Damian Eales, who heads News Corp Australia's publishing division could be very busy congratulating colleagues and members of his own team when the INMA Global Media Awards are handed out in May.

News Corp businesses - most of them in Australia - head the list of finalists in the 2019 competition with 17 nominated entries. The Wall Street Journal and UK's Times/Sunday Times - also part of the global News Corp - are also in the shortlist. Eales is set to become president of INMA for 2019-2021, succeeding Eduardo Garces Lopez, who will be on stage for the awards.

Geographically, it was India's 39 finalist nominations which topped INMA's list, announced today. Among them, Jagran scored 11, HT Media eight and Bennett Coleman & Company seven.

Australian entrants scored 17 nominations, with the US 37 and Norway 22 of the 194 finalists, whose entries had been among 664 from 165 news media companies in 34 countries, judged last month by an international panel of 46 judges from 15 countries.

The competition recognises top campaigns to grow audience, revenue, and brand, with entries coming from newspaper, magazine, digital, TV and radio media.

The 40 first-place winners will be announced on May 17 at the Global Media Awards Dinner at the Edison Ballroom in New York on May 17, as part of the 89th Annual World Congress of News Media. Regional winners and the global 'best in show' also will be announced then.

INMA executive director and chief executive Earl Wilkinson says this year's finalists stand out for their expanded willingness to use digital platforms to grow their core business and a "heart-and-soul approach" to their news brands to help solve community challenges.

"This is an extremely creative class of INMA finalists, and it is an honour to make it to this round of judging."

Entries are now live in INMA's the 'best practices' archive, with 2019 finalists available publicly.

INMA Global Media Awards 2019 Finalists (with links to the their projects)

Finalists below are listed alphabetically. Group 1 represents regional/local brands. Group 2 represents global/national brands.

Category 1: Best Brand Awareness Campaign

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd. (Times Group), Mumbai, India, "The Times of India Flirts With Your City"

• Gannett - USA Today, McLean, United States, "Westchesterian Campaign"

• GFR Media, San Juan, Puerto Rico, "El Nuevo Día: Keep Asking"

• Hindustan Media Ventures, Noida, India, "Winning Back a Challenging Market - Meerut"

• Newsday Media Group, Melville, United States, "Feed Me Brand Promotion"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• AGEA, Buenos Aires, Argentina, "Argentinos, A Campaign to Reinforce Our Brand Value"

• El Comercio, Lima, Peru, "For Which Peru Are You Playing?"

• The New York Times, United States, "The Truth Has a Voice"

• Sanoma Media, Helsinki, Finland, "The Land of Free Press"

• The Wall Street Journal, New York, United States, "Good Things Campaign"

Category 2: Best Public Relations or Community Service Campaign

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun, Canada, "Finding Home: 31 Days, 31 Ways to End Homelessness"

• El Comercio, Lima, Peru, "#NoTePases"

• Editora Globo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, "Fato ou Fake"

• Hindustan Media Ventures, Noida, India, "An Inconvenient Truth of Missing Toilets for Women - Pink Toilets"

• Nine - Australian Community Media, North Sydney, Australia, "Pink Up Your Town"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd. (Times Group), Mumbai, India, "#NoConditionsApply - Sindoor Khela"

• Hindustan Media Ventures, Noida, India, "Campaign for Relief to Victims of Landslide Disaster at Uttrakhand"

• Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, "Fields On Fire"

• New Zealand Herald, Auckland, New Zealand, "#NotForSale"

• Ringier Axel Springer, Warsaw, Poland, "Building Brand Trust by Uniting a Divided Society"

Category 3: Best Use of an Event to Build a News Brand

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Gannett, McLean, United States, "USA Today Network High School Sports Awards"

• GFR Media, San Juan, Puerto Rico, "A Un Año de María - The Gallery"

• Independent Media, Durban, South Africa, "Regional and National High School Quiz"

• Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing, Kochi, India, "Mathrubhumi Re-Imagine the Future Season 2"

• Metropolitan Media Company, Bengaluru, India, "Educating Youngsters to Stay Away from Drugs - VK Drug Free Mangalore Campaign"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, "The Culture Project"

• Schibsted Media Group, Oslo, Norway, "The Rematch"

• USA Today Network - Gannett, McLean, United States, "The Wall Documentary Tour"

• The Wall Street Journal, New York, United States, "The Future of Everything Festival"

• Zeit Online, Berlin, Germany, "Z2X - Festival for New Visionaries"

Category 4: Best New Print Product

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Diario Los Andes, Mendoza, Argentina, "Infodatos"

• Hindustan Times Media, New Delhi, India, "Gurugram Launch"

• Media24, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, "Die Burger Eastern Cape Frequency Change"

• Newsday Media Group, Melville, United States, "Feed Me Magazine"

• Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore, "The Strait Times Asia Report Magazine"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• 24sata, Zagreb, Croatia, "BestBook"

• El Comercio, Lima, Peru, "Mundialistas"

• Guardian News and Media, London, United Kingdom, "The New Guardian Weekly"

• Nation Media Group, Nairobi, Kenya, "Juniorspot"

• Schibsted Media Group, Oslo, Norway, "Green Stuff: About Nature Environment and Such ..."

Category 5: Best Use of Mobile

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• ABP, Calcutta, India, "Anandabazar Patrika - Songe Achi - App Helping Anandabazar Patrika Go Hyperlocal"

• Diario Los Andes, Mendoza, Argentina, "Mendocinos on Alert"

Judges awarded only two finalists in this group

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• Bloomberg Media, New York, United States, "In App AI Enhances Bloomberg's The Bulletin"

• FehrAdvice & Partners, Zurich, Switzerland, "World Cup Game by Denner"

• Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, "An App to Power a Parliament"

• South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, China, "Abacus - abacusnews.com"

• VG/Schibsted Media Group, Oslo, Norway, "News for a New Generation"

Category 6: Best Use of Video

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Alabama Media Group, Birmingham, United States, "Chasing Corruption"

• Amedia, Oslo, Norway, "Amedia Norway Sports: Live Streaming 3,000 Matches to 63 Local Newspapers in 2018"

• Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd. (Times Group), Mumbai, India, "The Times of India Flirts With Your City"

• Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun, Canada, "On Calgary Streets: Dignity at the End of Life"

• Le Devoir, Montréal, Canada, "Le Devoir, Always There!"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• Bloomberg Media, New York, United States, "Bloomberg's Tic Toc Reimagines Video News"

• Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, "We, the Daughters of India"

• NBC News Digital, New York, United States, "NBC Left Field: Mixed Reality Series"

• New Zealand Herald, Auckland, New Zealand, "#NotForSale"

• VG, Oslo, Norway, "VG Berxit"

Category 7: Best Launch of a Brand or Product to Create An Audience Segment

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Grupo RBS, Porto Alegre, Brazil, "ATL House"

• Hindustan Times Media, New Delhi, India, "Gurugram Launch"

• Metro LatAm, Santiago, Chile, "Sagrosso"

• Nine - Australian Community Media, North Sydney, Australia, "Pennytel"

• Russmedia Digital, Schwarzach, Austria, "VN Brand Initiative for SMBs"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, "Explained: How We Launched Largest Daily News Podcast"

• Comunican/El Espectador, Bogotá, Colombia, "Colombia 2020: Building a Country Regionally Driven"

• Dagbladet, Oslo, Norway, "Fantaski"

• Instituto Nacional de Radio y Televisión del Perú, Lima, Peru, "Ñuqanchik, the First TV News Programme in Quechua in Peru"

• Schibsted Media Group, Oslo, Norway, "How Aftenposten Increased Their Business Leads with 66% Per Day"

Category 8: Best Use of New Technology to Generate Revenue and Engage

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Bay Area News Group, San Jose, United States, "Convertly Website and Adtech SaaS Platform"
• Honolulu Star-Advertiser, United States, "The Digital Billboard Network"

• Ledger Dispatch, Jackson, United States, "Interactive News Augmented Reality Platform and App"

• MittMedia, Gävle, Sweden, "The MittMedia Reacher Advertising Initiative"

• Russmedia Digital, Schwarzach, Austria, "Vol.at - Ländlepunkte"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• American Press Institute, Arlington, United States, "Metrics for News Aligns With Funnel Strategies to Grow Revenue and Engage"

• Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany, "FAZ Discover"

• Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, "An App to Power a Parliament"

• NBC News Digital, New York, United States, "NBC Left Field: Mixed Reality Video Series"

• News Xtend - News Corp, Surry Hills, Australia, "Digital iQ & Sales Bootcamp"

Category 9: Best Idea to Encourage Print Readership or Engagement

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• ABP, Calcutta, India, "ABP Bundles Engagement Programmes for Products Beyond News"

• Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd. (Times Group), Mumbai, India, "The Times of India Flirts With Your City"

• Hindustan Times Media, New Delhi, India, "Gurugram Launch"

• Metropolitan Media Company, Bengaluru, India, "Farmer Awards - Engaging With Farmers and Agri Clients as Readers: VK Super Star Raita Awards"

• Stuff Media NZ, Wellington, New Zealand, "When Words Matter: Te Reo Maori Masthead"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• 24sata, Zagreb, Croatia, "Gone But Not Forgotten. The Search Continues"

• Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, "Aftenposten Print 2.0: Modernizing Newspaper by Looking Back to 1860"

• The Hindu Group, Chennai, India, "The Hindu In School"

• Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, "Every Breath You Take"

• VG, Oslo, Norway, "VG User Engagement with Interactive Chess: Norway vs. USA"

Category 10: Best Idea to Grow Digital Readership or Engagement

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Amedia, Oslo, Norway, "Amedia Norway Sports: Live Streaming 3,000 Matches to 63 Local Newspapers in 2018"

• Editora Globo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, "Content Single Score"

• MittMedia, Gävle, Sweden, "Inside Ice Hockey"

• Newsday Media Group, Melville, United States, "Power On Trial"

• Winnipeg Free Press, Canada, "Above the Fold"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• 24.com, Cape Town, South Africa, "News24 Mandela100"

• 24sata, Zagreb, Croatia, "No Man's Land"

• Aftonbladet, Stockholm, Sweden, "Their Planet"

• Jagran New Media, New Delhi, India, "Jagran.com: My City My Pride"

• Schibsted Media Group, Oslo, Norway, "Project Onboarding"

Category 11: Best Use of Social Media

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Alabama Media Group, Birmingham, United States, "It's a Southern Thing"

• Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd. (Times Group), Mumbai, India, "The Times of India Flirts With Your City"

• Diario Los Andes, Mendoza, Argentina, "Sarmiento, 130 Years After His Death"

• Hindustan Times Media, New Delhi, India, "Gurugram Launch"

• The Oregonian/OregonLive, Portland, United States, "Ghosts of Highway 20 Social Media Campaign"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• 24sata, Zagreb, Croatia, "Gone But Not Forgotten. The Search Continues"

• Aftonbladet, Stockholm, Sweden, "Receipts of Power"

• Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, "We, the Daughters of India"

• TVN, Warsaw, Poland, "Uwaga TVN"

• VGTV, Oslo, Norway, "Vegard X Funkygine"

Category 12: Best New Paid Content or Subscription Initiative

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Advertiser Newspapers, Adelaide, Australia, "The Advertiser's Delicious 100"

• Amedia, Oslo, Norway, "Amedia Norway Sports: Live Streaming 3,000 Matches to 63 Local Newspapers in 2018"

• Le Devoir, Montréal, Canada, "Le Devoir, Always There!"

• Editora Globo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, "Dynamic Sales Journey"

• News Corp, Bowen Hills, Australia, "One Queensland"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• Ekstra Bladet, Copenhagen, Denmark, "How Super Topics Changed the Way Ekstra Bladet Works With Paid Content"

• Gannett, McLean, United States, "Driving Subscriber Engagement and Retention Through USA Today Network's Lifecycle Communications"

• Handelsblatt, Düsseldorf, Germany, "Subscription First: The New Handelsblatt Paywall"

• News Corp, Surry Hills, Australia, "True Crime Australia"

• Schibsted Media Group, Oslo, Norway, "How We Made It Easy to Quit But Tempting to Stay"

Category 13: Best Idea to Grow Advertising Sales or Retain Advertising Clients

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Dainik Bhaskar, Mumbai, India, "Declaring the Capture of Bihar's Newspaper Market"

• Honolulu Star-Advertiser, United States, "The Digital Billboard Network"

• MittMedia, Gävle, Sweden, "The MittMedia Reacher Advertising Initiative"

• News Corp, Adelaide, Australia, "News Corp $1 Million Business Booster"

• Russmedia Digital, Schwarzach, Austria, "Apprentice Gondolas"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• Bloomberg Media, New York, United States, "Ad.apt Turns Bloomberg's Unique Data Into Advertising Revenue"

• The Irish Times, Dublin, Ireland, "Irish Times Food Month"

• The New York Times, United States, "Feeling It: How NYT Targets Emotional Context"

• Stuff Media NZ, Auckland, New Zealand, "Innovate or Evaporate: Total Sales Funnel Solutions"

• VGTV, Oslo, Norway, "Effective Video Ads"

Category 14: Best Marketing Solution for an Advertising Client

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• ABP One, Calcutta, India, "Of Tea, Bengali and Sugar"

• Amedia Salg og Marked, Oslo, Norway, "Comeback In The North"

• The Hindu Group, Chennai, India, "The Hindu for Client Parle"

• Irish Examiner, Cork, Ireland, "Tesco Partnership with The Evening Echo's Womens Mini Marathon"

• Russmedia Digital, Schwarzach, Austria, "VN Brand Initiative for SMBs"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd. (Times Group), Gurgaon, India, "Fertile Conversations"

• Dainik Bhaskar, Mumbai, India, "Junior Editor In Partnership With Dell"

• News Corp, Surry Hills, Australia, "Mars Food Australia, Mediacom and News Corp: Paving the Pathway to Dinnertime"

• Sanoma Media, Helsinki, Finland, "Data Partnerships For B2B Growth"

• Schibsted Media Group, Stockholm, Sweden, "Share Joy: How Schibsted & Unilever Used a Mobile Payment Solution to Engage and Increase Ice Cream Sales In the Summer"

Category 15: Best Execution of Print Advertising

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• designIQ, Des Moines, United States, "EEM&M"

• designIQ, Des Moines, United States, "Happy Trails CBD"

• designIQ, Des Moines, United States, "The District"

• Nine - Australian Community Media, North Sydney, Australia, "MAC Half H"

• Russmedia Digital, Schwarzach, Austria, "VN Brand Initiative for SMBs"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• The Australian, Surry Hills, Australia, "Qantas Wine E-retailer Turns to Print to Drive Sales"

• Dainik Bhaskar, Bhopal, India, "Smart Soch Campaign"

• Independent Media, Cape Town, South Africa, "Chicken Licken Fly-Thru"

• Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, "Dainik Jagran: Amazon at Your Doorstep"

• Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore, "The Colourful Cat Advertisement"

Category 16: Best Execution of Native Advertising

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Alabama Media Group, Birmingham, United States, "When Couples Go On Vacation"

• Amedia Salg og Marked, Oslo, Norway, "Comeback In The North"

• Chicago Tribune, United States, "Groupon Coupon Holiday Challenge"

• News Corp, Southbank, Australia, "News Corp Victoria & Carlton and United Breweries - mX Zero"

• USA Today Network - Gannett, Indianapolis, United States, "Derby Fest"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• 24sata, Zagreb, Croatia, "Let's Talk About Sex"

• Bloomberg Media, New York, United States, "Leap Ahead, Bloomberg's Native Advertising Campaign for 3M"

• Bonnier News Brand Studio, Stockholm, Sweden, "Tele2 End-Up"

• Ekstra Bladet, Copenhagen, Denmark, "Shero/Always: Relevant Content Lead to Massive Impact With Young Women"

• News Corp, Surry Hills, Australia, "news.com.au & 7-Eleven Simply Cups"

Category 17: Best Use of Data Analytics

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Metro LatAm, Santiago, Chile, "Nueva Mujer"

• MittMedia, Gävle, Sweden, "The Retention Challenge: Using Data Science to Understand Our Ad Customers"

Judges awarded only two finalists in this group

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• American Press Institute, Arlington, United States, "Metrics for News Transforms Analytics for Journalists"

• The New York Times, United States, "Readerscope: Turning Articles Into Actionable Insights"

• News Corp, Surry Hills, Australia, "Verity"

• The Telegraph, London, United Kingdom, "Telegraph Pulse"

• The Times & The Sunday Times, London, United Kingdom, "Best Ever Growth for The Times & The Sunday Times Thanks to Usable Data Science"

Category 18: Best Use of Consumer Research

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Amedia Salg og Marked, Oslo, Norway, "Comeback In The North"

• Gannett, New York, United States, "Audience Strategy Activation"

• Grupo RBS, Porto Alegre, Brazil, "Persona Project"

• Hindustan Media Ventures, Noida, India, "Using Research to Win Back a Challenging Market - Meerut"

• USA Today Network - Gannett, McLean, United States, "The Storytellers Project"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• Financial Times, New York, United States, "Customer Insight for FT Senior Leadership Team"

• News Corp, Sydney, Australia, "Driving Life: Connecting Automotive Brands with Australian Life"

• NewsMediaWorks, Sydney, Australia, "AdTrust3"

• Schibsted Media Group, Stockholm, Sweden "Schibsted Native Study"

• The Times & The Sunday Times, London, United Kingdom, "Conscious Commissioning"

Category 19: Best New Corporate Innovation Initiative

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• ABP, Calcutta, India, "ABP Innovation Hub"

• Independent Media, Cape Town, South Africa, "Independent Media Digital Internship Programme 2018"

• MittMedia, Gävle, Sweden, "The Data Platform as a Platform of Innovation"

• News Corp, Bowen Hills, Australia, "One Queensland"

• Russmedia Digital, Schwarzach, Austria, "Interactive Snow"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd. (Times Group), New Delhi, India, "Digital Transformation of Print Media Sales"

• Dagens Næringsliv, Stabekk, Norway, "How To Make a Product Users Actually Need: Innovation Framework in DN"

• Grupo Clarín, Buenos Aires, Argentina, "Digital Ecosystem Via Pais + Cimeco"

• Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, "The School of Life"

• Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore, "Project Storm: An Innovation Journey"

Category 20: Best New Concept or Innovation to Create New Profit Centers

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• Alabama Media Group, Birmingham, United States, "Red Clay Media"

• Amedia, Oslo, Norway, "Amedia Norway Sports: Live Streaming 3,000 Matches to 63 Local Newspapers in 2018"

• Honolulu Star-Advertiser, United States, "The Digital Billboard Network"

• Metropolitan Media Company, Bengaluru, India, "VK Super Star Raita - Farmer Awards - Connecting Agriculture-Based National and Local Clients to Farmer Community in Karnataka State"

• Russmedia Digital, Schwarzach, Austria, "Interactive Snow"

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• 24.com, Cape Town, South Africa, "Netwerk24"

• Dagens Næringsliv, Oslo, Norway, "The Ocean"

• Jagran Prakashan, New Delhi, India, "Game Theory to Generate Ad Revenues"

• News Corp, Surry Hills, Australia, "News Native Networks"
• Stuff Media NZ, Auckland, New Zealand, "Digital Revenue Acquisition Unit: Innovate or Evaporate"