First announced in April, this year’s WAN-Ifra South Asia Digital Media Awards were presented at the close of Digital Media Asia in Chennai.
The event also brought the announcement of The Hindu Group as champion publisher, notionally of 2024.
The BBC bagged the gold award for the best data visualisation project, and The Quint for the coveted ‘best news website’, while The Hindu won top honours for Best Use of Video. Participating newsrooms competed in 12 categories including audience engagement, use of AI, video, data visualisation and digital product.
More than 105 entries were from media organisations across South Asia, showcasing the industry’s drive to push boundaries in storytelling, engagement, and technology-driven news experiences.
Small and medium publishers – news organisations with annual revenues below US$5 million – were recognised separately, with Pluc (India) pictured, and The Current (Pakistan) taking gold across video, newsletter and engagement categories.
Gold winners from the year’s awards will automatically qualify for WAN-Ifra’s World Digital Media Awards competition.
The winners are:
Best Data Visualisation (pictured)
- Silver: The Hindu Group, How India voted: A retrospective from 1952 – 2024
- Bronze: The Hindu Group Kallakurichi Hooch Tragedy
Best in Audience Engagement
- Silver: The Quint, My Report
- Bronze: The Hindu Group, The Hindu Quiz and Quest
Small Medium Category (pictured)
Best News Website
- Gold: The Quint, The Quint Website
- Silver: HT Labs, Slurrp – HT Labs ( HMVL )
- Bronze: NDTV Profit, NDTV Profit website
Best Use of Video
- Gold: The Hindu Group The Hindu Made of Chennai
- Bronze: Deutsche Welle, Dirty and Dangerous: Scrapping ships in Bangladesh
Small Medium Category (pictured, and top)
Best Digital Subscription/Reader Revenue Project
- Gold: Sakal, Sakal+ (Digital Subscription)
- Silver: The Hindu Group, Moving Beyond one-size-fits-all Paywall /Propensity-based Paywalls
- Bronze: The Hindu Group, A Gift for Keeps: Harnessing Reciprocity to Drive Digital Subscriptions
Best Podcast
- Gold: The Hindu Group, ‘In Focus’ by The Hindu
- Silver: Deutsche Welle, Love Matters
- Bronze: Pluc, The On-Air Series
Best Use of AI in Newsroom (pictured)
- Gold: The Indian Express Online, Express Shorts
- Silver: Jagran New Media, AI Literacy: Bridging the Gap to Empower Newsrooms and Communities – Vishvas News
- Bronze: The Quint, The Great Indian Paper Heist
Best Use of AI in Revenue Strategy
- Gold: The Hindu Group, AI-based Video Chapter Generation System
- Silver: The Hindu Group, Personalized Recommendations: Leveraging AI to Enhance Engagement and Revenue
Best Fact-Checking Project
- Gold: The Quint, Scamguard
- Silver: Amar Ujala Web Services, Lok Sabha Fact Check Series
Small Medium Category
- Soch Fact Check, Pakistan’s elections were not transparent, efficient, or peaceful
- The Current, FACT CHECK SERIES: Punjab College Rape Case – The Current
Best Newsletter
- Gold: HT Labs, Slurrp – HT Labs ( HMVL )
- Bronze: NDTV Convergence, NDTV’s ‘Nothing Artificial About It’ newsletter
Small Medium Category
- The Current, The Current Newsletter – The Current
Best Native Advertising Campaign
- Bronze: HT Labs, Slurrp – HT Labs ( HMVL )
Best Innovative Digital Product
- Gold: Pluc, Farout – Pluc
- Bronze: NDTV Convergence, NDTV Profit (Mobile App)
Bronze: NDTV Convergence, NDTV Mobile App
Pictured (top): Anwesha Ghosh, community and outreach manager of People Like Us Create (Pluc) comes forward to accept one of their several awards; (below) award winners