The International News Media Association (INMA) has announced 185 finalists for the 2020 Global Media Awards competition, which rewards innovation and excellence growing audience, brand, and revenue. This article was updated May 8, 2020, to reflect finalists for the just-in-time COVID-19 initiatives category.
This year’s competition generated 922 entries from 262 news brands in 44 countries. Finalists hail from Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America.
India has a higher number of finalists with 31, followed by the United States with 28, Norway with 14, and Australia with 12. In terms of companies, leading the INMA shortlist with finalists are News Corp; Jagran; Schibsted; Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd. (Times Group); Russmedia; and Stuff.
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. In April, six weeks after the closing of the original competition, INMA launched a just-in-time bonus category focused on COVID-19 initiatives.
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.
First-place winners, regional winners, and the coveted global “Best in Show” will be unveiled Tuesday, June 2, in a virtual international broadcast.
All 922 entries in this year’s Global Media Awards competition are live on INMA.org in the association’s Best Practices archive. Finalists may be viewed publicly, while all other entries are reserved exclusively for INMA members. INMA has nearly 6,000 “best practices” from the past nine years of Global Media Awards competition, sortable to finalists and winners, category, year, and country.
Editor’s note: Finalists below are listed alphabetically. Group 1 represents regional/local brands. Group 2 represents global/national brands.
Category 1: Best Brand Awareness Campaign
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- Amar Ujala, Noida, India, “Amar Ujala’s Aparajita — 100 Million Smiles”
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, United States, “Unprotected: Exposing Georgia’s Failed Senior Care Industry”
- Kleine Zeitung, Graz, Austria, “Dependent On Independence”
- LNP Media Group, Lancaster, United States, “LNP|LancasterOnline Celebrate”
- Mumbai Mirror, Mumbai, India, “MumbaiMirrored: Tapping History to Spark Future Debates”
- Russmedia, Schwarzach, Austria, “Engage Me”
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- Independent Media, Cape Town, South Africa, “My Promise”
- The New York Times, United States, “The Truth Is Local”
- South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, “2019 SCMP Brand Campaign — Asia Matters”
- The Times of India, Mumbai, India, “Times Out & Proud”
- USA Today, McLean, United States, “USA Today Launches Inaugural Season of The City Podcast”
- The Wall Street Journal, New York, United States, “Read Yourself Better”
Category 2: Best Public Relations or Community Service Campaign
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- ABP, Calcutta, India, “Changing the Prayer and Praying for Change”
- Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun, Canada, “Gifts of Life”
- Hanza Media, Zagreb, Croatia, “National Football Team Match in Split”
- Stuff, Auckland, New Zealand, “Wasp Wipeout 2019”
- The Times of India, Calcutta, India, “Times Women Heroes Kolkata”
- La Voz del Interior, Córdoba, Argentina, “Project Czekalinski”
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- Adria Media Group, Belgrade, Serbia, “Plant a Tree”
- Agora, Warsaw, Poland, “Your Weekend, The Last Ever Issue”
- Associated Media Publishing, Cape Town, South Africa, “COSMO Men Stand Up”
- Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, “The Generation that Could Save Us”
- News Corp, Surry Hills, Australia, “Stopping Australia’s Worst Serial Killer”
- Ringier Axel Springer Polska, Warsaw, Poland, “The Ark 2.0 — Sending to Space the DNA of Endangered Species of Animals”
Category 3: Best Use of an Event to Build a News Brand
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- Bay Area News Group, San Jose, United States, “News That Goes With Everything — East Bay Times and Klay Thompson Exclusive Newspaper Shoe Release”
- Bergens Tidende, Bergen, Norway, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree — Brand Building for 30 Years”
- Dainik Bhaskar, Mumbai, India, “Night Walk for Women”
- Editora Globo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, “Rio Gastronomia”
- Irish Examiner, Cork, Ireland, “ieStyle Live”
- Russmedia, Schwarzach, Austria, “Vol.at Festival Suite”
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- Cofina Media, Lisbon, Portugal, “Record Challenge Park”
- Hanza Media, Zagreb, Croatia, “Lino Višebojac”
- Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, “The Biggest Cinema Experience”
- Tortoise Media, London, United Kingdom, “ThinkIns: The Engine of Tortoise Journalism”
- VG, Oslo, Norway, “VG-Lista: The Most Important Song of the Year”
- The Wall Street Journal, New York, United States, “Journal House by The Wall Street Journal”
Category 4: Best Use of Data Analytics or Research
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- Amedia, Oslo, Norway, “Cracking the Code: How to Sell to and Engage Younger Subscribers with Journalism”
- Australian Community Media, Pyrmont, Australia, “ACM Data Team”
- GFR Media, San Juan, Puerto Rico, “El Nuevo Día & Metrics for News”
- Google, New York, United States, “News Consumer Insights and Realtime Content Insights, Free Data Tools to Drive Better Engagement”
- Mittmedia, Gälve, Sweden, “A Holistic Approach to Understanding Churn”
- Newsday Media Group, Melville, United States, “Beating the Algorithms: How Newsday Makes Social Media Work for Our Subscriber Model”
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- American Press Institute, Arlington, United States, “Metrics for News Enables Newsrooms to Act on Analytics, Engage New Audiences and Grow Reader Revenue”
- Dow Jones, New York, United States, “The Habit Project”
- Helsingin Sanomat, Helsinki, Finland, “Reaching It All — Insights Leading to Subscriber Growth and Revenue Increase”
- News UK, London, United Kingdom, “Sun Savers Segmentation”
- Ringier, Zurich, Switzerland, “EqualVoice-Factor — Gender Equality @Ringier”
- Telegraph Media Group, London, United Kingdom, “Why The Telegraph’s Subscription Strategy Success is Written in the Stars”
Category 5: Best Use of Print
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- Bild Zeitung, Berlin, Germany, “World Record Print Ad by B.Z.”
- Lensing Media, Dortmund, Germany, “Borussini — the Magazine for Borussia’s Future”
- LNP Media Group, Lancaster, United States, “Balance Magazine”
- Mid-Day Infomedia, Mumbai, India, “Sunday Mid-day Campaign”
- Mumbai Mirror, India, “MumbaiMirrored: Tapping History to Spark Future Debates”
- The Press, Auckland, New Zealand, “Christchurch Mosque Shooting Coverage”
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- Comunican/El Espectador, Bogotá, Colombia, “Colombia 2020, Construyendo País Desde Las Regiones”
- Dow Jones, New York, United States, “MarketWatch: Best New Ideas In Retirement”
- Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, “A Glass Half Full”
- The New York Times, United States, “Women in Congress”
- News Corp, Surry Hills, Australia, “Stopping Australia’s Worst Serial Killer”
- NZME, Auckland, New Zealand, “Trust in Print”
Category 6: Best Use of Video
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- Alabama Media Group, Birmingham, United States, “People of Alabama”
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, United States, “Unprotected: Behind the Scenes with the AJC’s Investigative Reporters”
- Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun, Canada, “Bronco Unbroken”
- Diario Los Andes, Mendoza, Argentina, “Próvolo Victims”
- Mumbai Mirror, India, “MumbaiMirrored: Tapping history to spark future debates”
- Newsday Media Group, Melville, United States, “Long Island Divided”
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- 24.com, Cape Town, South Africa, “#IamNene: How Uyinene Mrwetyana’s Murder Ignited a Movement”
- Infobae, Buenos Aires, Argentina, “Carlos Monzón: Poverty, Glory, Excesses, Femicide and a Tragic End”
- South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, “Tiananmen Square Crackdown: 30 Years On”
- Stuff, Wellington, New Zealand, “Life & Limb”
- The Times of India, Calcutta, India, “Maa Aaschen Tumi Kothaye”
- VG, Oslo, Norway, “VG News — A Unique Multifunctional Product”
Category 7: Best Use of Audio
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- Diario Los Andes, Mendoza, Argentina, “Los Andes Podcast”
- Irish Examiner, Cork, Ireland, “Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) Podcast”
- Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing, Kochi, India, “Mathrubhumi Editorial Audio Podcast: Engaging Readers Digitally”
- Mid-Day Infomedia, Mumbai, India, “Sunday Mid-Day Campaign”
- Ouest-France, Rennes, France, “Podcasts Wall of Ouest-France”
- USA Today, McLean, United States, “Country Mile”
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- BBC, London, United Kingdom, “BBC News on Smart Speakers (Alexa, Give Me BBC News)”
- The Economist, London, United Kingdom, “Economist Radio’s The Intelligence”
- The JoongAng Ilbo, Mapo-gu, Republic of Korea, “Listen for a Smart Life”
- stern.de, Hamburg, Germany, “Faking Hitler”
- Stuff, Wellington, New Zealand, “White Silence”
- Zetland, Copenhagen, Denmark, “Zetland’s Shift to Audio(-First)”
Category 8: Best New Technology or Digital Product
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- Amedia, Oslo, Norway, “Streaming Norway Cup — The World’s Largest Football Tournament: Six Days, 15 Pitches, 830 Matches: 3,000 Subscription Sales”
- Grupo RBS, Porto Alegre, Brazil, “Super App GaúchaZH”
- Ledger Dispatch, Jackson, United States, “Ledger Dispatch Augmented Reality Newspaper and App”
- Malayala Manorama, Kottayam, India, “Manorama Online”
- Publisher’s Toolbox, London, United Kingdom, “KMTV Mobile App: A Branded Community Platform”
- United Robots, Malmö, Sweden, “Q&A: Robots Interview Sports Team Coaches”
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- Aller Media, Oslo, Norway, “Xavier — A Personalization System”
- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany, “F.A.Z. Appetizer — Instant Personalization”
- The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada, “Sophi Automation”
- Nine, Pyrmont, Australia, “Efficiency in Complex Newsrooms”
- El Observador, Montevideo, Uruguay, “RompeCristales Podcast Series: Journalism Content Against Gender Inequality”
- VG, Oslo, Norway, “VG News — A Unique Multifunctional Product”
Category 9: Best Idea to Encourage Print Readership or Engagement
Group 1: Regional/Local brands
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, United States, “Unprotected: Exposing Georgia’s Failed Senior Care Industry”
- GFR Media, San Juan, Puerto Rico, “Sunday Arrived”
- Mid-Day Infomedia, Mumbai, India, “Sunday Mid-day Campaign”
- Mumbai Mirror, India, “MumbaiMirrored: Tapping History to Spark Future Debates”
- Nordwest-Zeitung, Oldenburg, Germany, “NWZ-Insektenjahr”
- SaltWire Network, Halifax, Canada, “The SaltWire Deep Dives”
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- Børneavisen (JP/Politikens Hus), Abyhøj, Denmark, “Engaging Children in Print in the Digital Age”
- El Comercio, Lima, Perú, “Esto No Es Periodismo / Esto Si (This is Not Journalism / This Is)”
- Le Devoir, Montreal, Canada, “Pause Papier”
- Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, “The Generation That Could Save Us”
- The Times of India, Calcutta, India, “Lost Votes — An Initiative of The Times of India”
- Die Zeit, Hamburg, Germany, “From Subscribers to Friends — The Membership Model ‘Freunde der Zeit’”
Category 10: Best Idea to Grow Digital Readership or Engagement
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- Amedia, Oslo, Norway, “Converting Existing Print Subscribers and Gaining New Customers”
- The Dallas Morning News, United States, “The Dallas Morning News’ Reader’s Choice Best in D-FW”
- Funke Media Group, Berlin, Germany, “Content Mining with Topic-Modeling”
- News Corp, Bowen Hills, Australia, “Digital Subscription Gold in the Aussie Outback”
- Newsday Media Group, Melville, United States, “Supporting Local Journalism”
- Russmedia, Schwarzach, Austria, “Engage Me”
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- OneMetro, Santiago, Chile, “Nueva Mujer’s RFV Growth Strategy”
- Die Presse, Vienna, Austria, “How ‘Die Presse’ Changed the Digital Product Game”
- The Sydney Morning Herald, Pyrmont, Australia, “Australia’s Bushfire Crisis”
- Telegraph Media Group, London, United Kingdom, “Telegraph Women’s Sport”
- The Wall Street Journal, New York, United States, “We Are All Business Majors”
- Zetland, Copenhagen, Denmark, “Zetland’s Member-Get-Member Campaign”
Category 11: Best New Digital Subscription Initiative or Concept
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- Bergens Tidende, Bergen, Norway, “How Bergens Tidende Grew Digital Subscription Revenue by 44%”
- Madsack Media Group, Hannover, Germany, “Madsack+”
- News Corp, Bowen Hills, Australia, “Digital Subscription Gold in the Aussie Outback”
- Russmedia, Schwarzach, Austria, “Engage Me”
- Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin, Germany, “Tagesspiegel Checkpoint”
- La Voz del Interior, Córdoba, Argentina, “Digital Subscriptions in a Regional Environment”
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- Advance Alpha Group, New York, United States, “Subtext: The Text Marketing Platform Connecting Personalities to Audiences”
- Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, “How Aftenposten’s Digital Wine Club Became a Digital Bridge for Print Subscribers, Reduced Churn and Increased ARPU”
- Expressen, Stockholm, Sweden, “Ready, Set, 70,000! How Expressen Went from 0 to 70,000 Subscribers in a Year”
- News Corp, Bowen Hills, Australia, “Ultimate Schools Hub”
- News UK, London, United Kingdom, “JAMES — Your Digital Butler Driving Subscription Growth Using AI”
- Die Presse, Vienna, Austria, “How Die Presse Changed the Digital Product Game”
Category 12: Best Idea to Acquire or Retain Advertising Customers
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- Amar Ujala, Noida, India, “Har Ghar Swachh (A Joint Initiative of Amar Ujala and Harpic)”
- Dainik Bhaskar, Mumbai, India, “The Gujarat Toolkit”
- Grupo Milenio, Mexico City, Mexico, “Buenas Noticias (Good News)”
- Grupo RBS, Porto Alegre, Brazil, “Tá e Daí?”
- The Hindu, Chennai, India, “The Hindu for Client Mondelez”
- NZME, Auckland, New Zealand, “OneRoof — Price Rewind”
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- Bonnier News Brand Studio, Stockholm, Sweden, “Continuous Scroll: Combining Storytelling with New Technology”
- HT Media, New Delhi, India, “Winning Gen Z — HT School Edition Relaunch”
- Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, “Making an Offer That Cannot Be Refused”
- Mediahuis, Antwerp, Belgium, “MH Data Studio”
- News Corp, Surry Hills, Australia, “Come Together 2019”
- Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore, “From Offline to Online and Back — Activating Our Print Audience”
Category 13: Best Execution of Native Advertising
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- ABP, Calcutta, India, “Sushthotar Jonyo: For the Wellness for All”
- Amar Ujala, Noida, India, “Har Ghar Swachh (A Joint Initiative of Amar Ujala & Harpic)”
- Australian Community Media, North Sydney, Australia, “Coopers Couch Series”
- Grupo Semana, Bogotá, Colombia, “D.C. la Vuelta por Bogotá”
- News Corp, Surry Hills, Australia, “Biz Cover”
- Upsala Nya Tidning, Sweden, “UNT — Live TV Native”
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- 24sata, Zagreb, Croatia, “BFF — The Friendship Journey”
- Forbes, New York, United States, “Forbes Analytics+: From Data to Answers ”
- The Irish Times, Dublin, Ireland, “Everyday Adventures”
- News Corp, Surry Hills, Australia, “Stopping Australia’s Worst Serial Killer”
- Schibsted Brand Studio, Stockholm, Sweden, “The City of Silence”
- VG Partnerstudio, Oslo, Norway, “Eco Friendly Travel Inspiration”
Category 14: Best New Initiative to Enhance Corporate Culture
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- Jornal Correio, Salvador, Brazil, “Correio of the Future Award”
- Oahu Publications, Honolulu, United States, “OMG Marketing Communications”
- Tribune Publishing, Los Angeles, United States, “Tribune Publishing Achieves Digital Subscriber Growth with Collaboration”
Judges awarded only three finalists in this group
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- Expressen, Stockholm, Sweden, “The TV School”
- Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, “The Generation That Could Save Us”
- Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association, Oslo, Norway, “The Mentorship Program — A Unique Collaboration on Leadership Development”
- NZME, Auckland, New Zealand, “Knowledge is Power”
- Schibsted, Oslo, Norway, “How the Biggest Publisher In Northern Europe Reduced Time to Market With 90% On Campaigns”
- South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, “Hackathon and Kudos”
Category 15: Best New Initiative to Empower and Retain Talent
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- Russmedia, Schwarzach, Austria, “ Vol.At Festival Suite”
- Volt Africa, Cape Town, South Africa, “Volt Africa”
Judges awarded only two finalists in this group
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- Dainik Bhaskar, Noida, India, “Dainik Bhaskar’s Policies to Empower and Retain Talent”
- Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association, Oslo, Norway, “The Mentorship Program — A Unique Collaboration on Leadership Development”
- NZME, Auckland, New Zealand, “The People Programme”
- El Observador, Montevideo, Uruguay, “RompeCristales. Journalists for Gender Equality”
- South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, “Career Development and Mobility”
- Stuff, Auckland, New Zealand, “All of Us: Creating a Workplace Fit for the Times, Fit for Everyone”
Category 16: Best Initiative In Response to COVID-19
Group 1: Regional/Local Brands
- Göteborgs-Posten, Gothenburg, Sweden, “GP Loves Gothenburg”
- HLN, Antwerp, Belgium, “Tour de Flanders Against Corona”
- Jutarnji list, Zagreb, Croatia, “Coloring Book: Color Your Quarantine Days”
- Rashtradoot, Jaipur, India, “Stand Tall With Rashtradoot”
- Russmedia, Schwarzach, Austria, “#vorarlberghältzusammen” (VoralbergSticksTogether)
- La Voz de Galicia, A Coruna, Spain, “We Are Your Voice”
Group 2: Global/National Brands
- The Big Issue, London, United Kingdom, “The Big Issue”
- CNN, New York, United States, “CNN 411: Coronavirus Information and Local Resources”
- The Hindu, Chennai, India, “Stay Home – Stay Vigilant”
- Onet, Warsaw, Poland, “How to #Stayathome and Not Go Crazy?”
- The Straits Times, Singapore, “Making Sense of the Pandemic for Young Readers”
- The Telegraph, London, United Kingdom, “You Are Not Alone”
I read about all the finalist entries detail. It is fabulous-very much informative as well as entertaining. Finalist print stories are useful to the readers of the different walks of life.it is enjoyable and a matter of happiness to everybody. I congratulate all finalists in both the categories. My big salutes to the INMA and its office bearers as well all the judges for such a work that encourages global media to make noble cause for common people.