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Categories, Digital Publishing Awards, DPA21, National Media Awards Foundation, News

Categories Announced for the 6th Annual Digital Publishing Awards

The National Media Awards Foundation is pleased to announce the lineup of categories for the 2021 Digital Publishing Awards. Our program for 2021 features 24 categories, including expanding the Best Podcast award into two separate categories and introducing a new category, Best Virtual Event, to better reflect the content being produced by the industry.

We’re also pleased to introduce a new, cross-programming initiative. For the categories highlighted below, we welcome the work of National Magazine Awards and National Magazine Awards: B2B participants, in addition to Digital Publishing Awards participants. Entries in each category will be evaluated by a single panel of judges, and winners will be announced across all three programs. Here’s the full lineup:

  1. Best Digital Editorial Package
  2. Best Column
  3. Best News Coverage (Community Publication)
  4. Best News Coverage
  5. Best Feature Article
  6. Best Feature Article: Short
  7. Best Feature Article: Long
  8. Best Personal Essay
  9. Best Arts & Culture Storytelling
  10. Best Science & Technology Storytelling
  11. Best Service Feature
  12. Best Online Video: Short
  13. Best Online Video: Feature
  14. Best Online Video: Mini-Doc
  15. Best Podcast: News & Politics
  16. Best Podcast: Arts & Culture
  17. Best Digital Design
  18. Best Photo Storytelling
  19. Best Social Storytelling
  20. Best Editorial Newsletter
  21. Innovation in Digital Storytelling
  22. Best Virtual Event
  23. Emerging Excellence Award
  24. Digital Publishing Leadership Award
  25. General Excellence in Digital Publishing: Small, Medium, and Large Publications

If you’re interested in submitting to the 2021 DPAs, please note that the call for entries opens on December 22, 2020 and closes on January 29, 2021. To save on fees, get your entries in by the early bird deadline of January 22, 2021.

Our Freelancer Support Fund will be available once again this year, ensuring that the Digital Publishing Awards recognize the best work from a broad range of Canadian creators.

Call for Judges

Call for Judges: 6th Annual Digital Publishing Awards

The National Media Awards Foundation is now welcoming applications for judges for the Digital Publishing Awards,  National Magazine Awards, and National Magazine Awards: B2B.

Ideal candidates should fulfill one or more of the following criteria:

  • Internationally renowned journalist, editor, designer or other expert with an interest in supporting the NMAF fulfill its mission;
  • Editor, art director, publisher, web editor or other staff member (past or present) of a Canadian magazine, whether or not your publication participates in the National Magazine Awards, Digital Publishing Awards, or National Magazine Awards: B2B;
  • Freelance or staff writer, illustrator, photographer or digital creator, where a significant portion of your work is in Canadian publications (especially if you have been nominated for or won a National Magazine Award, Digital Publishing Award, or National Magazine Award: B2B yourself);
  • Journalist (print, broadcast, digital) with expertise in a particular field represented by one or more NMA, DPA, or NMA: B2B categories (such as photojournalism, service, arts & culture, fiction, poetry, etc);
  • Academic or industry leader with expertise in a particular field;
  • Professionals and leaders from related cultural sectors, including the visual arts (film and television), the literary arts (book writing & publishing) and the performing arts (theatre, music);
  • Bilingual: Not all of our judges need be bilingual, but all awards juries will have at least one bilingual member.

We welcome applications from individuals who bring different industry perspectives – from recognized leaders to celebrated emerging talents. We also aim for the judging panels to reflect our country’s diverse Indigenous, cultural, and regional communities.

Judging will take place during February and March 2021. For more information, or to nominate a peer to the jury, contact us at info@digitalpublishingawards.ca

Applicants, please include in your email: a short biography of yourself, a headshot, your preferred category (if any), what languages you are comfortable judging in (English, French or both), your contact information, and whether or not you are currently on the masthead of a publication.

DPA Winners, DPA20, News

Live Blog at 4pm ET: Presenting the 5th Annual Digital Publishing Awards

DPA20-SPECIAL-TWITTER-CARDS-2-1

The day has arrived! At 4pm ET, the winners of the 2020 Digital Publishing Awards will be unveiled in a livestream digital presentation on Twitter.com/DPAwards and you can follow along here on digitalpublishingawards.ca.

Be sure to keep refreshing this page to see live updates starting from 4pm ET. We are looking forward to sharing all the exciting news with you, your friends and colleagues.

If you’re hosting a watch party with Zoom or other video conferencing tools, or you’re a DPA winner, we want to hear from you!

Send us your photos, videos or speeches by email at staff@magazine-awards.com or tag us on Twitter @DPAwards or on Facebook @DPAwards. We will share your tweets, posts and videos here on our live blog and on our social media channels.

[5:20pm] That concludes our Winners Celebration! Thank you to everyone for joining us and a huge congratulations to the outstanding winners and finalists of the 2020 Digital Publishing Awards!

See the complete list of winners, including honourable mentions, at digitalpublishingawards.ca/announcing-the-winners/

[5:16] Closing out the #DPA20 Winners Celebration, the nominees and winners of General Excellence: Large Publication…

[5:13] Now presenting General Excellence: Medium Publication…

[5:09pm] We’re down to the final award! General Excellence is split into 3 divisions honouring publications that live up to their editorial mandate, meet high journalistic standards, and serve their intended audience by taking full advantage of the opportunities digital mediums offer.

First up, let’s see who takes home the gold in the small publication division…

[5:05pm] Let’s take a look at Innovation in Digital Storytelling…

[5:00pm] Check out this excellent work nominated in Best Digital Design…

[4:58pm] Next up, Best Podcast…

[4:55] We have a tie for gold in Best Editorial Newsletter!

Love this, thank you for sharing!

[4:50pm] Now onto Best Social Storytelling… let’s see who takes home the gold…

[4:48pm] The next award recognizes outstanding use of photography to tell a story, including photojournalism, photo essay, photo galleries, conceptual photography and photo-illustration. Now revealing the #DPA20 winners in Best Photo Storytelling…

[4:46pm] Best Online Mini-Doc is next, check out these outstanding nominees and winners…

Let’s hear from the winners!

[4:42pm] Let’s take a look at Best Online Video: Feature…

[4:40pm] Now presenting Best Online Video: Short …

[4:36pm] Next up is Best Science & Technology Storytelling…

[4:34pm] Best Arts & Culture Storytelling honours go to…

[4:30pm] Let’s take a look at the Best Service Feature nominees and winners!

[4:26pm] Next up is Best Personal Essay – be sure to bookmark these great reads!

[4:24pm] Let’s take a look at the nominees and winners in Best Feature Article: Long…

[4:22pm] Best Feature Article coming up…

The #DPA20 gold in Best Feature Article goes to “How the RCMP found Canada’s most wanted fugitives with a raven, a Cree trapper and luck” by @RenataDAliesio and @MelTait of the @globeandmail. Congratulations!

Read this award-winning piece here.

[4:20pm] Now presenting Best Feature Article: Short

[4:15pm] Let’s see who the #DPA20 Best Column gold medal goes to…

[4:12pm] Best News Coverage: Community Publication is announced!

Congrats to @XtraMagazine – gold winners in #DPA20 Best News Coverage: Community Publication for “Rainbow Votes 2019: LGBTQ2S Issues and the Canadian Federal Election”. Congrats @EricaLenti@rachelagiese and team! Read the award-winning coverage here.

We love hearing from the winning team – big congrats!

[4:10pm] Let’s see who takes home Best News Coverage…

[4:05pm] Best Digital Editorial Package is presented!

Check out the award-winning piece here: https://globalreportingprogram.org/fishmeal/

[4:02pm] The #DPA20 Emerging Excellence Award goes to @JaneLytv of @BuzzfeedNews. Establishing herself as a global leader in debunking disinformation along with her vision and leadership skills impressed our jury. Congrats, Jane! Explore Jane’s work here: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/author/janelytvynenko

Congratulations, Jane!

[4:00pm] And we’re off! The 5th Annual Digital Publishing Awards open with words from our 2020 Digital Publishing Leadership award winner, Dmitry Beniaminov.

This award is generously sponsored by the Reader’s Digest Foundation @ReadersDigestCA, a charity dedicated to the development of Canadian journalism, and supporting journalists and creators. Thank you!

Digital Publishing Awards, DPA Nominees, DPA20

Announcing the Nominees for the 2020 Digital Publishing Awards

The National Media Awards Foundation (NMAF) is thrilled to present the 2020 Digital Publishing Awards nominees. The Digital Publishing Awards—now in its fifth year—recognize and promote the excellent work of Canadian digital publications and creators. 

After receiving hundreds of submissions from 150 various publications, our panel of 75 dedicated volunteer judges have arrived at the 2020 nominees. These nominations are the result of a collaborative and rigorous judging process, made possible by the hard work of our esteemed jury members.

2020 DPA NOMINEES

See the complete list of categories and nominees.

EMERGING EXCELLENCE AWARD

The emerging excellence award—which honours an individual whose early work in Canadian digital publishing demonstrates the utmost degree of craft and promise—nominees for 2020 are: Jane Gerster (Global News),  Jane Lytvynenko (BuzzFeed Canada), and Lakshine Sathiyanathan (CBC Radio).

Each nominee has made an impact on their respective organizations through commitment to outstanding digital journalism. Learn more about their nominations.

GENERAL EXCELLENCE IN DIGITAL PUBLISHING AWARDS

The General Excellence awards recognize the publications that maximize the possibilities of digital publishing; these are the publications that succeed in fulfilling their editorial mandate and represent the highest of journalistic standards. These awards are presented in three divisions: small, medium, and large. 

Liisbeth, The Local, and The Tyee are finalists in the small division. 

Hakai Magazine, Maj, l’actualité pour les jeunes, and The Walrus are finalists in the medium division. 

In the large division, CBC News, Le Devoir (Innovations et élections), and Radio-Canada Information are the nominees. 

NOMINATION HIGHLIGHTS

  • Globe and Mail and CBC tie for 1st with 21 nominations (CBC nominations are across various divisions)
  • Radio-Canada is in 3rd with 13 nominations across various divisions
  • All receiving two nominations:
    • “Voitures autonomes : qui sauver, qui sacrifier” (Marc Lajoie, Radio-Canada): Best Science and Technology Storytelling and Innovation in Digital Storytelling
    • “Undeniable: Canada’s Changing Climate” (The Toronto Star): Best Digital Editorial Package (Staff & Contributors) and Best Digital Design (Cameron Tulk, Nathan Pilla, Mckenna Deighton, Andres Plana and Fadi Yaacoub)
    • “Uncover: The Village” (CBC Podcasts): Best Podcast (Justin Ling, Jennifer Fowler, Erin Byrnes, Cesil Fernandes, Mitchell Stuart, Sarah Claydon, Christopher Oke) and Best Social Storytelling (Sarah Claydon, Evan Aagard)
    • “Thunder Bay” (The Globe and Mail): Best Digital Editorial Package (Staff & Contributors) and Best News Coverage (Staff & Contributors)
    • “Paving a New Road for Rap” (The Globe and Mail): Best Arts & Culture Storytelling (Michelle Siu) and Best Photo Storytelling (Michelle Siu, Jeremy Agius, Melissa Tait and Theresa Suzuki)
    • “Are you a distracted driver? Probably. Here’s why” (The Globe and Mail): Best Science and Technology Storytelling (Oliver Moore, Laura Blenkinsop and Christopher Manza) and Innovation in Digital Storytelling (Laura Blenkinsop and Christopher Manza)
PublicationNominations 
The Globe and Mail21
CBC21
Radio-Canada13
The Narwhal8
The Walrus7
Hakai Magazine6
The Tyee5
Le Devoir5
Vice Canada4
The Local4
Maclean’s4

LEADERSHIP AWARD

Award sponsored by the Reader’s Digest Foundation
Prix commandité par la Fondation Reader’s Digest

Dmitry Beniaminov

A pioneer, a godsend, a Google Guy—a clear leader in the field of Canadian digital publishing whose creativity and dedication is inspiring. For this, the National Media Awards Foundation is proud to present Dmitry Beniaminov with the prestigious 2020  Digital Publishing Leadership Award.  [Read more]

CREDIT CHANGES

If you would like to make any credit changes, please send details to info@digitalpublishingaward.ca before Monday, May 4, 2020.

CELEBRATION OF WINNERS

While we are looking forward to congratulating the winners of the 2020 Digital Publishing Awards, unfortunately due to COVID-19, there will not be an in-person awards luncheon this year. We invite members of the digital publishing community to take this brief survey to help us find an alternate solution.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The National Media Awards Foundation is incredibly grateful for the support of: Government of Canada, the Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Creates, Reader’s Digest Foundation, and KCK Global. We are also thankful for the support of Cision, Magazines Canada, PUSH Media, Very Good Studios and Vividata.

Our sincerest thanks to this year’s judges, who graciously volunteered their time and expertise, evaluating the hundreds of entries submitted to this year’s competition. 

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

For sponsorship inquiries, please contact Barbara Gould, Executive Director, at info@digitalpublishingawards.ca.

Digital Publishing Awards, DPA Winners, Leadership Award, National Magazine Awards, National Media Awards Foundation

Dmitry Beniaminov to be presented with the 2020 Digital Publishing Leadership Award

Award sponsored by the Reader’s Digest Foundation
Prix commandité par la Fondation Reader’s Digest

The National Media Awards Foundation congratulates Dmitry Beniaminov, the 2020 winner of the Digital Publishing Leadership Award. This award celebrates a creator whose career contributions to Canadian digital publishing deserve formal recognition, and it is the Digital Publishing Awards’ highest individual distinction.

Beniaminov is a York University graduate, with a Bachelor in Computer Science/Engineering and Psychology, and is certified with the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB). Since graduating, Beniaminov has accumulated nearly 20 years of experience working as a technology consultant and digital marketing advisor and, as of 2016, offers his services via, Pixel Studioz, his web design firm.

“Dmitry was a pioneer when publishers were evolving into the digital space,” writes Margo Bock, a consultant at Margo Bock Media Solutions. A pioneer, and a “godsend,” according to Joyce Byrne who, in 2019, worked with Dmitry on the Avenue Calgary websites and digital ads. “He’s a great communicator and an even better technology expert. He always delivered what he promised, and then some.”

Tanja Hutter, Online Manager for Canada’s History Society—who also worked with Beniaminov in 2019—refers to him as their “Google Guy.” He was originally brought on board for SEM, though Hutter quickly realized “there was no shortage of topics that we [could pick] his brain about: from above-the-clouds overall digital strategy down to in-the-weeds tweaking of ad execution.”

It seems many of Canada’s digital publishers have picked Beniaminov’s brain; he’s worked on projects for The Walrus, Running Magazine, Toronto Botanical Garden, Cycling Magazine, Avenue Calgary, Electric Autonomy, Canadaland, Outdoor Canada, Cottage Life, Canadian Living, Elle Canada, The Hockey News, Toronto Life, Fashion Magazine, Wedding Bells, and Quill and Quire. Outside of publishing, he’s consulted for the University of Toronto, Seneca, Ad-Server start-ups, and Autism Services portals. Beniaminov’s testimonials make clear why his client base is so wide-ranging. “He’s helpful, kind, positive and eager, and he never breaks a sweat, including and especially when those around him have every right to be freaking out,” says David Topping, Newsroom Director, Newsletters at Torstar. “In the two years I worked with him, I was consistently impressed at his ability to keep so much in his brain, and how generous he was with sharing it.”

This generosity extends to Beniaminov’s ongoing volunteerism. He contributes to organizations and community-based projects, which have included PEN Canada, the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors, and the Movember Foundation. 

Those who nominated Beniaminov for this award were also quick to point out the impact of his work: “He has helped all of our sites grow from a small web presence to traffic of about two million monthly page views,” says Sam Cohen, Publisher at Gripped Publishing Inc. Bock echoes this: “He led us through all the digital opportunities that we could develop for the audience, and in turn, convert to advertising revenue. He had a keen understanding of what digital audiences want and how to monetize it, which was much needed to grow division revenue as print advertising was shifting to digital.”

It’s not just Beniaminov’s clients who recognize his talent—he is an award-winning creator, with accolades from IAB, the National Magazine Awards, and the Digital Publishing Awards. 

A pioneer, a godsend, a Google Guy—a clear leader in the field of Canadian digital publishing whose creativity and dedication is inspiring. For this, the National Media Awards Foundation is proud to present the Digital Publishing Leadership Award to Dmitry Beniaminov. Our sincerest congratulations, Dmitry! 

Enjoy Dmitry’s acceptance speech here: