COVID campaigns get top nod
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. To view a recording of the broadcast, click here
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.”
