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WAN-IFRA announces 2021 European Digital Media Awards winners

2021-07-22. The winners of the WAN-IFRA European Digital Media Awards 2021 were announced on Thursday, 22 July – These awards honour European news publishers who excel in their work and deliver unique and original digital news projects. During a year that brought many challenges for news publishers, these entries are exemplary in their innovation, creativity and understanding of the needs of their audiences.

by Laurel Wennen laurel.wennen@wan-ifra.org | July 22, 2021

The work and passion that went into each project truly stands out. From superb cases of local journalism and audience engagement strategies, to inventive and comprehensive displays of complex data. A big thank you to all the publishers who submitted their projects this year and to our expert jury members (see below for full list). All regional winners will be automatically entered into WAN-IFRA’s World Digital Media Awards competition.

The winners of the 14th annual European Digital Media Awards are:

Best News Website or Mobile Service
Norwegian Broadcasting, Norway – Your Climate Future

Combining intensive investigative journalism, detailed and exhaustive data gathering, and engaging storytelling, this project is an exceptional example of the power and impact of local journalism. Your Climate Future gives readers a relatable, yet immensely detailed resource to help understand the potential effects of climate change, not as a broad or overwhelming topic, but in their own communities. Judge’s comments: “An astounding journalistic work and historical document for a country.”

Best Use of Online Video
VGTV, Norway – Tarjei’s experiment

This project, which breaks up a longer documentary into shorter segments, is incredibly successful in its goal to bring this story to an online, and specifically younger, audience. By formatting the videos specifically for mobile devices, and ending each video with a cliffhanger, VG created a recipe for success that is both engaging and convenient for the audience. Judge’s comments: “The project is worth highlighting because it applies the narratives of television series to tell a relevant story from a social and public health point of view. Very well thought out and executed to reach young audiences with a complex and delicate topic.”

Best Data Visualisation
TASS Russian News Agency, Russian Federation – Trading places

This multimedia long read provides readers with an expansive amount of information regarding the refugee situation, in Russia and throughout the globe, in a comprehensible, intuitive layout. The three part project expertly assembles a mix of data, stories, and visuals to create a thorough, insightful explanation of the refugee experience. Judge’s comments: “Elegant, smart! Very well structured and detailed story. A perfect story, using all the different types of tools. Images, animated images, timeline, information chip, animated cards, video and, and, and …”

Best Paid Content Strategy
Amedia AS, Norway – +Alt: All News in One Subscription

Responding to the needs of their customers for easier navigation across their 70 newspapers and their own desire to reach a larger audience, Amedia built an all in one service that allows readers access across platforms with a single sign on. A bold undertaking that has certainly paid off, they surpassed their goals for new and existing subscribers and have boosted revenues company wide. Judge’s comments: “The execution of this project was done very well. The project team listened carefully to the consumer, had a clear roadmap for the implementation and has therefore achieved the necessary results.”

Best in Audience Engagement
Dagens Næringsliv – The Norwegian Business Daily, Norway – Fantasy Fund

Looking to boost engagement with younger audiences, DN effectively combines education and entertainment to create a product that is appealing and accessible to anyone interested in the financial sector. Their creativity and effort proved incredibly successful, with over 21,000 players (their goal was 10,000) registered, 54% of which are younger readers. Judge’s comments: “Brilliant use of gaming and a very well thought-through strategy to engage younger audiences. A great example of newsroom innovation that not only looks to better serve audiences but also finds new sustainable revenue streams.”

Best Project for News Literacy
The Guardian Foundation, United Kingdom – The Guardian Foundation: Education Centre and NewsWise

In response to the evolving challenges and needs of families and teachers during 2020, The Guardian Foundation took action to adapt and create a variety of important resources and programmes to help children, their parents and their teachers navigate the misinformation increasingly found in the news. These initiatives include an online Family News Hub, training webinars for teachers, online workshops, and a variety of free, digital resources. The critical news literacy teams were able to be there when children, teachers and families most needed critical news literacy support during an exceptional period in history, delivering in direct response to their needs and achieving strong results. Judge’s comments: “Superb and exhaustive news literacy and education project that really seemed to step into a new gear during the pandemic in 2020.”

Best Digital Marketing Campaign for a News Brand
Verdens Gang AS, Norway – “What the….”?

VG created this unique campaign, which features a diverse range of readers on a variety of platforms, with the objective of reminding Norwegians, and especially younger readers, of their role as a primary news source and a point of connection for the community. Their work and creativity delivers a high impact campaign that not only successfully conveyed the “VG personality” but also reached 65% of the Norwegian population and increased brand positivity and use of their news. Judge’s comments: “Great campaign – especially the broad multimedia approach. And the messaging aligns beautifully with a tabloid media.”

Best Special Project for Covid-19
Verdens Gang, Norway – The Corona Live Tracker

As the pandemic brought chaos, misinformation, and confusion, VG set out to create a database that would give their audience trusted, verified statistics and information about what was happening in their local communities, the country, and around the world. Keeping UX and the need for clear and concise information in mind, the database gives a thorough and understandable overview of the Covid situation across Norway. Judge’s comments: “This is a truly impressive project that demonstrates how a data dashboard can go beyond straightforward descriptions of numbers to provide compelling answers to key questions, as well as critical analysis and even predictions.”

Best Digital Audio Project (it’s a tie!)
Ouest-France, France – Le Mur des Podcasts

Producing an immensely impressive suite of podcasts (over 30 recurring programs) with three to four new podcasts published each day, Ouest-France’s passion for serving their audience across multiple formats is without question. Now reaching over 1.3 million listenings per month, their hard work, strategy and implementation are certainly paying off. Judge’s comments: “An unbelievable amount of work considering the full-time team is 3 strong. The list of series is engrossing and demonstrates an understanding of different audiences’ desire from audio content.”

Euronews, France – Cry Like A Boy

This podcast series combines a documentary and conversational style to share the stories of men in five countries across Africa as they confront what it means to “be a man” and work to change the structural gender inequality within their communities. Not only have they gained an audience of over 150,000 listeners, but Euronews has also increased podcast and journalism skills within their team and created a template to continue engaging new audiences in an audio format. Judge’s comments: “Love the quality of the episodes, there are so few podcasts that actually make the most of that on-the-ground reporting. Amazing topic and great mission too, loved some of the testimonials and the short-form nature of the episodes.”

 

2021 Jurors

  • Jane Barrett, Global Editor, Media News Strategy, Editor in Charge of Reuters Next, Reuters News Agency, United Kingdom
  • Óscar Beltrán de Otálora, Director Editorial Development, Vocento, Spain
  • Pepe Cerezo, Digital strategist, Specialist in digital journalism, online media and new business models, Spain
  • John Crowley, Freelance editor, trainer and media consultant, Fathm, United Kingdom
  • Pascal Fessler, Founder & CEO, Longtail Media, Switzerland
  • Rodrigo Fino, President & Founder, GM Latinoamérica, Argentina
  • Amien Idries, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Aachener Zeitung, Germany
  • Marcela Kunova, Editor, Journalism.co.uk, United Kingdom
  • Jesper Laursen, Founder and CEO, Native Advertising Institute, Denmark
  • Virginia Lavín Amirola, Editorial Director, La Factoría (Grupo Prisa), Spain
  • Serene Luo, Deputy Schools Editor, The Straits Times & Correspondent, Singapore Press Holdings Ltd, Singapore
  • Koen Meeusen, Director Reader Revenue, Mediahuis, Belgium
  • Dr François Nel, Director, Journalism Leaders Programme, University of Central Lancashire | Co-convenor: Digital Editors Network, UK
  • Katarzyna Ostrowska, Subscriptions Growth Manager, Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland
  • Claire Overstall, SVP, Global Head of Customer, The Economist, United Kingdom
  • Leonardo Pescante, Deputy Editor-in-Chief / Multimedia Manager 24heures.ch, 24 Heures, Switzerland
  • Benjamin Quiring, Team Lead, Newsteam, ‎Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, Germany
  • Stephen Rae,Publisher, AML Intelligence, Ireland
  • Ziad Ramley, Director of Digital, Thomson Reuters Foundation, United Kingdom
  • Penny Riordan, Director of Business Strategy and Partnerships, Local Media Association, USA
  • Dean Roper, Director of Insights & Editor-in-Chief, WAN-IFRA, Germany
  • Elske Schouten, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, NRC, The Netherlands
  • Chris Sutcliffe, Freelance Writer, Senior Reporter, The Drum, UK
  • Cristina Tardáguila, Founder at Agência Lupa & Associate Director of International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), Brazil & USA
  • Nick Tjaardstra, Executive Director, Digital Revenue Network, WAN-IFRA, Germany
  • Laurens Vreekamp, Founder Future Journalism Today, The Netherlands
  • Arnaud Wery, Web Journalist, Les Éditions de l’Avenir, Belgium

EUROPEAN DIGITAL MEDIA AWARDS 2021

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