Creators of some of North America's best digital work have been honoured at the start of WAN-Ifra's Digital Media North America Conference in New York.
The second Digital Media Awards competition - part of a series WAN-Ifra holds around the world - showcase the best-practice innovation in digital publishing worldwide.
The presidency of Donald Trump was a recurring theme, and standouts throughout the winners' list were the Washington Post, Guardian US, and of course, local hero the New York Times.
New categories this year included best reader revenue initiative and best digital news start-up, with an international jury evaluating more than 50 projects from 22 companies from the US and Canada. Winners immediately qualify to compete in the World Digital Media awards against projects from Africa, Asia, Europe, LATAM, the Middle East and South Asia.
The winners of the second annual North American Digital Media Awards are:
- Best Use of Online Video (including VR)
Winner: Visual Vocabulary, The New York Times
"An outstanding entry which combines almost every editorial and technical tool available to multiplatform, immersive, engaging and sharable storytelling at its best."
Special mention to Whitman, Alabama: An emerging portrait of America, Alabama Media Group
- Best Data Visualisation
Winner: TIE (The Washington Post - Guardian US)
365 Days of President Trump's false or misleading claims, The Washington Post
"A fantastic multi-purpose resource, encompassing accountability journalism, graphics and a searchable database that equally equips reporters and members of the public to hold President Trump accountable. Smartly designed as a project that can function as a centerpiece for a significant amount of The Post's coverage of Trump."
Bussed Out: How America moves its homeless, Guardian US
"The infographics in this piece really wowed me! I saw animations and interactions that I haven't seen before, consistent placement/coloring that tied different graphics together, and some great scroll-to-activate motions that tied perfectly in with the story. Fascinating, and really engaging."
Special mention to The Trump Effet, Reuters
- Best in Lifestyle, Sports, Entertainment Website or Mobile Services
Winner: The Lily, The Washington Post
"Exceedingly attractive, clean and loads quickly, and the newsletters are very nicely designed as well."
Special mention to Gonzaga Basketball, The Spokesman-Review
- Best Reader Revenue Initiative (tie)
Winner: This Land is Your Land, Guardian US
"It doubled its reader-funded goal, which is as good a sign as any that the project's reached the readers who want to have a stake in this reporting."
Special mention to NYT Cooking, The New York Times
- Best Branded Content Project
Winner: The United Nations Ocean Conference, Cultura Colectiva
"This was really well done, with a great combination of sponsor message and host tone to create something informative and valuable. Very detailed in terms of how it not only met, but nearly doubled, the sponsor's expectations."
Special mention to Inspired Coaching, USA TODAY
- Best Digital News Start-up
Winner: Axios
"Axios is a breath of fresh air in the digital media landscape that knows how to perfectly combine the quality of information produced with innovative and very effective formats for the public. It has managed to innovate in a territory occupied by many players offering a great and effective journalistic alternative to users."
Special mention to Stat News - Health and Science News Startup
- Best in Social Media Engagement
Winner: STAT Madness, STAT
"An exceptionally original and creative digital project. It has managed to transfer the passion for a popular sports competition to a totally different environment, such as that of university scientific research. Thanks to its attractive and engaging format, STAT Madness has managed to connect with a large base of digital users, also through social networks."
Special mention to The Washington Post on Snapchat Discovery, The Washington Post
- Best Innovation to Engage Youth Audiences
Winner: News-O-Matic
"A fantastic news literacy project that introduces kids and teenagers in a really complete and creative way to news and journalism."
Special mention to Millenial Street, TheStreet
- Best Digital Marketing Campaign
Winner: Dirty John, Los Angeles Times
"A very well planned and executed campaign that has been an incredible success among users."
Special mention to The Year in Real Journalism, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Best News Website or Mobile Service
Winner: washingtonpost.com, The Washington Post
"The Washington Post has recently firmly occupied the leading position in the digital media sector globally having gained a stellar reputation for technical innovation concentrating on excellent user experience of its stellar journalism."
Special mention to nytimes.com, The New York Times - theglobeandmail.com, The Globe and Mail
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