Ukraine was much in the minds of judges in this year’s INMA Global Media Awards, with the winners of other top prizes needing innovation and inspiration.
Ukraine’s Independent Regional Press Publishers won the coveted ‘best in show’ for its campaign to save Ukrainian regional journalism, described as an “outstanding and crucial campaign to support independent media in war times, with an impressive impact at the community level, clearly showing what most journalists and media organisations should be doing to rescuing freedom and democracy”.
Elsewhere, in other categories, Kyiv Independent Media won a second place for its ‘travel show’ video product; Ukraine’s Hryvna newspaper a second for its ‘Beacon of Truth in the Heart of War’ use of print; and Mediahuis Noord in the Netherlands was placed first for its ‘Help Ukraine Now’ campaign (pictured, representatives of the Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine with their prize).
INMA announced 40 first-place recipients during the awards ceremony at the Edison Ballroom in New York. The 2025 competition attracted 839 entries from 286 news media brands in 49 countries, with participants including newspaper, magazine and digital media, television and radio. Only two companies garnered two first places: The Hindu in India and VG from Norway.
The international jury of 60 media executives from 26 countries selected 198 finalists earlier this year. Regional winners were Business Insider Africa (Africa); Waikato Times/Stuff (Asia/Pacific); Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine (Europe); La Nación (Latin America); Atlanta Journal-Constitution (North America ); and Prothom Alo (South Asia).
Not all entries were as seriously focussed. Two publishers were honoured after using the power of print to celebrate the visit of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour to their city – Canada’s Toronto Star with a limited-edition magazine, and Straits Times publisher SPH Media celebrating the tour’s Singapore stop with a nine-page infographic that expanded to a collectible poster (top).
INMA executive director and chief executive Earl Wilkinson said the awards showcased “just how boldly news media companies are stepping beyond long-standing formulas to better connect with readers in this fast-changing, often challenging news landscape.
“This year’s winners are among the most creative and inspiring we’ve ever seen – and we couldn’t be prouder of all our amazing finalists!”
2025 Global Media Awards winners
Editor’s note: Regional brands represent a single brand serving a city or region. National brands represent a single brand with a national reach. Honourable mentions are listed alphabetically.
CATEGORY 1: BEST BRAND AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
Regional Brands
- First Place, The Hindu, India, “The Hindu Made of Chennai”
- Second Place, Newsday Media Group, United States, “Newsday Team Coverage”
- Third Place, Nine, Australia, “All Yours — The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age”
- Honourable Mention, Gannett, United States, “IndyStar — Lifting Indy Voices”
- Honourable Mention, JFM, Denmark, “The Near, Nearest — Fyns Amts Avis”
National Brands
- First Place, Jagran Prakashan, India, “Brick By Brick We Build a Nation”
- Second Place, News Corp Australia, “Welcome to the Contest of Ideas”
- Third Place, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, “Life. Culture. Discovery.”
- Honourable Mention, Editora Globo, Brazil, “Not Subscribing Could Cost You Much More”
- Honourable Mention, Stuff Group, New Zealand, “The F#$%ing News”
CATEGORY 2: BEST PUBLIC RELATIONS OR COMMUNITY SERVICE CAMPAIGN
Regional Brands
- First Place, Mediahuis Noord, Netherlands, “Help Ukraine Now!”
- Second Place, Jagran Prakashan, India, “Choose to Refuse”
- Third Place, News Corp Australia, “The Courier-Mail and NRMA Insurance Help Our Highway”
- Honourable Mention, ABP Group, India, “ShobdoJobdo: A Quest to Find the Best Bengali Wordsmiths”
- Honourable Mention, Südkurier, Germany, “Südkurier Zeitungswald”
National Brands
- First Place, Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine, “Rescuing Freedom: The Campaign to Save Ukrainian Regional Journalism”
- Second Place, News Corp Australia, “About Bloody Time”
- Third Place, DB Corp, India, “Ek Ped Ek Zindagi”
- Honourable Mention, Hanza Media, Croatia, “From Source to Sea”
- Honourable Mention, Independent Media, South Africa, “Elevate Her”
CATEGORY 3: BEST USE OF AN EVENT TO BUILD A NEWS BRAND
Regional Brands
- First Place, Austin American-Statesman, United States, “Austin City Sounds Activation”
- Second Place, The Hindu, India, “The Hindu Made of Chennai-Moonlight Cinema”
- Third Place, Jagran Prakashan, India, “Healthon: Run for Yourself”
- Honourable Mention, Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life, United Kingdom, “Spirit of Northern Ireland Awards”
- Honourable Mention, Toronto Star, Canada, “Menopause Out Loud, Women’s Health Feature”
National Brands
- First Place, Dow Jones, United States, “Journal House by The Wall Street Journal”
- Second Place, HT Media Group, India, “Hindustan Olympiad”
- Third Place, Prothom Alo, Bangladesh, “National Health Olympiad: Innovation and Action for a Healthier Future”
- Honourable Mention, Gremi Media, Poland, “Rzeczpospolita Zone”
- Honourable Mention, VG, Norway, “VG-Lista 2024”
CATEGORY 4: BEST IDEA TO ENCOURAGE READER ENGAGEMENT
Regional Brands
- First Place, The Hindu, India, “The Hindu Made of Chennai — Reader Engagement”
- Second Place, Amedia, Norway, “Ignoring the Majority: How Neglecting 90% of Our Readers Led to More Young Subscribers”
- Third Place, Retresco, Germany, “Successful Content Tagging for Google Discover at Südwest Presse”
- Honourable Mention, Mediahuis Noord, Netherlands, “Translating a Decades Old Print Tradition to an Engaging Digital Format”
National Brands
- First Place, Prothom Alo, Bangladesh, “Echoes of Defiance: Inspiring a Generation Through Truth and Resilience”
- Second Place, Grupo El Comercio, Peru, “Premios Somos”
- Third Place, Schibsted, Norway, “The Vertical Shift In VG”
- Honourable Mention, Amedia, Norway, “A Truly Personal Experience”
- Honourable Mention, Media24, South Africa, “Nuutskeppingskompetisie (Create your own word-competition)”
CATEGORY 5: BEST INITIATIVE TO BOLSTER NEXT-GENERATION READERSHIP
Regional Brands
- First Place, The Boston Globe, United States, “The B-Side”
- Second Place, Amedia, Norway, “Ignoring the Majority: How Neglecting 90% of Our Readers Led to More Young Subscribers”
- Third Place, Bergens Tidende, Norway, “Connecting with the Lost Generation: Six Lessons from Bergens Tidende’s Short Videos Breakthrough”
- Honourable Mention, Bremer Tageszeitungen, Germany, “Start Smart: Weser-Kurier for Future Professionals”
- Honourable Mention, Russmedia, Austria, “VOL.AT Shorts: Driving Reader Engagement and Premium Subscriptions”
National Brands
- First Place, Bonnier News, Sweden, “Expressen’s New Strategic Approach to Next-Generation Readers”
- Second Place, Ringier, Switzerland, “Blick Live Quiz”
- Third Place, The Hindu, India, “Fostering Engagement: A Year-Long Multifaceted Approach at The Hindu Young World”
- Honourable Mention, SPH Media, Singapore, “Thrive: The Business Times”
- Honourable Mention, Schibsted, Norway, “VG’s Social Media Amplification of Investigative Journalism”
CATEGORY 6: BEST NEW VIDEO PRODUCT OR FEATURE
Regional Brands
- First Place, News Corp Australia, “While I Was Sleeping”
- Second Place, The Hindu, India, “Life in a Day of Chennai”
- Third Place, Bergens Tidende, Norway, “Connecting with the Lost Generation: Six Lessons from Bergens Tidende’s Short Videos Breakthrough”
- Honourable Mention, pd next, Germany, “In Prison”
- Honourable Mention, Pulgar Digital, Argentina, “The Art of Dignified Storytelling: Inspiring Local Change”
National Brands
- First Place, Bennett, Coleman & Co., “In With the News, Out With the Noise”
- Second Place, The Kyiv Independent Media, Ukraine, “Travel Show”
- Third Place, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, “#852stories”
- Honourable Mention, Collective Newsroom, India, “BBC News India: Bringing Untold Stories to Light”
- Honourable Mention, News Corp Australia, “Bronwyn”
CATEGORY 7: BEST NEW AUDIO/VOICE PRODUCT OR FEATURE
Regional Brands
- First Place, Göteborgs-Posten, Sweden, “The Öckerö Police Shooting”
- Second Place, Bergens Tidende, Norway, “It’s All About the Tone of Voice: How Bergens Tidende Cloned the Sound of the City”
- Third Place, Nordwest-Mediengruppe, Germany, “The Search for U-96: The Last Secret”
- Honourable Mention, Russmedia, Austria, “Glücksimpulse”
- Honourable Mention, Times Union, United States, “Catastrophic Failure”
National Brands
- First Place, SPH Media, Singapore, “Sounds of Singapore”
- Second Place, Svenska Dagbladet, Sweden, “Beyond Text-to-Speech: How SvD Turns Written Articles into Exciting Audio Experiences”
- Third Place, News Corp Australia, “Bronwyn”
- Honourable Mention, La Nación, Argentina, “AI Author Voices”
- Honourable Mention, Mediahuis Ireland, “Indo Sport: Moving Our Sports Coverage onto a New Pitch”
CATEGORY 8: BEST USE OF PRINT
Regional Brands
- First Place, Grupo RBS, Brazil, “Zero Hora: O Teu Mundo, De Fato”
- Second Place, Hryvna Newspaper, Ukraine, “A Beacon of Truth in the Heart of War”
- Third Place, The Hindu, India, “The Hindu Made of Chennai”
- Honourable Mention, NZME, New Zealand, “Cyclone Gabrielle — Commemorative Edition”
- Honourable Mention, Oahu Publications, United States, “2024 Hawaii Voter Guides”
National Brands
- First Place, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, “Style”
- Second Place, SPH Media, Singapore, “9-Part Taylor Swift Infographics That Make Up a Giant Poster
- Third Place, Hanza Media, Croatia, “Business Outlook”
- Honourable Mention, Grupo Clarín, Argentina, “Ñ: The Cultural Magazine of Argentina and the Spanish-Speaking World”
- Honourable Mention, HT Media, India, “Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2024”
CATEGORY 9: BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Regional Brands
- First Place, Reach, United Kingdom, “Creative Automation to Grow Audience and Drive Performance”
- Second Place, Newsday, United States, “Newsday’s Social Media Team Grew YouTube Subscribers by 60%”
- Third Place, Grupo RBS, Brazil, “Timely Information: GZH’s Coverage of the May Floods on Social Media”
- Honourable Mention, ABP, India, “Cadbury Utsaver Mishtimukh”
- Honourable Mention, Netwerk24, South Africa, “Newspaper Gives Street Posters a New Digital Life”
National Brands
- First Place, Daily Mail, United States, “Daily Mail’s TikTok Success: The Most Followed News Account”
- Second Place, Kompas Media, Indonesia, “Young Voices, Young Choices (#MudaMemilih): Political Literacy for Gen Z”
- Third Place, Schibsted, Norway, “VG’s Social Media Amplification of Investigative Journalism”
- Honourable Mention, Business Insider Africa, Nigeria, “Leading Social-First Business Journalism in Africa”
- Honourable Mention, HT Labs, India, “OTTplay”
CATEGORY 10: BEST NEW DIGITAL PRODUCT
Regional Brands
- First Place, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, United States, “Reinventing a 155-year Legacy: The App is at the Heart of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Journey to Becoming a Modern Media Company”
- Second Place, Russmedia, Austria, “AI Watch Dog”
- Third Place, Star Tribune Media Company, United States, “The Minnesota Star Tribune App Retains 81% of Readers, Launching as Part of Their Digital Transformation”
- Honourable Mention, Keskisuomalainen, Finland, “Driving Digital Transformation of Regional Media: Building 22 Local News Apps on a Shared Platform”
- Honourable Mention, NTM, Sweden, “Top News: AI Powered Audio”
National Brands
- First Place, Verdens Gang, Norway, “The Vertical Shift In VG”
- Second Place, SPH Media, Singapore, “Tamil Murasu: Daily News App”
- Third Place, Belga.press, Brussels, “Serving the Whole News Cycle in a Single Platform”
- Honourable Mention, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Switzerland, “A Spatial Dimension of NZZ”
- Honourable Mention, Rappler Holdings, Philippines, “The Future of News Model”
CATEGORY 11: BEST PRODUCT ITERATION
Regional Brands
- First Place, Hearst Newspapers, United States, “Capitol Confidential: Transforming a Free Newsletter into a Standalone Subscription Product”
- Second Place, Stampen Media, Sweden, “134% Growth: Hiding in Plain Sight”
- Third Place, Australian Community Media, Australia, “Digital + Weekend: A Sustainable Model for Regional Journalism”
- Honourable Mention, Mediahuis, Netherlands, “Being Ikea and Beating the Kitchen Memo Effect”
- Honourable Mention, Verlag der Tagesspiegel, Germany, “The New Tagesspiegel Weekend”
National Brands
- First Place, HT Labs, India, “Best Product Iteration”
- Second Place, Schibsted, Norway, “How Aftenposten Used a New Personalisation Tool to Boost Engagement and Subscription Sales Among Younger Users”
- Third Place, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, “SCMP.com 2.0”
- Honourable Mention, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany, “How We Created the Most Sensational FAZ.net News Site”
- Honourable Mention, Mediahuis, Netherlands, “Breaking Barriers: How We Transformed Our Paywall into a Growth Engine”
CATEGORY 12: BEST INITIATIVE TO GROW SUBSCRIPTIONS
Regional Brands
- First Place, VK Media, Sweden, “Marketing Heart Newsroom: A Love Story of Transformation and Digital Growth”
- Second Place, DC Thomson, United Kingdom, “Sport Pack”
- Third Place, Stampen Media, Sweden, “From the Hyper Local to the Fully Global: How We Doubled Growth for Our Local Titles with +GP”
- Honourable Mention, Hearst Newspapers, United States, “Capitol Confidential: Targeted Growth Through a Standalone Political Newsletter”
- Honourable Mention, Nine, Australia, “Multi-Package Paywall Experiment”
National Brands
- First Place, Svenska Dagbladet, Sweden, “Dynamic Paywall at Svenska Dagbladet”
- Second Place, Schibsted, Norway/Sweden, “Driving Subscription Growth Through Personalisation for Anonymous Users”
- Third Place, News Corp Australia, “News Pass Registration Strategy”
- Honourable Mention, Stuff Group, New Zealand, “Marketing at the Speed of the News Cycle”
- Honourable Mention, United Daily News Group, Taiwan, “AIAssist: AI-Embedded Newsroom, Centralising Journalism Values”
CATEGORY 13: BEST INITIATIVE TO ENGAGE AND RETAIN SUBSCRIBERS
Regional Brands
- First Place, Rheinische Post Mediengruppe, Germany, “Value-Added Campaign”
- Second Place, Amedia, Norway, “Ignoring the Majority: How Neglecting 90% of Our Readers Led to More Young Subscribers”
- Third Place, Advance Local, United States, “Using Premium Newsletters to Grow Subscriber Retention”
- Honourable Mention, Badischer Verlag, Germany, “BZ-Lieblingsplätze App”
- Honourable Mention, Le Devoir, Canada, “Onboarding Subscribers to Foster Direct Relationships”
National Brands
- First Place, The Washington Post, United States, “Transforming the New Subscriber Experience: Driving Engagement and Retention”
- Second Place, Financial Times, United Kingdom, “Transforming the FT’s Subscriber Retention Through AI and Personalisation”
- Third Place, Schibsted, Norway, “How Aftenposten Used Active Personalisation to Skyrocket Local, Regional, and National Engagement”
- Honourable Mention, Editora Globo, Brazil, “Meet and Greet at Rio Gastronomia with Clube O Globo”
- Honourable Mention, Stuff Group, New Zealand, “Marketing at the Speed of the News Cycle”
CATEGORY 14: BEST IDEA TO GROW ADVERTISING SALES
Regional Brands
- First Place, Russmedia, Austria, “Revolutionising Advertising Sales Through Emotional Storytelling”
- Second Place, Mediahuis Noord, Netherlands, “Triple Ad Revenue with Highlighted Fullscreen Ads”
- Third Place, ABP, India, “Maaza Grand Pujo Parikrama 2024”
- Honourable Mention, The Irish Times Group, Ireland, “Cork Simon Community Legacy Giving”
- Honourable Mention, Nordwest Mediengruppe, Germany, “From Two Traditional Newspaper Publishers to a Demand-Oriented 360-Degree Sales Agency”
National Brands
- First Place, United Daily News Group, Taiwan, “Smart Strategies for Tough Times: How Data and AI Empower Publishers to Reclaim Advertising Revenue”
- Second Place, Mediahuis, Ireland, “Reclick: A First-Party Data Retargeting Revolution”
- Third Place, NZME, New Zealand, “Imprint 2024”
- Honourable Mention, Burda International, Poland, “Implementation of Questvertising as an Additional Source of Ad Revenue”
- Honourable Mention, Mediafin, Belgium, “Trust Insights: How We Turned Data into Gold for Bolero”
CATEGORY 15: MOST CREATIVE USE OF ADVERTISING FORMATS
Regional Brands
- First Place, Nordwest Mediengruppe, Germany, “Future Festival Growmorrow”
- Second Place, Russmedia, Austria, “Innovative Storytelling: The Art of Blending Visuals, Videos, and Text”
- Third Place, Rede Gazeta, Brazil, “Live Chat Commerce”
- Honourable Mention, Newsday Media, United States, “Date Night: Brand360 Custom Content Series Marketing Program”
National Brands
- First Place, Grupo Clarín, Argentina, “Fake Ads Clarín”
- Second Place, HT Media, India, “HT@100: Celebrating a Century of Being the Voice of the Nation”
- Third Place, Aller Media, Norway, “Helsedirektoratet Suicide Prevention”
- Honourable Mention, Bennett, Coleman & Co., India, “Dove Mothermonials”
- Honourable Mention, Folha de S. Paulo, Brazil, “Netflix’s Senna Series”
- Honourable Mention, Grupo El Comercio, Peru, “La Bandera del Aliento”
CATEGORY 16: BEST COMMERCE PRODUCT OR SERVICE
Regional Brands
- First Place, KStA Digitale Medien, Germany, “Highway To Sell: Sharemax”
- Second Place, Rheinische Post Mediengruppe, Germany, “One-Click Payment: Subscription with a Single Click”
- Third Place, Toronto Star, Canada, “Taylor Swift in Toronto: A Fan Celebration, Limited-Edition Magazine”
- Honourable Mention, Oahu Publications, United States, “2024 Hawaii Voter Guides”
National Brands
- First Place, Verdens Gang, Norway, “Ønsk: Reinventing Gift-Giving to Fund Independent Journalism”
- Second Place, The Daily Star, Bangladesh, “Keeron: Accelerating Careers, Redefining Media”
- Third Place, Ringier, Switzerland, “Beobachter Ecosystem”
- Honourable Mention, Funke Digital, Germany, “Beyond Paywalls: How Funke Digital Turns Experts into Commerce Partners"
- Honourable Mention, Legit, Kenya, “Tuko Copywriting Course”
CATEGORY 17: BEST USE OF AI FOR INTERNAL PRODUCTIVITY
Regional Brands
- First Place, Amedia, Norway, “How Amedia Got Half Its Journalists Using AI By Keeping It Simple”
- Second Place, Russmedia, Austria, “Russmedia Meets AI 2.0”
- Third Place, Hearst Newspapers, United States, “Assembly: Using AI to Transform Coverage of Public Meetings”
- Honourable Mention, Badischer Verlag, Germany, “BZ.Echo”
- Honourable Mention, A Gazeta do Espírito Santo, Brazil, “ AI for Producing Film Reviews in Video Format”
National Brands
- First Place, KG Media, Indonesia, “AI Media Intelligence for SDGs”
- Second Place, Constructive Institute, Denmark, “Constructive News Mirror"
- Third Place, Schibsted, Norway, “User Interest Predictions”
- Honourable Mention, Ringier, Switzerland, “Floorian: Our AI-Optimised Dynamic Floor Price Manager”
- Honourable Mention, United Daily News Group, Taiwan, “AIAssist: AI-Embedded Newsroom, Centralising Journalism Values”
CATEGORY 18: BEST USE OF AI IN CUSTOMER-FACING PRODUCTS
Regional Brands
- First Place, The Waikato Times/Stuff, New Zealand, “Democracy.AI”
- Second Place, Stampen Media, Sweden, “Robin’s Robots”
- Third Place, Hearst Newspapers, United States, “Kamala Harris News Assistant: Connecting Readers to 30 Years of SFChronicle Reporting”
- Honourable Mention, Amar Ujala, India, “Sarthi AI Chatbot”
- Honourable Mention, NTM, Sweden, “Top News: AI-Powered Audio”
National Brands
- First Place, PRISA Media, Spain, “VerificAudio”
- Second Place, Ringier Axel Springer, Poland, “AI-Powered Travel Planner: Revolutionising Content Marketing and Enhancing User Engagement for German Tourism”
- Third Place, Schibsted, Sweden, “Aftonbladet’s Election Buddies”
- Honourable Mention, Ringier, Switzerland, “Beobachter Chatbot for Legal Advice”
- Honourable Mention, Stuff Group, New Zealand, “How AI Is Helping an Indigenous Language Survive
CATEGORY 19: BEST INNOVATION IN NEWSROOM TRANSFORMATION
Regional Brands
- First Place, NTM, Sweden, “Friendly SWAT teams”
- Second Place, Amedia, Norway, “How Amedia Got Half Its Journalists Using AI By Keeping It Simple”
- Third Place, Stampen Media, Sweden, “Levity and Gravity”
- Honourable Mention, Bergens Tidende, Norway, “Connecting with the Lost Generation: Six Lessons from Bergens Tidende’s Short Videos Breakthrough”
- Honourable Mention, The Philadelphia Inquirer, United States, “Squid”
National Brands
- First Place, Alma Media, Finland, “Fighting News Fatigue with GenAI Sentiment Analysis in Iltalehti”
- Second Place, Ippen Digital, Germany, “AI-Augmented Ambient Intelligence: Step into Your Creative Flow, Hands-Free, Fully Immersive”
- Third Place, SPH Media, Singapore, “Berita Harian’s Digital Transformation”
- Honourable Mention, Editora Globo, Brazil, “Digital Acceleration: How a Change in Newsroom Structure Transformed the Game for O Globo’s Audience”
- Honourable Mention, Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland, “Less is More: The Transformation of Gazeta Wyborcza’s Local Newsrooms”
CATEGORY 20: BEST USE OF VISUAL JOURNALISM AND STORYTELLING TOOLS
Regional Brands
- First Place, Vocento, Spain, “Visual Reconstruction: How the Nightclub Fire Started in Murcia”
- Second Place, Göteborgs-Posten, Sweden, “Year of the Climate”
- Third Place, Hallandsposten, Sweden, “The Gangs That Rule Halmstad”
- Honourable Mention, Newsday, United States, “Sex Trafficking on Long Island”
- Honourable Mention, Verlag der Tagesspiegel, Germany, “Interactive Database on the AfD”
National Brands
- First Place, La Nación, Argentina, “S.O.S. Animals of Argentina”
- Second Place, MailOnline, United Kingdom, “Deep Dive”
- Third Place, Quint Digital, India, “Patriarchy’s Silent Hand: The Hidden Pressure on Women to Become Organ Donors”
- Honourable Mention, Media24, South Africa, “Final Footsteps: The Kirsten Kluyts Murder”
- Honourable Mention, The New York Times, United States, “The New York Times Behind the Reporting”