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Latin American digital media awarded in Bogota for their innovation in editorial and business models.
Friday 23. November 2018 - The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) announced the winners of the fourth edition of its Latin American Digital Media Awards. The awards ceremony, organised with the support of the Colombian Media Information Association (AMI), Caracol Next, Caracol Television, Blu Radio and Grupo Semana, took place during the Digital Media LATAM conference 2018, on November 14, 15 and 16.
115 projects from 64 companies and 15 countries were presented to what was one of the most competitive and international editions since the launch of the awards in 2015. This edition was distinguished by the presence of five new categories; Better Digital News Start-up; Best Digital Marketing Campaign; Best Reader Revenue Strategy; Best Branded Content Project, and Special Jury Prize for the Best Digital Journalism Project.
The various presidential elections in the region resulted in a significant number of projects related to electoral coverage and fact-checking. With six awards, the Brazilian companies were the most awarded in 2018. Having won seven awards, pure digital players are making notable inroads in this year’s competition. For the first time, Uruguayan and Venezuelan media companies were among the finalists.
“There is a high calibre of journalism in LatAm and I felt very humbled by how so many achieve that standard in tough political conditions” said David Walmsley, editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail,, who spoke at the Digital Media LATAM conference.
The projects were evaluated by the most diverse and numerous jury since 2015, comprising Olga Britto, Director of IAB Colombia, Ana Busch, Partner Director of Intelligence, Research and Analysis of FSB Comunicação, Brazil; Diego Carvajal, Regional Director of Product and Digital Strategy, Discovery LATAM & US Hispanics, Colombia; Selymar Colón, VP and Chief Editor, Univisión Noticias, USA; Caio Tulio Costa, Partner of Torabit Tecnología, Brazil; Guido Culasso Moore, Director and Founder of Iconosur, Argentina; Rodrigo Fino, President and Founder of GM Latin America, Argentina; Adriana García, Co-Founder and Creative Director, Orbitalab, Brazil; Ismael Nafría, Expert in Digital Media, Spain; Nicolás Pérez, Chief Digital Officer of El Universo de Ecuador; Carmen Riera, Director SDI Consuting and COO of Runrun.es, Venezuela; Gabriel Sama, Editorial Director, CNET en Español, USA.
The 2018 winners are:
Best Website or Mobile News Service | Nexo Jornal, Brazil. After three years of domination by Argentine companies, the pure digital Nexo Jornal becomes the first digital and Brazilian media to obtain this category.
Best Website or Mobile Style, Entertainment and / or Sports Service | Do Outro Lado, UOL Esporte / UOL, Brazil. Another category traditionally dominated in the first three editions by companies in Argentina goes to a digital Brazilian media, with an exceptional work on discrimination against homosexuals in Russia in the framework of the World Cup.
Best Use of Online Video (including RV) | AJ + Español, Mexico. After two years of Colombian winners, the video passes into Mexican hands, with the bold and innovative video production of AJ + in Spanish on social networks.
Better Data Visualization | The Brazilian War, O Globo, Brazil and Venezuela on the run, El Tiempo / Efecto Cocuyo, Colombia / Venezuela. A tie between two wonderful visual projects that cover two current Latin American realities – the violence in Brazil and the emigration of Venezuelans to countries in the region.
Best Digital Start-Up News | JOTA, Brazil. Proof that niche publications are flourishing in Brazil, the site specializing in news from the judicial world in Brazil took the first edition of this category, for its editorial strength and its business model.
Best Loyalty Project on Social Networks | Textão, Correio, Brazil. After three consecutive years among the finalists, Correio * by Rede Bahia shows that it is one of the most innovative regional media in the continent and is the first Brazilian media to take this category.
Best Branded Content Project | UNO Branded Content, Grupo América, Argentina. Having swept the 2017 edition with three awards, Grupo América remains in force with the innovative millenial and mobile-first proposal that is UNO, this time in its commercial aspect.
Best Reader Revenue Strategy | First Digital Subscription Model in Argentina: Data, UX and Monetization Strategies, Clarín, Argentina. With around 150,000 subscribers and half of them digital cigars, Clarín’s payment wall, which is less than two years old, has given very good results for the company and has become one of the regional references in the subject .
Best Digital Marketing Campaign | Pelas Ruas app, RBS Group, Brazil. Always present among winners or finalists, this year the RBS Group stood out for this digital marketing campaign and strengthened its position among the most vanguard regional groups in the region.
Best Engagement Project for Young Audiences | Verificado 2018, AJ + Spanish / Political Animal / Pop Up Newsroom, Mexico. One of the most awarded projects of the year internationally and with the most impact, Verificado 2018 takes this category. An exemplary project of collaboration between media and an extremely useful and innovative initiative in times of disinformation.
Jury Prize for the Best Digital Journalism Project | María, a name we will not forget, GFR Media, Puerto Rico. After three years of absence, GFR Media returns and wins the Jury Prize with an impressive journalistic project focused on one of the most devastating natural disasters in its history.
The winners of this edition will enter the annual WAN-IFRA World Digital Media Awards 2019 competition with the winners of this year’s regional contest in Africa, Asia, South Asia, Europe, Middle East and North America. The World Awards will be delivered during the 71st World Congress of Media News of WAN-IFRA to be held on 1-3 June 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Complete list of winners
Best Website or Mobile News Service
1 Nexo Jornal, Brazil – WINNER
2 New Clarín.com: Thinking Mobile First to reach all audiences, Clarín, Argentina
3 La Nación (LN9), La Nación, Argentina
Best Site or Mobile Service for Style, Entertainment and/or Sports
1 Do Outro Lado, UOL Esporte / UOL, Brazil – WINNER
2 KmCero503, La Prensa Gráfica, El Salvador
3 Copa, Cabelo & Bigode, O Globo, Brazil
Best Use of Online Video (including RV)
1 AJ + Spanish, Mexico – WINNER
2 The War of Brazil, O Globo, Brazil
3 Nation321, Mexico
Best Data Visualization
1 The War of Brazil, O Globo, Brazil – WINNER
2 Venezuela on the run, El Tiempo / Efecto Cocuyo, Colombia / Venezuela – WINNER
3 Balas Perdidas, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Brazil | Viaje a las entrañas de Hidroituango, El Tiempo, Colombia
Best Digital News Start-Up
1 JOTA, Brazil – WINNER
2 Nation321, Mexico
3 Gênero e Número, Brazil
Best Loyalty Project on Social Networks
1 Textão, Correio, Brazil – WINNER
2 Sagrosso, Metro International, Chile
3 Strategy in Social Networks in the PNP, National Police of Peru, Peru
Best Branded Content project
1 UNO: Branded Content, Grupo América, Argentina – WINNER
2 Coca-Cola Journey, Projeto #Clabora, Brazil
3 A well-prepared potato, Caracol Television, Colombia
Best Reader Revenue Strategy
1 Clarín, Argentina, First Digital Subscription Model in Argentina: Data, UX and Monetization Strategies, – WINNER.
2 O Globo, Brazil. Digital subscription paywall model focused on Data.
Best Digital Marketing Campaign
1 Pelas Ruas app, RBS Group, Brazil – WINNER
2 Placar da Guerra, Estadão, Brazil
3 Let’s do the impossible, la diaria, Uruguay
Best Engagement Project for Young Audiences
1 Verificado 2018, AJ + Spanish / Political Animal / Pop Up Newsroom, Mexico – WINNER
2 News Chatbot for Students, Nexo Jornal, Brazil
3 Botsy, the intelligent chatbot, Bocalista, Colombia
Jury Prize for the Best Digital Journalism Project
1 Maria, a name that we are not going to Forget, GFR Media, Puerto Rico – WINNER
2 Candidatum MX, Vanguardia MX, Mexico
3 Desaparecidas. Women forgotten by the Peruvian State, Grupo RPP, Peru