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Winners announced for the African Digital Media Awards 2022

2022-07-12. The winners of WAN-IFRA’s African Digital Media Awards were announced on Tuesday, 12 July, during the Digital Media Africa virtual conference. The annual African Digital Media Awards are the most prestigious digital news awards on the African continent, presented by WAN-IFRA.

by Virginia Melero virginia.melero@wan-ifra.org | July 12, 2022

The Awards recognise news publishers who have delivered unique and original digital media projects in the last 12 months. This year we had a record number of entries submitted! Amidst another challenging year, it was inspiring to see so many incredible projects!

The African Awards are presented annually as part of a series of regional competitions held in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and South Asia.

All 6 winners of the first 6 categories will go head-to-head and compete against other regions for the prestigious title of a Digital Media World Award Winner 2022. The in-person ceremony will take place at the World News Media Congress (29 Sept. 2022) in Zaragoza, Spain. The winners of the last 4 categories are exclusive to the African region and launched specifically for our African members to showcase their inspirational projects and compete against other news publishers for the continental awards.

WINNERS OF THE 2022 ANNUAL AFRICAN DIGITAL MEDIA AWARDS

Best News Website or Mobile Service

https://www.mangeonsbien.com/ – Mangeons bien, Tunisia

www.mangeonsbien.com started its activities in 2016 and is mainly aimed at “foodies”, lovers of good food, cooking enthusiasts and professionals in the food industry. It is the 1st Tunisian 100% French-speaking electronic Magazine dedicated to food culture, culinary art and gastronomy while taking a well-considered look at local products, dietetics and world cuisines. It is mainly aimed at professionals and amateurs of the Tunisian culinary art and international gastronomy while giving great importance to the “Greater Good”. www.manageonsbien.com puts online, permanently and periodically, culinary information, gourmet recipes, nutritional advice and directs its readers to good practices of healthy eating. Judges: “This is a well-designed website where the use of vivid pictography complements the content.”

Best Use of Online Video

The exclusive story of Lindani Myeni – Arena Holdings, South Africa

Lindani Myeni’s was a 29-year-old KwaZulu-Natal husband and father of two young children who was fatally shot by Honolulu police after entering a home he may have confused for public temple in Hawaii.  The four part documentary-style series documents his early childhood, his love of rugby, a visual investigation into his death and his family somewhat tainted fairytale. This in-depth feature provided answers while posing further questions – with the aim of intriguing and engaging the public through the use of different mediums of story-telling – into the life and death of Lindani Myeni. Judges: “A heartbreaking and important story, told in an engaging, clever and modern digital way. The four part documentary series goes in depth, but it never gets boring. Beautiful and crystal clear pictures, impressive drone photography and good use of music and sounds draw you into the story. You get to know the 29 year old before the dramatic climax comes at the end; video and the re-creation of the night of the murder. The minutes are told through police videos and dots on a map that creates a wealth of details in the storytelling – impressive!”

Best Data Visualisation

Living on less than 5 dinars a day, mapping the poverty rate in Tunisia – inkyfada, Tunisia

Inkyfada uses maps, infographics and interactive technologies to visualise and compare data. Through this interactive map, inkyfada has created a way to visualise the poverty rate and inequality in Tunisia, which was further exacerbated by the economic crisis. This map allows for a better understanding of inequalities across the country, and the dissemination of national data of public interest. Judges: “The Inkyfada team did, as often, a fantastic job. This scrollytelling content is very well built, with an expert knowledge of data visualisation libraries. The graphic choices are very relevant, in particular a sobriety in the choice of colours which suits this difficult subject. The use of the map throughout the story serves as a useful common thread to maintain attention. The story is well sequenced, that allow an exploration of the complexity of the poverty issues without getting lost in numbers.”

Best in Audience Engagement

Pulse Instagram – Pulse, Ghana

With over 29 million followers on Instagram across our markets in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda and Cote d’Ivoire, Pulse has consistently built conversations around culture, fashion, lifestyle, celebrities and news. Younger audiences are different from older groups not just in what they do, but in their core attitudes in terms of what they want from the news. The specific goal of the Pulse Instagram channels is to to reinforce Pulse as a credible authority in the media space with the goal of being the leading media brand and becoming a powerful voice for all constituencies through high journalistic standards, quality content; relevant, informative, expert, yet engaging, improved storytelling concepts, dynamic content approach that foster audience retention to result in business partnerships. Judges: “The use of Instagram as a primary platform to attract audiences is challenging but Pulse has managed to achieve this across all its country syndications. In-depth focus on each country. Considering the cost of data in Africa, successfully using Instagram as a primary source is commendable.”

Best Reader Revenue Initiative

Maverick Insider – Daily Maverick, South Africa

Maverick Insider is Daily Maverick’s membership community made up of readers who support them in their pursuit of high-impact, quality journalism and their mission to Defend Truth. “Support” is both financial in their membership contributions (reader revenue) and with their time and expertise. The primary objective of Maverick Insider is to be the best global news membership programme by building a community of loyal and engaged readers that would want to become part of the effort to help Daily Maverick sustain itself and engage with DM team members. They have acquired 24,507 members since they launched Maverick Insider, with a current active membership of 17,145. Judges: “Love the LP, which is super clear – the solution based on the slider is mind-changing.

Best Newsletter

First Thing by John Stupart – Daily Maverick, South Africa

Daily Maverick’s First Thing newsletter has gone from a spark plug on the organisation vehicle to being what is now referred to as ‘one of the wheels. It has grown to 214,000 subscribers in 2022. One of the main purposes is to drive newsletter growth in the DM organisation, both in the form of new readership and advertising revenue, and in spearheading the ‘hook’ that brings in Maverick Insider paying members each month. The flagship newsletter drives subscribers to other newsletter sections, traffic through to the main website, and is the primary source of Insider memberships – their paid membership programme. First Thing currently achieves an average 7% conversion rate to paid insider memberships. Judges: “Impressive long-term endeavor that is a pillar of the organization’s success, with a track record of achieving above industry standard metrics.”

Best Trust Initiative

El Kul – BBC Media Action, Libya

El Kul (‘For Everyone’) – is a Libyan public interest media brand currently based mainly on Facebook, where it has well over 1.2 followers – almost 25% of people in Libya aged over 15 – 42% of whom are female. The absence of independent media outlets and credible news coverage in Libya inspired BBC Media Action to try and fill the gap with a news product that was accurate, impartial and editorially independent, served the interest of the public and was rooted in the BBC’s Editorial Values. This is how “El Kul” was born. “El Kul” provides balanced, informative, and trustworthy content on a variety of topics that appeals to young Libyan audiences on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Judges: “The project is heavily invested in engaging with its readers. It has done this by doing research to establish reader views. It has also developed ways of gauging reader engagement, and is trying out new ways of strengthening that.”

Best Use of Audio

My Only Story: Back to School – Media24, South Africa

News24 and My Only Story NPC’s purpose was to shine a light on abuse and to bring justice where there was none. Media24 set out to uncover the circumstances behind the suicide of a 16 year old, to reveal the water polo coach’s predatory relationship and to expose the wider crisis in South African schools, as well as to give his father a tiny bit of closure in his fight for justice for his son. The news was broken by means of a live investigation in six weekly episodes. Bit by bit, the podcast laid bare the tragedy at St Andrew’s College while leaving audiences at the edges of their seats. Between the episodes each Thursday, News24’s news desk continued to follow up on the revelations, breaking all the reax and daily lurches. Judges: “This was a truly compelling, gripping podcast from the first moment to the last, beautifully produced and presented and using the full range of narrative techniques. There were times when one could argue this podcast overstepped the mark in terms of intrusiveness, but there are important issues at stake here and crimes that have been swept under the carpet that need to be exposed.”

Best Gen Z Initiative

Health For Mzansi – Food For Mzansi, South Africa

Health For Mzansi is not a publication about diseases. It is about how food and habits can take ordinary South Africans from surviving to thriving. It strives to be the go-to news source for Gen Z; a safe space where they uncomplicate health and discuss mental health. The aim is to show the Gen Z generation how their health is linked to food and nature.  Judges: “I am really excited for this project. First it covers health and mental health, a niche content area. Secondly, they went ahead to create avatars that personalize interactions and engagement with their audiences….Really living in the digital times and century. I love it!”

Best Digital Advertising Project

Business Insider and Nedbank’s Behind the Business Headlines – Media24, South Africa

Adspace Studio 24 and Nedbank Business Banking’s “Behind the Business Headlines” campaign aimed to go behind the biggest financial stories and talking points – to explain topical, headline-worthy trends through engaging content. Each written content piece took a journalistic storytelling approach to explain key trends in business news, such as sustainable advances in the agriculture sector, the renewable energy market amid loadshedding, or the reasons behind the e-commerce boom during the pandemic and positioning Nedbank Business Banking as experts in the area of providing relevant financial business solutions. Judges: “A well designed and integrated campaign across platforms that helps provide a contemporary perspective to a more traditional industry. I would imagine the advertiser was pleased with the campaign and results.”

2022 Jurors

Thanks to all the publishers who submitted projects and especially to our team of judges!

  •       Joan Mwai, Echo Editor, The Standard Group PLC, Kenya
  •       Nic Newman, Sr. Research Associate, Reuters Inst. for the Study of Journalism, UK
  •       Danyelle White, Senior Director of Audience, The Salt Lake Tribune, USA
  •       Valérie Arnould, Deputy Director, Digital Revenue Network, WAN-IFRA, France
  •       Njoki Chege, Director, Innovation Centre- The Aga Khan University, Kenya
  •       Fanny Bonjean, Head of Audience Engagement, Le Parisien, France
  •       Denis Jjuuko, Comm. and Visibility Consultant, Prime Time Comm., Uganda
  •       Cherilyn Ireton, Executive Director World Editors Forum, WAN-IFRA, UK
  •       Dean Roper, Director of Insights & Editor-in-Chief, WAN-IFRA, Germany
  •       Caroline Southey, Founding Editor, The Conversation, South Africa
  •       Chris Roper, Deputy CEO at Code For Africa, South Africa
  •       Pontsho Pilane, Journalist and media lecturer, South Africa
  •       Katarzyna Ostrowska, Subs. Growth Manager at Puls Biznesu (Bonnier Group)
  •       Jane Godia, Director for Africa, Women in News, Kenya
  •       Sarah Hartley, Program Manager, Google News Initiative, United Kingdom
  •       Tshepo Tshabalala, Director (Project Coordinator), Jamlab Africa, South Africa
  •       Khalil A. Cassimally, Audience Project Manager, The Conversation UK, Mauritius
  •       Vincent Kahiya, Chief Operating Officer, Visual Point Creative Group, Zimbabwe
  •       Camilla Brække, Head of Video Innovation, VG, Norway
  •       Lyndsey Jones, Strategic advisor and author, United Kingdom
  •       Steffen Damborg, Digital Transformation Specialist, Denmark
  •       Dumisani Moyo, Exec. Dean, Faculty of Humanities, North-West University, South Africa
  •       Denis Vannier, Journalist (data+maps+motion) / Cartographer, Le Plan, France
  •       Brian Veseling, Senior Editor, WAN-IFRA, Germany
  •       Dickens Olewe, Senior Journalist at BBC News

 

EUROPEAN DIGITAL MEDIA AWARDS 2022

Contact – Media Inquiries

Valérie Arnould, Deputy Director, Digital Revenue Network, WAN-IFRA | + 33 680 16 15 74| valerie.arnould@wan-ifra.org

 

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