Winners announced at the WAN-IFRA’s African Digital Media Awards 2018 

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IPP Desk
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digital media awards

The 2018 African Digital Media Awards were announced in Johannesburg, South Africa, with finalists honored from across the continent. Winners from six different countries were announced in 10 different categories, including three new categories introduced this year.

Winners of the African Digital Media Awards will automatically be entered into the World Digital Media Awards, to be announced at the World News Media Congress in June 2019.

“We’ve been very excited to see how the African Digital Media Awards have developed over the last three years,” said Nick Tjaardstra, director – Europe & Africa, WAN-IFRA. “We had a really good mix of grassroots start-ups as well as big players in the various categories and we are confident that the continent will once again do well when competing in the global awards,” said Tjaardstra.

“It’s particularly good to see the high quality of projects on Branded Content and Reader Revenue. Digital news needs a sustainable business model – and everyone can learn from the winners. We extend our congratulations to the winners and huge thanks to all the judges,” he added.

The awards were judged by industry experts which included Astrid Ascar, consultant and trainer;  Barbara Kaija, editor in chief, Vision Group;  Catherine Gicheru, country lead, Code for Kenya, ICFJ Knight Fellow, Kenya;  Chris Roper, deputy chief executive officer at Code for Africa;  Jude Mathurine, senior lecturer: Media/Head of Programme: Journalism at Cape Peninsula University of Technology;  Koketso Moeti, community organizer, advocacy strategist and writer;  Lene Pettersen, associate professor at Kristiania University College; Toyosi Ogunseye, head of West Africa, BBC; and Herman Manson, consultant, South Africa.

The Awards were presented at the WAN-IFRA’s Digital Media Africa 2018 held in Johannesburg on 23 November 2018. Leading digital experts gathered at the conference to explore new digital revenue models and how best to engage loyal readers on the continent. The official hashtag for the 2018 African Digital Media Awards is #DMAfrica18. Coverage of Digital Media events can be found at the link on wan-ifra.org​​

Speakers at the Digital Media Africa 2018 conference included Ted Kudinoff, head of Plus, Aftonbladet, Sweden, Carl Jordan, head of Media at Kwesé, South Africa, Riaan Wolmarans, managing editor – Digital at Tiso Blackstar Group, South Africa, Serena Chaudhry, editor, Africa Journal at Reuters, founder & managing director, frayintermedia, South Africa, Alex Okosi, executive vice president & managing director, Viacom International Media Networks Africa, BET International, Gary Alfonso, consultant – media development, training, operations, marketing & sales, digital newsrooms and Bilal Randeree, the  Africa director of the Media Development Investment Fund.

This year’s winners for the 2018 African Digital Media Awards are:

Best News Website or Mobile Service – Maparchives.ma, Moroccan News Agency – Morocco

  • Runners-up: Daily Kick – Soccer. News. Live Scoring, 24.com – South Africa | The Daily Maverick, Daily Maverick – South Africa

Best in Lifestyle, Sports, Entertainment Website or Mobile Service -NairobiNews Website, Nation Media Group – Kenya

  • Runner-up: Daily Nation Sports Section, Nation Media Group – Kenya

Best Use of Online Video (including VR) – Ethiopian priest’s journey, BBC – Ethiopia

  • Runners-up: Mapping the Murder of Hannah Cornelius, Tiso Blackstar Group (Pty) Ltd – South Africa | Hashtag Our Stories, Hashtag Our SA – South Africa

Best Data Visualisation – Rahat Mustafa, Osun Elections in Nigeria, BBC, Nigeria

  • Runner-up: Abiodun Alade, Kids in toxic stress, Media Trust (Daily Trust) – Nigeria

Best Reader Revenue Initiative – Netwerk24’s Lifestyle migration, 24.com – South Africa

  • Runner-up: Maverick Insider, The Daily Maverick – South Africa

Best Branded Content Project – News24 Mzansi, through her eyes, 24.com and Michael de Beer, South Africa, Just Delicious, Media24 – South Africa

  • Runner-up: BRICS Media Forum South Africa, Independent Media – South Africa

Best Digital News Start-up supported by Reuters for digital innovation in Africa – Daily Kick – Soccer. News. Live Scoring, 24.com – South Africa

  • Runner-up: Business Insider South Africa, 24.com – South Africa

Best in Social Media Engagement – Tracey Gander, Women’s Month #WeRemember, Independent Media – South Africa

  • Runner-up: LIT360, Nation Media Group – Kenya

Best Digital Marketing Campaign – Airtel Case Study, Nation Media Group – Kenya

  • Runner-up: Lisa Coates, Connecting South Africans, Independent Media

Best Innovation to Engage Youth Audiences – Children’s Radio Foundation, WhatsApp Integration Project – South Africa

  • Runner-up: Hekayat Gameela (Gameela stories), medinaportal – Egypt

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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