Publishers in Taiwan and Hong Kong shone when WAN-Ifra recognised “the best of the best” with its 2025 Digital Media Awards Worldwide.

Taiwan’s United Daily News had achieved marked improvements in click-through rates, conversions and user interaction, winning the award for best use of AI in revenue strategy, while the South China Morning Post was recognised for its SCMP Plus initiative, offering exclusive China-focused content, “successfully attracting and retaining a high-value audience of business leaders and global readers”.

Another regional winner was The Hindu in India, which celebrated Chennai’s 385th anniversary with a 40-day multi-platform campaign blending culture, community and entertainment to deepen audience connection.

The awards bring together winning work from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Selected from 674 entries across the regions, the awards showed how publishers leveraged digital tools to enhance journalism and engage audiences.

Presentations were made during WAN-Ifra’s World News Media Congress in Kraków.

“While we talk a lot about the challenges facing news publishers, the Digital Media Awards are an opportunity to spotlight exciting innovations around the world,” Vincent Peyrègne, WAN-Ifra chief executive said. “The winners of our international competition are living proof that professional news organisations are on the rise. There is no shortage of innovations in the news and a lot to be learned from these inspiring projects.”

2025 Digital Media Awards Worldwide Winners

Best Use of AI in the Newsroom
La Nación, Argentina – Así nos habló Milei: 9 trucos del relato libertario para construir un nuevo sentido común (Thus spoke Milei: 9 deceits of the libertarian narrative to construct a new common sense). This investigation used AI to analyse 142 speeches by President Javier Milei, offering a detailed look into his first year in office. See the project here.

Best Data Visualisation
Reuters, United Kingdom – Buildings Wrapped in Solid Gasoline
Reuters investigated a fatal Valencia high-rise fire using 3D visuals, expert analysis and simulations to examine the role of flammable cladding, and highlight ongoing safety risks. Explore it here.

Best News Website or Digital Platform Relaunch
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany — FAZ.NET Relaunch
FAZ.NET’s redesign introduced personalised content, dynamic paywalls, and real-time customisation, significantly boosting engagement and subscriptions. Watch the video.

Best Newsletter
The Telegraph, United Kingdom – How to Become a Millionaire
A six-week personal finance series offering actionable advice on budgeting, investing, pensions, and tax. Featuring interactivity and journalist participation, it launched during UK economic uncertainty and strengthened audience trust. Discover the project.

Best Digital Subscription or Reader Revenue Project
South China Morning Post, Hong Kong – SCMP Plus
Launched in June 2024, SCMP Plus offers exclusive China-focused content, successfully attracting and retaining a high-value audience of business leaders and global readers. Learn more about the project.

Best Use of AI in Revenue Strategy
United Daily News, Taiwan – The Triple Impact of AI
By integrating AI in advertising, newsroom workflows, and platform engagement, United Daily News achieved marked improvements in click-through rates, conversions, and user interaction. More information.

Best Fact-Checking Project
Chequeado, Argentina – Promesas Chequeadas
This project tracks President Javier Milei’s campaign promises, reaching over a million people in its first week and becoming a vital accountability tool. More about the project.

Best Use of Video
Verdens Gang (VG), Norway – VG’s Video Revolution
VG redefined U.S. election coverage with mobile-first, interactive live streams, driving a 500% rise in video views and significant growth among younger audiences. Discover how they did it.

Best in Audience Engagement
Grupo El Comercio, Peru – Premios Somos 2024
This interactive voting campaign celebrating Peruvian gastronomy led to 51,000 new user registrations and a 200% engagement increase. More information on the campaign.

Best Innovative Digital Product
Daily Maverick, South Africa – Manifesto MAYHEM!
A gamified platform turning political manifestos into collectible cards, making key election promises more accessible, especially to young voters. Here is the video of the project.

Best Digital Advertising Product or Initiative
The Hindu, India – The Hindu Made of Chennai
Celebrating Chennai’s 385th anniversary, this 40-day multi-platform campaign blended culture, community, and entertainment to deepen audience connection. Here is the video of the campaign.

Best Use of Audio or Podcast
Podium Podcast: PRISA MEDIA, Chile — Necesito Poder Respirar: La Vida de Jorge González
This immersive podcast combined rare recordings, personal interviews, and original music, to tell the story of Chilean music icon Jorge González. It topped Spotify charts and surpassed 700,000 streams in its first month.

See here for more information about the winners and their projects.

Judges were Chris Janz (Capital Brief, Australia); Gregor Waller (Digital Age Consulting, Germany); Angie Drobnic Holan (International Fact-Checking Network, USA), Rosental Alves (Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, USA); Claudio Cabrera (The Athletic, USA), Nikita Roy (Newsroom Robots Lab, USA/Canada), Chia-Lun Huang (Talent Sustainabilty@CW, CommonWealth Magazine, Taiwan); Cherilyn Ireton (World Editors Forum, WAN-Ifra), Clara Soteras (AMIC, Spain), Fergus Bell (Fathm, Syli, UK), Cristina Tardáguila (Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas, USA), Valérie Arnould (WAN-Ifra Digital Revenue Network, France), Christophe Israël (Switzerland), Maylis Chevalier (Spain), Robert Walker-Smith (Knight x LMA BloomLab, Local Media Association, USA); Robb Montgomery (filmmaker and author, Germany), Kuek Ser Kuang Keng (Data-N, Malaysia), Rafael Höhr (Prodigioso Volcán, Spain), John Humenik (Local Media Association, Local Media Foundation Family & Independent Media Sustainability Lab, AI Community Journalism Lab (USA), Ismael Nafría (writer and digital media consultant, Spain), Claudia Báez (consultant in digital and AI innovation; leader in social impact entrepreneurship, Colombia), and John Hall (Storyful, UK).

For more information, contact Raquel González, raquel.gonzalez@wan-ifra.org

Pictured: Winners from South Africa’s Daily Maverick. (Photos: Sobczyński Film)