The 2018 African Digital Media Awards were announced in Johannesburg, on Friday – a culmination of the WAN-IFRA Digital Media Africa 2018 conference.
Finalists from across the continent were honoured for their outstanding contribution to the Digital Media landscape.
Winners from six different countries were announced in 10 different categories – including three new categories introduced this year.
One of the biggest winners of the night was South Africa’s Children’s Radio Foundation for their work on a WhatsApp Integration Project. Winners of the African Digital Media Awards will automatically be entered into the World Digital Media Awards, to be announced at the World News Media Congress in June 2019.
WAN-IFRA Director Europe & Africa, Nick Tjaardstra says the high standard of entries received did not make it easy for the panel of judges to choose the winners.
“We’ve been very excited to see how the African Digital Media Awards have developed over the last three years… We had a really good mix of grassroots startups as well as big players in the various categories and we are confident that the continent will once again do well when competing in the global awards.”
Tjaardstra highlights other players in digital media can learn extensively from the winners: “It’s particularly good to see the high quality of projects on Branded Content and Reader Revenue. Digital news needs a sustainable business model – and everyone can learn from the winners!”
Earlier on Friday, leading digital experts gathered at conference which aimed to explore new digital revenue models and how best to engage loyal readers on the continent.
This year’s winners for the 2018 African Digital Media Awards are:
Best News Website or Mobile Service – MAPARCHIVES.MA, Moroccan News Agency – Morocco
Best in Lifestyle, Sports, Entertainment Website or Mobile Service – NairobiNews Website, Nation Media Group – Kenya
Best Use of Online Video (including VR) – Ethiopian priest’s journey, BBC – Ethiopia
Best Data Visualisation – Rahat Mustafa, Osun Elections in Nigeria, BBC, Nigeria
Best Reader Revenue Initiative – Netwerk24’s Lifestyle migration, 24.com – South Africa
Best Branded Content Project – News24 Mzansi, through her eyes, 24.com and Michael de Beer, South Africa, Just Delicious, Media24 – South Africa
Best Digital News Start-up – Daily Kick – Soccer. News. Live Scoring, 24.com – South Africa
Best in Social Media Engagement – Tracey Gander, Women’s Month #WeRemember, Independent Media – South Africa
Best Digital Marketing Campaign – Airtel Case Study, Nation Media Group – Kenya
Best Innovation to Engage Youth Audiences – Children’s Radio Foundation, WhatsApp Integration Project – South Africa
