Newspaper & Mailroom
Malaysia youth team takes top World Young Reader Prize
Monday 05. September 2016 - R.AGE, the youth initiative of The Star in Malaysia, has taken the top award in the annual World Young Reader Prize of WAN-IFRA, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, for its innovative use of video, compelling journalistic storytelling and audience involvement in ways that can inform news publishers around the world.
The World Young Reader Prizes are part of WAN-IFRAs efforts to recognize, encourage and disseminate promising new ideas, thinking and actions to help build stronger and vital news media. World Young Reader Prize winning strategies are celebrated and shared as they benefit not only the media companies and their young audiences but also society as a whole.
“This year’s winners show, once again, that engaging with the young people is a smart strategy for news publishers worldwide who want to grow while they also help create a civic-minded, media-savvy new generation” said Vincent Peyrègne, WAN-IFRA CEO.
R.AGE has been named the 2016 World Young Reader News Publisher of the Year for an initiative that began with a video social media explaining the seriousness of cheerleading and eventually became a full-blown video reporting initiative that included an undercover documentary about child sex predators on mobile chat apps and an investigation of a mysterious illness attacking the children of an indigenous tribe that brought government action.
The other top prizes are being awarded in several categories:
Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitung of Germany in the Public Service category for Welcome to Germany: Language Training for Refugees with the Newspaper that uses classic newspapers in education strategies supported by other resources to creatively help three age groups of refugees learn German language and culture.
Polska Press Group of Poland (News in Education category) for #juniorlab, a transformation of its news in education program to offer multimedia lessons in using modern tools to do journalism (with prizes for success).
Het Belang van Limburg of Belgium (Editorial category) for a special focus in its “We solve your problems” feature on young people, opening up new relationships in the process.
Lausitzer Rundschau of Germany (Brand category) for Planbar, a multi-faceted, multimedia and profitable initiative that helps young people about to enter the job market.
Uitgeverij Young & Connected of The Netherlands (Digital First special category). The team of its 7Days media brand that focuses on news for teenagers created a news app relying on cheap or free resources and featuring a creative way to make money.
Winners of other awards are from France, Germany, India, Hong Kong, The Netherlands, South Africa, and the United States.
The awards are supported by:
American Press Institute (API), which conducts research, training, convenes thought leaders and creates tools to help chart a path ahead for journalism in the 21st century (news in education category),
CCI, the Denmark-based editorial systems and innovation specialists (digital first category),
The Harnser Group, a global risk security specialist serving Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (public service category),
Newseum ED, the education division of the Newseum, the Washington, DC-based interactive museum, which will host an awards ceremony there on 1 December.