Wan-Ifra announces winners of South Asian Digital Media Awards 2021

Manorama Online is awarded as ‘Best in News Website’

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Wan-Ifra has announced the winners of the South Asian Digital Media Awards 2021
Wan-Ifra has announced the winners of the South Asian Digital Media Awards 2021

Malayala Manorama’s manoramaonline.com bagged the ‘Best in News Website’ South Asian Digital Media Award for the third time in a row. Among the winners are The Hindu, Hindustan Times, The Quint, Mojo Story, NDTV Convergence, Times of India Digital, and Sakal.

The 2021 awards in their fifth edition received more than 140 entries, a record jump of close to double the number of entries in the previous year. These awards, presented by Wan-Ifra, recognize South Asian publishers who have delivered unique and original digital media projects in the last 12 months. These projects inspire us all, from new approaches to digital subscriptions to impactful native advertising campaigns. The ‘Gold’ winners automatically enter Wan-Ifra’s World Digital Media Awards competition. 

Winners of South Asian Digital Media Awards 2021

The winners of South Asian Digital Media Awards 2021 for the different categories are – 

Best News Website (or) Mobile Service

  • Gold – Manoramaonline.com, Malayala Manorama
  • Silver – thequint.com, The Quint
  • Bronze – bloombergquint.com, Quintillion Business Media

Best Use of Online Video

  • Gold – Life in an Auto – The Inspiring Story of 74-year-old Sole Breadwinner, Desraj Jyot Singh, The Quint
  • Silver – Girls on a Mission, People Like Us Create (PLUC)
  • Bronze – A Night at India’s Largest Farmer’s Protest, BBC News

Best Newsletter

  • Gold – Times TOP 10, Times of India Digital 
  • Silver – The India Cable, Foundation for Independent Journalism
  • Bronze: Here’s the thing – Weekly Members-only Newsletter, Spunklane Media.

Best Data Visualization

  • Gold – West Bengal Elections 2021, NDTV Convergence
  • Silver – Covid-19 pandemic – Full Coverage, NDTV Convergence
  • Bronze – Kerala Assembly Election 2021, The Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing

Best Reader Revenue Initiative

  • Gold – HT Codeathon, Hindustan Times
  • Silver – Support The Wire, Foundation for Independent Journalism
  • Bronze – Freedom Sale 2021 – The Hindu Group, The Hindu

Best in Audience Engagement

  • Gold – Bring Back Milk Bikis Campaign, The Hindu
  • Silver – Teen Goshti, BBC News
  • Silver – Kissan Protein Champs – Knowledge Series & Brain-teasing Activities, The Hindu
  • Bronze – Njanoru Naran, M M Publications (Vanitha)

Best Podcast / Digital Audio Project

Gold – Sakalchya Batmya / Daily Sakal News, Sakal Media Group

Silver – Club FM Cinema Katha, The Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Co. Ltd.

Bronze – Vivechana, BBC News 

Best Brand Marketing Campaign (for News Brands)

  • Gold – Doctor’s Day Campaign – Hindustan Times
  • Silver – Neel Barir Lorai – Anandabazar Patrika
  • Bronze – HT Fresh – First Voice, Last Word – Hindustan Times

Best Special Project for Covid-19

  • Gold – On The Road with the Pandemic: Counting India’s Uncounted Covid Deaths, Mojo Story
  • Silver – Hindustan Covid Actions, Hindustan Media Venture.
  • Silver – Covid-specific Jagran Dialogues Series, in collaboration with Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Unicef India, Jagran New Media
  • Bronze – BBC’s coverage of Covid in India, BBC News

Best Branded / Sponsored Content Campaign

  • Gold – Unacademy Let’s Crack CSE, The Hindu 
  • Silver – HT Codeathon, Hindustan Times
  • Silver – Break the Taboo, The Daily Star
  • Bronze – Bring back Milk Bikis, The Hindu
  • Bronze – HTLS 2020, Hindustan Times

The entries were evaluated by an international panel of jury which included – Adam Tinworth, Digital Publishing Consultant, UK, Alberto Lucas López, National Geographic, Angela Robson, multi-award-winning TV, radio and print journalist, Corinne Podger, Reuters & BBC Certified Consultant, Australia, Dickens Olewe, Journalist, Kenya, Emanuel Karlsten, Media Consultant, Hans Peter Janisch, newspaper designer and consultant, Iryna Vidanava, independent online media consultant, Belarus, Jacqui Park, journalist, editor and media strategist, Jerusha Raath, Head of Brand Studio, 24.com, Juan Velasco, Founder and Creative Director of 5W Infographics, Michael Cooke, consultant and editor, Murdoch Davis, consultant and editor, Rob Montgomery, Mobile Journalism consultant, Lucie Lacava, Design Consultant, Steve Yelvington, Media Consulting and Training, Kuek Ser Kuang Keng, Award-winning digital journalist, Kuala Lumpur, Rakesh Dubuddu, founder and chief executive officer, Factly, Chhavi Sachdev. Storyteller – Podcast Producer, Editor, Aniruddha Pawade, Podcast Consultant, Gurman Bhatia, Independent Information Designer, Prem Koman, Narrative & Storytelling consultant, Kavita Chandran, Thomson Reuters Foundation and Sambit Pal, Associate Professor, International School of Broadcasting and Journalism.

The winners will receive their awards virtually at the upcoming South Asian Digital Media Awards 2022, which will take place from 8-10 March. 

 

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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