Hong Kong outlet wins at World Digital Media Awards

A Hong Kong news organisation was commended for its digital work at the inaugural World Digital Media Awards in Amsterdam yesterday, as protesters blocked deliveries of the newspaper back home.

Hong Kong news outlet Apple Daily won the award for best mobile service, an award digital director Christina Lo Man Ki said "means a lot for us, particularly recently", as the organisation has become entangled in pro-democracy protests in the city.

"[There is] huge civil disobedience in Hong Kong as we fight for real elections," she said. "The police have tear-gassed against a very peaceful demonstration and anti-occupy protesters are blocking [our journalism]."

Overnight, opponents of the pro-democracy movement blocked delivery of the newspaper to newsstands, adding extra meaning to the outlet's commendation for mobile service as tension in the city continues.

"We treat [Apple Daily] as a very precious organization because they have their own stance without being cracked down on by Beijing,” Professor Lui Ping Kuen, a professor of journalism at Hong Kong Baptist University who freelances for the outlet among others, told the Huffington Post, reporting on the events.

“Bosses of other big media businesses aren’t just doing media… and sometimes they sacrifice the independent operation of their media companies if Beijing gives them more benefits in other sectors.”

Norwegian outlets VG and Dagbladet won three awards at the World Digital Media Awards yesterday, while the Guardian and BBC were also commended for their work.

Norway's VG, a tabloid previously known as Verdens Gang, picked up two awards for its digital output at a ceremony on the second day of the World Publishing Expo held by WAN-IFRA in Amsterdam. VG won the best reader engagement and best outstanding new product categories for its coverage of the 2013 World Press Championships and new food site Godt.no.

Interaction designer Ingrid Reime said VG was "very proud of the process," in collecting the award for Godt.no, which provides recipes, editorial content and a blogging network in a highly visual format, "as it is one way we thought differently about digital developments" and a "new way of packaging" them.

Judges, comprised of the global digital team at WAN-IFRA, said VG's coverage of the World Chess Championship showed a "comprehensive strategy, integrating countless polished elements that led to a lot of consumer interest and strong viral buzz on social."

Another Norwegian outlet, Dagbladet, won the award for best data visualisation for its Null CTRL interactive on internet security.


Screenshot from Null Ctrl at Dagbladet.no

The Guardian won the award for best news website for "an impressively dynamic, experimental and reactive approach – tailored to each news event and bringing social input at appropriate moments", according to judges.

The BBC was commended for its 'How to put a human on Mars' project in the best online video category,

Collecting the award for the BBC, visual journalist Christine Jeavans said 'How to put a human on Mars' was one of the "first big projects" for the broadcaster's visual journalism team, bringing together digital and television teams for the first time.

The full list of winners is:

Best News Website: The Guardian - Guardian News & Media

Best Digital Advertising Campaign: General Election - Kleine Zeitung

Best Use of Online Video: How to put a human on Mars - BBC News

Best Data Visualisation Project: Null CTRL - Dagbladet

Best Mobile Service: Apple Daily NGA - Apple Daily

Best in Tablet Publishing: The Age - Fairfax Media

Best Reader Engagement: World Chess Championship 2013 - Verdens Gang

Best Outstanding New Product: godt.no - Verdens Gang

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