INMA today announced first-place winners in the 2020 Global Media Awards competition, with the grand prize presented to the collective work of news media companies in their inspirational response to the COVID-19 crisis. 

Because the COVID-19 crisis caused the cancellation of INMA’s World Congress of News Media in Paris, today’s announcement was broadcast globally on multiple channels. Jamaican TV host Terri-Karelle Reid emceed the awards announcement, with commentary from Chrissy Towle of the Google News Initiative and Earl Wilkinson of INMA.

The INMA Global Media Awards competition rewards innovation and excellence in growing audience, brand, and revenue. 

From the competition’s 922 entries from 262 news brands in 44 countries, Global Media Awards were announced for news media companies from five continents — with the most emotional moments coming from the responses to the coronavirus and its economic impacts. From 185 finalists, 32 were selected first-place recipients.

Due to the “trust, innovation, and agility” demonstrated by the news media industry in the unprecedented response to COVID-19, INMA chose to honour the collective outreach of media companies than any one company or campaign. While the competition deadline was late January, INMA re-opened the competition with a bonus pandemic response category in April.

Ten regional “Best of Show” winners, selected by judges from first-place recipients, were:

• Best in Africa: Volt Africa for “Volt Africa”
• Best in Asia/Pacific, Regional/Local Brands: The Press/Stuff for “Christchurch Mosque Shooting Coverage”
• Best in Asia/Pacific, Global/National Brands: NZME for “The People Programme”
• Best in Europe, Regional/Local Brands: Amedia in Norway for “Converting Existing Print Subscribers and Gaining New Customers”
• Best in Europe, Global/National Brands: Expressen in Sweden for “Ready, Set, 70,000! How Expressen Went from 0 to 70,000 Subscribers in a Year”
• Best in Latin America: Grupo Semana in Colombia for “D.C. La Vuelta por Bogotá”
• Best in North America, Regional/Local Brands: Newsday Media Group for “Long Island Divided”
• Best in North America, Global/National Brands: The New York Times for “Women in Congress”
• Best in South Asia, Regional/Local Brands: ABP in India for “Changing the Prayer and Praying For Change”
• Best in South Asia, Global/National Brands: Jagran Prakashan for “The Generation That Could Save Us”

In making an honourary aggregate selection for the global “Best in Show,” Reid said: “In a first in the 83-year history of the INMA awards, no single entry has been judged the global ‘Best in Show.’ Instead, in honour of the courageous work done by media companies worldwide during the COVID-19 crisis, INMA awards the global ‘Best in Show’ to all news brands who are “leaning in” to this unprecedented moment. 

“Not just the 98 companies that submitted for the COVID-19 category, but to all who are digging deep to project the power, the passion, and the soul of news brands — especially when it matters the most,” Reid added. “To those who are elevating their journalism and differentiating themselves from what seems at times like the bottomless pit of fake news. This year’s global ‘Best in Show’ goes out to each of you — and your teams that are changing the game for news media in 2020.” 

INMA has rewarded excellence in news media since 1937. This year across 16 categories, the Global Media Awards competition rewards innovation in building news brands, platform excellence, audience development, advertising sales, and nurturing corporate culture. Entries also are divided into two groups: global/national brands and regional/local brands.

Some 42 media experts from 20 countries judged the competition in February and April, focusing on breakthrough results, unique concepts, strong creativity, innovative thinking, and winning synergies across media platforms.

“If you separate out the COVID category, the themes that stand out in this year’s winners are data and subscriptions,” Wilkinson said. “It is part of the ‘new normal’ for media that everything is data-infused and tilted toward reader revenue. Yet the COVID category yielded an amazing 98 entries, from which 12 finalists were selected, and two inspirational winners were announced. I can’t say enough about the trust, innovation, and agility projected in these COVID campaigns.”

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 in a multi-media environment. The fast-growing INMA community consists of more than 12,000 executives at 800+ media companies in 70 countries. INMA is the news media industry’s foremost ideas-sharing network with members connected via conferences, reports, webinars, chats, and an unparalleled archive of best practices.

INMA Global Media Awards results

Editor’s note: Group 1 represents regional/local brands, and Group 2 represents global/national brands. Honourable mentions are listed alphabetically.

Category 1: Best Brand Awareness Campaign

Group 1

• First Place: Russmedia, Austria, “Engage Me”
• Second Place: Mumbai Mirror, India, “MumbaiMirrored: Tapping History to Spark Future Debates”
• Third Place: Kleine Zeitung, Austria, “Dependent on Independence”
• Honourable Mention: Amar Ujala, India, “Amar Ujala’s Aparajita — 100 Million Smiles”
• Honourable Mention:The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, United States, “Unprotected:  Exposing Georgia's Failed Senior Care Industry”
• Honourable Mention: LNP Media Group, United States, “LNP|LancasterOnline Celebrate”

Group 2

• First Place: The Times of India, “Times Out & Proud”

• Second Place: The New York Times, United States, “The Truth Is Local”

• Third Place: South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, “2019 SCMP Brand Campaign — Asia Matters”
• Honourable Mention: Independent Media, South Africa, “My Promise”
• Honourable Mention: USA Today, United States, “USA Today Launches Inaugural Season of The City Podcast”
• Honourable Mention: The Wall Street Journal, New York, United States, “Read Yourself Better”

Category 2: Best Public Relations or Community Service Campaign

Group 1

• First Place: ABP, India, “Changing the Prayer and Praying for Change”
• Second Place: The Times of India, “Times Women Heroes Kolkata”
• Third Place: Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun, Canada, “Gifts of Life”
• Honourable Mention: Hanza Media, Croatia, “National Football Team Match in Split”
• Honourable Mention: Stuff, New Zealand, “Wasp Wipeout 2019”
• Honourable Mention: La Voz del Interior, Argentina, “Project Czekalinski”

Group 2

• First Place: Agora, Poland, “Your Weekend, The Last Ever Issue”
• Second Place: Ringier Axel Springer, Poland, “The Ark 2.0. — Sending to Space the DNA of Endangered Species of Animals”
• Third Place: Associated Media Publishing, South Africa, “COSMO Men Stand Up”
• Honourable Mention: Adria Media Group, Serbia, “Plant a tree”
• Honourable Mention: Jagran Prakashan, India, “The Generation that Could Save Us”
• Honourable Mention: News Corp, Australia, “Stopping Australia's Worst Serial Killer”

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

Group 1

• First Place: Editora Globo, Brazil, “Rio Gastronomia”
• Second Place: Russmedia, Austria, “Vol.At Festival Suite”
• Third Place: Dainik Bhaskar, India, “Night Walk for Women”
• Honourable Mention: Bay Area News Group, United States, “News That Goes with Everything — East Bay Times and Klay Thompson Exclusive Newspaper Shoe Release”
• Honourable Mention: Bergens Tidende, Norway, “Rockin' around The Christmas Tree — Brand Building for 30 Years”
• Honourable Mention: Irish Examiner, Ireland, “ieStyle Live”

Group 2

• First Place: VG, Norway, “VG-Lista: The Most Important Song of the Year”
• Second Place: Jagran Prakashan, India, “The Biggest Cinema Experience”
• Third Place: The Wall Street Journal, United States, “Journal House by The Wall Street Journal”
• Honourable Mention: Cofina Media, Portugal, “Record Challenge Park”
• Honourable Mention: Hanza Media, Croatia, “Lino Višebojac”
• Honourable Mention: Tortoise Media, United Kingdom, “ThinkIns: The Engine of Tortoise Journalism”

Category 4: Best Use of Data Analytics or Research

Group 1

• First Place: MittMedia, Sweden, “A Holistic Approach to Understanding Churn”
• Second Place: Google, United States, “News Consumer Insights and Realtime Content Insights Free Data Tools to Drive Better Engagement”
• Third Place: Amedia, Norway, “Cracking the code: How to Sell to and Engage Younger Subscribers with Journalism”
• Honourable Mention: Australian Community Media, Australia, “ACM Data Team”
• Honourable Mention: GFR Media, Puerto Rico, “El Nuevo Día & Metrics for News”
• Honourable Mention: Newsday Media Group, United States, “Beating the Algorithms: How Newsday Makes Social Media Work for our Subscriber Model”

Group 2

• First Place: News UK, United Kingdom, “Sun Savers Segmentation”
• Second Place: Helsingin Sanomat, Finland, “Reaching it All — Insights Leading to Subscriber Growth and Revenue Increase”
• Third Place: American Press Institute, United States, “Metrics for News Enables Newsrooms to Act on Analytics, Engage New Audiences and Grow Reader Revenue”
• Honourable Mention: Dow Jones, United States, “The Habit Project”
• Honourable Mention: Ringier, Switzerland, “EqualVoice-Factor — Gender Equality @Ringier”
• Honourable Mention: Telegraph Media Group, United Kingdom, “Why The Telegraph's Subscription Strategy Success Is Written In The STARS”

Category 5: Best Use of Print

Group 1

• First Place: The Press, New Zealand, “Christchurch Mosque Shooting Coverage”
• Second Place: Lensing Media, Germany, “Borussini — The Magazine for Borussia's Future”
• Third Place: Mid-Day Infomedia, India, “Sunday Mid-Day Campaign”
• Honourable Mention: Bild Zeitung, Germany, “World Record Print Ad by B.Z.”
• Honourable Mention: LNP Media Group, United States, “Balance Magazine”
• Honourable Mention: Mumbai Mirror, India, “MumbaiMirrored: Tapping History to Spark Future Debates”

Group 2

• First Place: The New York Times, United States, “Women in Congress”
• Second Place: Jagran Prakashan, India, “A Glass Half Full”
• Third Place: Dow Jones, United States, “MarketWatch: Best New Ideas in Retirement”
• Honourable Mention: Comunican/El Espectador, Colombia, “Colombia 2020: Construyendo País Desde Las Regiones”
• Honourable Mention: News Corp, Australia, “Stopping Australia's Worst Serial Killer”
• Honourable Mention: NZME, New Zealand, “Trust in Print”

Category 6: Best Use of Video

Group 1

• First Place: Newsday Media Group, United States, “Long Island Divided”
• Second Place: Mumbai Mirror, India, “MumbaiMirrored: Tapping History to Spark Future Debates”
• Third Place: Alabama Media Group, United States, “People of Alabama”
• Honourable Mention: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, United States, “Unprotected:  Behind the Scenes with the AJC's Investigative Reporters”
• Honourable Mention: Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun, Canada, “Bronco Unbroken”
• Honourable Mention: Diario Los Andes, Argentina, “Próvolo Victims”

Group 2

• First Place: South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, “Tiananmen Square Crackdown: 30 years On”
• Second Place: Stuff, New Zealand, “Life & Limb”
• Third Place: The Times of India, “Maa Aaschen Tumi Kothaye”
• Honourable Mention: 24.com, South Africa, “#IamNene: How Uyinene Mrwetyana’s Murder Ignited a Movement”
• Honourable Mention: Infobae, Argentina, “Carlos Monzón: Poverty, Glory, Excesses, Femicide and a Tragic End”
• Honourable Mention: VG, Norway, “VG News — A Unique Multifunctional Product”

Category 7: Best Use of Audio

Group 1

• First Place: Diario Los Andes, Argentina, “Los Andes Podcast”
• Second Place: Mid-Day Infomedia, India, “Sunday Mid-Day Campaign”
• Third Place: Ouest-France, “Podcasts Wall of Ouest-France”
• Honourable Mention: Irish Examiner, Ireland, “Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) Podcast”
• Honourable Mention: Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing, India, “Mathrubhumi Editorial Audio Podcast: Engaging Readers Digitally”
• Honourable Mention: USA Today, United States, “Country Mile”

Group 2

• First Place: The Economist, United Kingdom, “Economist Radio's The Intelligence”
• Second Place: Zetland, Denmark, “Zetland's Shift to Audio(-First)”
• Third Place: Stuff, New Zealand, “White Silence”
• Honourable Mention: BBC, United Kingdom, “BBC News on Smart Speakers (Alexa, Give Me BBC News)”
• Honourable Mention: The JoongAng Ilbo, Republic of Korea, “Listen for a Smart Life”
• Honourable Mention: stern.de, Germany, “Faking Hitler”

Category 8: Best New Technology or Digital Product

Group 1

• First Place: Malayala Manorama, India, “Manorama Online”
• Second Place: Amedia, Norway, “Streaming Norway Cup — The World’s Largest Football Tournament: Six days, 15 Pitches, 830 Matches: 3,000 Subscription Sales”
• Third Place: United Robots, Sweden, “Q&A: Robots Interview Sports Team Coaches”
• Honourable Mention: Grupo RBS, Brazil, “Super App GaúchaZH”
• Honourable Mention: Ledger Dispatch, United States, “Ledger Dispatch Augmented Reality Newspaper and App”
• Honourable Mention: Publisher's Toolbox, United Kingdom, “KMTV Mobile App: A Branded Community Platform”

Group 2

• First Place: Nine, Australia, “Efficiency in Complex Newsrooms”
• Second Place: VG, Norway, “VG News — A Unique Multifunctional Product”
• Third Place: Aller Media, Norway, “Xavier — A Personalization System”
• Honourable Mention: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany, “F.A.Z. APPETIZER — Instant Personalization”
• Honourable Mention: The Globe and Mail, Canada, “Sophi Automation”
• Honourable Mention: El Observador, Uruguay, “RompeCristales Podcast Series: Journalism Content Against Gender Inequality”

Category 9: Best Idea to Encourage Print Readership or Engagement

Group 1

• First Place: SaltWire Network, Canada, “The SaltWire Deep Dives”
• Second Place: Nordwest-Zeitung, Germany, “NWZ-Insektenjahr”

• Third Place: Mid-Day Infomedia, India, “Sunday Mid-Day Campaign”

• Honourable Mention: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, United States, “Unprotected:  Exposing Georgia's Failed Senior Care Industry”
• Honourable Mention: GFR Media, Puerto Rico, “Sunday Arrived”
• Honourable Mention: Mumbai Mirror, India, “MumbaiMirrored: Tapping History to Spark Future Debates”

Group 2

• First Place: Jagran Prakashan, India, “The Generation that Could Save Us”
• Second Place: Die Zeit, Germany, “From Subscribers to Friends — The Membership Model ‘Freunde der ZEIT’”
• Third Place: The Times of India, “Lost Votes — An Initiative of The Times of India”
• Honourable Mention: Børneavisen (JP/Politikens Hus), Denmark, “Engaging Children in Print in the Digital Age”
• Honourable Mention: El Comercio, Perú, “Esto no es periodismo / Esto sí (This is not Journalism / This is)”
• Honourable Mention: Le Devoir, Canada, “Pause papier”

Category 10: Best Idea to Grow Digital Readership or Engagement

Group 1

• First Place: Amedia, Norway, “Converting Existing Print Subscribers and Gaining New Customers”
• Second Place: The Dallas Morning News, United States, “The Dallas Morning News' Reader's Choice Best in D-FW”
• Third Place: Russmedia, Austria, “Engage Me”
• Honourable Mention: Funke Media Group, Germany, “Content Mining with Topic-Modeling”
• Honourable Mention: Newsday Media Group, United States, “Supporting Local Journalism”
• Honourable Mention: News Corp, Australia, “Digital Subscription Gold in the Aussie Outback”

Group 2

• First Place: Zetland, Denmark, “Zetland's Member-Get-Member Campaign”
• Second Place: The Wall Street Journal, United States, “We Are All Business Majors”
• Third Place: Telegraph Media Group, United Kingdom, “Telegraph Women's Sport”
• Honourable Mention: OneMetro, Chile, “Nueva Mujer's RFV Growth Strategy”
• Honourable Mention: Die Presse, Austria, “How ‘Die Presse’ Changed the Digital Product Game”
• Honourable Mention: The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, “Australia's Bushfire Crisis”

Category 11: Best New Digital Subscription Initiative or Concept

Group 1

• First Place: Madsack Media Group, Germany, “Madsack+”
• Second Place: Bergens Tidende, Norway, “How Bergens Tidende Grew Digital Subscription Revenue By 44%”
• Third Place: News Corp, Australia, “Digital Subscription Gold in the Aussie Outback”
• Honourable Mention: Russmedia, Austria, “Engage Me”
• Honourable Mention: Der Tagesspiegel, Germany, “Tagesspiegel Checkpoint”
• Honourable Mention: La Voz del Interior, Argentina, “Digital Subscriptions in a Regional Environment”

Group 2

• First Place: Expressen, Sweden, “Ready, Set, 70,000! How Expressen Went from 0 to 70,000 Subscribers in a Year”
• Second Place: News UK, United Kingdom, “JAMES — Your Digital Butler Driving Subscription Growth Using AI”
• Third Place: Die Presse, Austria, “How ‘Die Presse’ Changed the Digital Product Game”
• Honourable Mention: Advance Alpha Group, United States, “Subtext: The Text Marketing Platform Connecting Personalities to Audiences”
• Honourable Mention: Aftenposten, Norway, “How Aftenpostens´ Digital Wine Club Became a Digital Bridge for Print Subscribers, Reduced Churn and Increased ARPU”
• Honourable Mention: News Corp, Australia, “Ultimate Schools Hub”

Category 12: Best Idea to Acquire or Retain Advertising Clients

Group 1

• First Place: The Hindu, India, “The Hindu for Client Mondelez”
• Second Place: NZME, New Zealand, “OneRoof — Price Rewind”
• Third Place: Grupo RBS, Brazil, “Tá e Daí?”
• Honourable Mention: Amar Ujala, India, “Har Ghar Swachh” (A Joint Initiative of Amar Ujala & Harpic)
• Honourable Mention: Dainik Bhaskar, India, “The Gujarat Toolkit”
• Honourable Mention: Grupo Milenio, Mexico, “Buenas Noticias (Good News)”

Group 2

• First Place: Mediahuis, Belgium, “MH Data Studio”
• Second Place: News Corp, Australia, “Come Together 2019”
• Third Place: Bonnier News Brand Studio, Sweden, “Continuous Scroll: Combining Storytelling with New Technology”
• Honourable Mention: HT Media, India, “Winning Gen Z — HT School Edition Relaunch”
• Honourable Mention: Jagran Prakashan, India, “Making an Offer That Cannot Be Refused”
• Honourable Mention: Singapore Press Holdings, “From Offline to Online and Back — Activating Our Print Audience”

Category 13: Best Execution of Native Advertising

Group 1

• First Place: Grupo Semana, Colombia, “D.C. La Vuelta por Bogotá”
• Second Place: News Corp, Australia, “Biz Cover”
• Third Place: Australian Community Media, Australia, “Coopers Couch Series”
• Honourable Mention: ABP, India, “Sushthotar Jonyo: For the Wellness for All”
• Honourable Mention: Amar Ujala, India, “Har Ghar Swachh” (A Joint Initiative of Amar Ujala & Harpic)
• Honourable Mention: Upsala Nya Tidning, Sweden, “UNT — Live TV Native”

Group 2

• First Place: 24sata, Croatia, “BFF — The Friendship Journey”
• Second Place: News Corp, Australia, “Stopping Australia's Worst Serial Killer”
• Third Place: VG Partnerstudio, Norway, “Eco Friendly Travel Inspiration”
• Honourable Mention: Forbes, United States, “Forbes Analytics+: From Data to Answers”
• Honourable Mention: The Irish Times, Ireland, “Everyday Adventures”
• Honourable Mention: Schibsted Brand Studio, Sweden, “The City of Silence”

Category 14: Best New Initiative to Enhance Corporate Culture

Group 1

• First Place: Tribune Publishing, United States, “Tribune Publishing Achieves Digital Subscriber Growth with Collaboration”
• Second Place: Jornal Correio, Brazil, “Correio of the Future Award”
• Third Place: Oahu Publications, United States, “OMG Marketing Communications”

Group 2

• First Place: Norwegian Media Businesses' Association, Norway, “The Mentorship Program — A Unique Collaboration on Leadership Development”
• Second Place: NZME, New Zealand, “Knowledge is Power”
• Third Place: Schibsted, Norway, “How the Biggest Publisher in Northern Europe Reduced Time to Market With 90% On Campaigns”
• Honourable Mention: Expressen, Sweden, “The TV School”
• Honourable Mention: Jagran Prakashan, India, “The Generation that Could Save Us”
• Honourable Mention: South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, “Hackathon and Kudos”

Category 15: Best New Initiative to Empower and Retain Talent

Group 1

• First Place: Volt Africa, South Africa, “Volt Africa”
• Second Place: Russmedia, Austria, “Vol.At Festival Suite”

Group 2

• First Place: NZME, New Zealand, “The People Programme”

• Second Place: Norwegian Media Businesses' Association, Norway, “The Mentorship Program — A Unique Collaboration on Leadership Development”
• Third Place: Stuff, New Zealand, “All of Us: Creating a Workplace Fit for the Times, Fit for Everyone”
• Honourable Mention: Dainik Bhaskar, India, “Dainik Bhaskar's Policies to Empower and Retain Talent”
• Honourable Mention: El Observador, Uruguay, “RompeCristales: Journalists for Gender Equality”
• Honourable Mention: South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, “Career Development and Mobility”

Category 16: Best Initiative in Response to COVID-19

Group 1

• First Place: Göteborgs-Posten, Sweden, “GP Loves Gothenburg”
• Second Place: Rashtradoot, India, “Stand Tall With Rashtradoot”
• Third Place: HLN, Belgium, “Tour de Flanders Against Corona”
• Honourable Mention: Jutarnji list, Croatia, “Coloring Book: Color Your Quarantine Days”
• Honourable Mention: Russmedia, Austria, “#vorarlberghältzusammen” (VoralbergSticksTogether)
• Honourable Mention: La Voz de Galicia, Spain, “We Are Your Voice”

Group 2

• First Place: The Straits Times, Singapore, “Making Sense of the Pandemic for Young Readers”
• Second Place: The Hindu, India, “Stay Home – Stay Vigilant”
• Third Place: Onet, Poland, “How to #Stayathome and Not Go Crazy?”
• Honourable Mention: The Big Issue, UK, “The Big Issue”
• Honourable Mention: CNN, United States, “CNN 411: Coronavirus Information and Local Resources”
• Honourable Mention: The Telegraph, United Kingdom, “You Are Not Alone”

The next Global Media Awards competition deadline is Friday, January 29, 2021.

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