional Brands

National Brands

Category 20: Best Use of Visual Journalism and Storytelling Tools

Regional Brands

National Brands

Congratulations to all the winners!

The next Global Media Awards competition deadline is Friday, January 30, 2026.

Photos by Robert Downs Photography.

About Dawn McMullan

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