World Association of News Publishers


The Hindu, The Quint and The Daily Star among the winners of WAN-IFRA's South Asian Digital Media Awards 2017

The Hindu, The Quint and The Daily Star among the winners of WAN-IFRA's South Asian Digital Media Awards 2017

Chennai, India – 2017-09-13

WAN-IFRA India 2017 opened today in Chennai with an urgent call for news publishers to work together and support each other in the face of serious challenges to press freedom and quality journalism. At this occasion, the 400 media professionals attending the event celebrated the award winners of the second edition of South Asian Digital Media Awards 2017.

“With press freedom and financial support concerns around the world putting unprecedented strains on journalism, this conference, which gathers the best of India and Asia, is more important than ever for discussing these vital issues,” said David Callaway, CEO of The Street and President of World Editors Forum, in his keynote presentation.

“Specific concerns about press freedom here in India, and growing oppression in places like China, Turkey, and even the U.S., make standing up and shouting about the importance of what we do a key imperative,” he added.

The conference, which runs today and tomorrow, is co-sponsored by The Indian Newspaper Society. New this year is a parallel World Editors Forum – South Asia Summit, which addresses issues such as journalism in the digital age, trust of news and engaging with audiences. 

“Despite the challenges, more people worldwide need and are consuming news than ever,” Callaway said. “The opportunities for us are enormous if we can work together to understand and support each other.”

World Editors Forum – South Asia Summit launched

The conference, the largest for news publishers in South Asia, has brought together more than 425 delegates from India, South Asia and around the world. The event includes an expo with more than 35 suppliers from both India and abroad displaying their products and services for the newspaper printing and publishing industry.

The event also features the World Printers Forum Conference, where delegates are discussing printing efficiency, innovation, business models and more. One of the highlights of the program is a panel discussion on “the future of media business and of print” featuring the CEOs of India’s leading media houses. 

The speakers and panelists include:

  • Mukund Padmanabhan, Editor, The Hindu, who will talk about attracting paying readers
  • Raj Chengappa, Group Editorial Director, The India Today Group, who will discuss reimagining India’s no. 1 newspaper
  • Sitaram Shankar, Managing Editor, Network 18, who will examine the exercise of presenting news to new age readers
  • Arun Ram, Editor, The Times of India, Chennai, who will share perspectives of the quality of journalism and how to address this issue
  • Knud Kraft, Head of Production, Axel Springer, Germany, who will present a case study of adopting innovative methods to keep the printed newspaper attractive.
  • P P Prakash, Vice President – Materials, Malayala Manorama, who will speak about managing newsprint costs and logistics.
Award winners announced at WAN-IFRA India 2017 Conference

The second edition of South Asian Digital Media Awards 2017 was presented today (13 September) at WAN-IFRA India 2017, the 25th annual Silver jubilee conference being held in Chennai. The awards, a joint initiative by WAN-IFRA and  Google, recognise best practice innovation in digital publishing worldwide. The awards are presented in every region – South Asia, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe and Latin America. The winners from each region subsequently compete for the World Digital Media Awards to be announced in Berlin on 10th October during the World Publishing Expo & Digital Content Expo, IFRA/DCX.

The Hindu won the coveted Gold in ‘Best in News Website’, so is digital pure player ‘Arre’ for ‘Best in Lifestyle, Sports or Entertainment Website’. This year also had the introduction of the new category ‘Best Innovation to Engage Youth Audience’ which is a take from WAN-IFRA previous ‘World Young Reader Prize’ and The Hindu won the coveted ‘Gold’ in this category.

This year's winners are awarded in ten different categories:

Best News Website

Best Lifestyle, Sports or Entertainment Website

Best Use of Online Video (including VR)

  • Gold: Quint - Mannequin challenge
  • Silver: The Quint - Acid: The story of a beautiful woman
  • Bronze: www.aajtak.in

Best Data Visualisation

  • Gold: The Quint - Ganga clean up report
  • Silver: Pakistan Herald Publications - Banned outfits in Pakistan openly operate in Facebook
  • Bronze: Pakistan Herald Publications - A Pakistani woman’s workplace dilemma

Best News Mobile Service

  • Gold: NDTV Convergence
  • Silver: The Times of India App
  • Bronze: Malayala Manorama

Best Lifestyle, Sports or Entertainment Mobile Service

  • Silver: Times Internet Ltd. – World Travel Guide App

Best Innovation New Product

  • Gold: The Quint – IPL2017 Microsite
  • Silver: Jang Media Group – Jang Real
  • Bronze: Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. – The citizen reporter mobile App

Best Social Media Engagement

  • Gold: The Daily Star – A Mother’s Day Special
  • Silver: eSakal.com
  • Bronze: Mathrubhumi ClubFM94.3 – April Fool’s Day
  • Bronze: NDTV Convergence

Best Digital Advertising Campaign (including Branded Content)

  • Gold: The Daily Star – Rise High Bangladesh
  • Bronze: Mathrubhumi.com – Milma Project

Best Innovation to Engage Young Audience

  • Gold: The Hindu – Young World Club
  • Silver: NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India
  • Bronze: Mathrubhumi – Silver Bullet Learning Solutions

ABOUT WAN-IFRA INDIA 2017

More information on the awards can be found at wan-ifra.org/sdma
For a calendar of upcoming WAN-IFRA events, please see events.wan-ifra.org

Full details of the programme are available at www.wan-ifra.org/india2017.
The conference can be followed on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wanifraindiaconference and on Twitter with hashtag #wii2017

ABOUT WAN-IFRA

WAN-IFRA is the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. Its mission is to protect the rights of journalists across the world to operate free media, and provide its members with professional services to help their business prosper in a digital world and perform their crucial role in open societies. With formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe, it derives its authority from its global network of leading news publishing companies and technology entrepreneurs, and its legitimacy from its 80 national association members representing 18,000 publications in 120 countries. www.wan-ifra.org

Contact - Inquiries

For enquiries, please contact: Magdoom Mohamed, Managing Director, WAN-IFRA South, Chennai, India. Magdoom.mohamed@wan-ifra.org / Suresh Babu, Asst. Manager, WAN-IFRA South Asia, Chennai, India. Sureshbabu.kr@wan-ifra.org

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