And the 2018 winners are…
Winners’ List
Winners’ Website
Press Release
The winners of the 2018 Digital Publishing Awards have been announced! 79 Canadian digital publications entered their best work from 2017, for consideration in 23 awards categories. 78 dedicated judges carefully evaluated the entries, deliberated upon the finalists, and on May 29th, the Gold and Silver winners were announced at the annual DPA Soirée, hosted by Adrian Lee.
20 different digital publications took home Gold and Silver medals. From them, four (HuffPost Québec, ICI Radio-Canada Première, The Deep and The Sprawl) were first-time winners.
Gold winning publications included Canadian Art, CBC News, Global News (globalnews.ca), Hakai Magazine, HuffPost Quebec, ICI Radio-Canada Première, The Globe and Mail, The Sprawl, The Walrus, and TVO.org. In most categories, the Digital Publishing Awards Gold winners received a $500 cheque alongside their award.
Taking home Silver medals were Air Canada enRoute, BuzzFeed Canada, CBC Original Podcasts, Discourse Media, Hazlitt, National Observer, Options politiques, Today’s Parent, Toronto Life, and VICE.
GENERAL EXCELLENCE IN DIGITAL PUBLISHING
The 2018 award for General Excellence in Digital Publishing was presented in three divisions: small, medium, and large publications.
The Deep won the Gold Medal for General Excellence in Digital Publishing: Small Publications. “They’re doing remarkable work with a very small staff, using their resources intelligently so that each story has the greatest impact. Their mandate—to tell in depth stories based on the East Coast—feels not only necessary, especially with the erosion of local news, but like one that they are well-positioned to carry out, considering their balance of a considered design with engaging stories,” remarked the digital publishing awards jury. “As traditional publishers grapple with diminished capacity, it will take efforts like those of The Deep, to ensure deeper, longer stories are still told and more importantly, heard!
Honourable Mention in General Excellence in Digital Publishing: Small Publications was awarded to Fjord Review and National Observer.
Hakai Magazine received the Gold medal for General Excellence in Digital Publishing: Medium Publications. “Hakai is the realization of what a great digital magazine can be. With beautiful imagery, clean design, crisp writing, and well-integrated digital features, Hakai sets the standard for
a high-quality digital publication,” said the Digital Publishing Awards jury. “Everything about the site is in support of its content and the reader, as it should be.”
Hakai Magazine received six other awards in various categories, including a second Gold in Best Online Video – Feature for “Here Be Tiny Dragons (and Other Micro Beasts).”
Honourable Mention General Excellence in Digital Publishing: Medium Publications was given to Passport and Today’s Parent.
The winner of the General Excellence in Digital Publishing: Large Publication award went to The Globe and Mail. The jury had this to say: “The Globe and Mail team produced an extremely innovative body of work. Their editorial mandate was not only fulfilled, it was surpassed and truly represented the highest of journalistic standards.” Le Devoir and Winnipeg Free Press received Honourable Mention in Digital Publishing: Large Publications.
EMERGING EXCELLENCE AWARD
Elizabeth Melito of CBC News was recognized as this year’s recipient of the Emerging Excellence Award. The Emerging Excellence Award jury was “exceptionally impressed by Elizabeth’s clear demonstration of leadership and initiative in a large and respected organization like CBC News. She joined CBC News, her first media job, in 2015. In a short time she has earned a high level of respect and responsibility and has developed two custom long-form development tools that have been rolled out nationally at CBC.”
DIGITAL PUBLISHING LEADERSHIP AWARD
Brodie Fenlon, the Senior Director of Daily News and Bureaus for the CBC, was the recipient of the 2018 Digital Publishing Leadership Award. The award honours an individual whose career contributions to Canadian digital publishing deserve recognition and celebration.
WINNERS HIGHLIGHTS
The leading publication in this year’s Digital Publishing Awards is The Globe and Mail. The “Unfounded”investigation—led by Dennis Choquett, Robyn Doolittle, Laura Blenkinsop, Jeremy Agius, and Michael Pereira—won Gold in both Best Digital Editorial Package and Best News Coverage.
Hakai Magazine was also a top-winning publication, receiving two Gold medals, two Silver medals, and three Honourable Mentions. Jude Isabella, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, contributed to three of those winning pieces.
“Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2017,” published in Air Canada enRoute, won two silver medals, in the categories of Best Online Video: Short and Best Digital Editorial Package.
Global News (globalnews.ca) was a two-time winner: “Canada’s #ToxicSecret” was the Gold winner in the Best Social Storytelling category, while “Fire Watch: B.C. Wildfire Coverage” was the Silver winner in the Best News Coverage category.
Visit live.digitalpublishingawards.ca to view the winners in all 23 categories. Follow the Digital Publishing Awards on Twitter @DPAwards and #DPA18.
A complete list of the nominees and winners, in all 23 categories, can be found at live.digitalpublishingawards.ca.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Digital Publishing Awards gratefully acknowledges the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Canadian Periodical Fund, the Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.
The NMAF thanks its partners and generous sponsors: Cision, DDI Canada, Reader’s Digest Foundation and Very Good Studios.
The NMAF offers its sincere thanks to the highly skilled professionals who generously contributed their time and expertise as judges of the Digital Publishing Awards competition.