Middle Eastern Digital Media Awards winners honoured in Dubai.

The winners of the WAN-IFRA's 2019 Middle Eastern Digital Media Awards were celebrated during a ceremony at the end of the first day of the 14th annual Middle East Conference taking place at Dubai Knowledge Park.

The Middle Eastern Digital Media Awards, presented by WAN-IFRA, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, and supported by Google, recognise publishers in the region that have delivered unique and original digital media projects during the past 12 months, from new approaches to digital subscriptions to powerful native advertising campaigns and more. Over 70 projects from throughout the Middle East were entered in competition this year across ten categories.

The Digital Media Awards are held throughout the year in every major region of the world. They are the most prestigious recognition of best practice innovation in digital publishing. The winners of the Middle Eastern Awards competition now become automatically eligible for the WAN-IFRA’s World Digital Media Awards, which recognise the very best digital initiatives globally. The World Awards will be announced at the World News Media Congress to be held in Glasgow, Scotland on 1-3 June.

The 14th WAN-IFRA Digital Media Middle East Conference continues today in Dubai.

The Middle Eastern winners for this year are:

Best News Website or Mobile Service

1st Place
Abouther.com
Sayidaty Magazine, Saudi Research & Publishing Company, Saudi Arabia
https://www.abouther.com “I think this an admirable initiative within the frames of what can be published within the country. One of my favourite projects,” noted one of our judges of the winning entry.

2nd Place
Arab News: Road to 2030
Arab News, Saudi Research & Publishing Company, Saudi Arabia
http://www.arabnews.com/road2030

3rd Place
AlBayan.ae News Site
Al Bayan, United Arab Emirates
https://www.albayan.ae

Best in Lifestyle, Sports, Entertainment Website or Mobile Services

1st Place
Arrajol.com
Arrajol Magazine, Saudi Research & Publishing Company, Saudi Arabia
https://www.arrajol.com

2nd Place
Hiamag
Hia Magazine, Saudi Research & Publishing Company, Saudi Arabia
http://www.hiamag.com

3rd Place
Aljamila.com
Al Jamila Magazine, Saudi Research & Publishing Company, Saudi Arabia
http://aljamila.com

Best Use of Online Video

1st Place
Saudi National Day
Arab News, Saudi Research & Publishing Company, Saudi Arabia
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1376216/saudi-national-day-—-timeline-saudi-arabia’s-history

2nd Place
Video First at The National
The National, United Arab Emirates
https://www.thenational.ae

3rd Place
24/2
Al Arabiya, United Arab Emirates
https://twitter.com/24IN2MIN/status/1077209783713751041

Best Data Visualisation

1st Place
Global Youth Index for Misk Foundation
Ratchet Ltd.
https://vimeo.com/316757729/8b764ab4e4 “Very fun and creative way to display heavy data,” said a judge. “Design and animation had introduced the content in a more appealing way to the target youth audience.”

2nd Place
Data Visualisation
Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
http://interactive.khaleejtimes.com/global

3rd Place
Simplicity
ALAYAM, Bahrain
http://www.alayam.com

Best Paid Content Strategy

1st Place (tie)
Harvard Business Review Arabia
Haykal Media FZ LLC, United Arab Emirates
https://hbrarabic.com/ “Very good example of first-mover in a difficult paid content Arabic market. Excellent content,” noted a judge of the winner in this category.

1st Place (tie)
An-Nahar Premium
An-Nahar Newspaper, Lebanon
https://www.annahar.com/premium

Best Native Advertising / Branded Content Campaign

1st Place
Lexus - Safe Driving - because you deserve it!
Sayidaty Magazine, Saudi Research & Publishing Company, Saudi Arabia
https://cars.sayidaty.net/

2nd Place
Huawei in collaboration with Hiamag.com
Hia Magazine, Saudi Research & Publishing Company, Saudi Arabia
https://tv.hiamag.com/node/1136

3rd Place
Aljamila - Johnson & Johnson campaign
Al Jamila Magazine, Saudi Research & Publishing Company, Saudi Arabia
https://youtu.be/64U8zB4cCKI

Best Digital News Start-up

1st Place
Daraj
Daraj, Lebanon
http://www.daraj.com

2nd Place
Whatsapp
Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/nation/dubai/khaleej-times-news-alerts-on-whatsapp-heres-how-to-subscribe

3rd Place
Al Bilad EST. for Journalism & Publishing
Saudi Arabia
https://albiladdaily.com/

Best in Social Media Engagement

1st Place
Your Voice is Heard campaign
Sayidaty Magazine, Saudi Research & Publishing Company, Saudi Arabia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhtesT2BASc “Projects of this kind are of great importance and necessity,” said a judge about this winning campaign.

2nd Place
Alhudood Social Media
Alhudood
https://alhudood.net

3rd Place
Hia Social Media
Hia Magazine, Saudi Research & Publishing Company
https://www.facebook.com/hia.magazine/

Best Marketing Campaign for News Brand

1st Place
The News Women Power 50
Jang Media Group
http://womenpower50.com

2nd Place
Sayidaty Eeshooha Jarrabooha Show
Sayidaty Magazine, Saudi Research & Publishing Company, Saudi Arabia
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrBM0fc62CWWQvm9PWzsjTw

3rd Place
Hia Brand
Hia Magazine, Saudi Research & Publishing Company, Saudi Arabia
https://www.hiamag.com

Best Digital Project to Engage Younger and/or Millennial Audiences

1st Place
Al Jamila Beauty School
Al Jamila Magazine, Saudi Research & Publishing Company, Saudi Arabia
https://school.aljamila.com/ “A great new concept to engage young women,” one of our judges said of the winning entry.

2nd Place
Saudi Women Entrepreneurs Investment Program (Ahalina & Sayidaty)
Sayidaty Magazine Saudi Research & Publishing Company, Saudi Arabia
https://bit.ly/2E90Je0

3rd Place
Alhudood’s Online Platform
Alhudood
https://alhudood.net/

CONTACT - INQUIRIES

Christin Herger, Senior Project Manager, Global Events, WAN-IFRA | christin.herger@wan-ifra.org

Mechthild Schimpf, Director Middle East, WAN-IFRA | mechthild.schimpf@wan-ifra.org

ABOUT WAN-IFRA WAN-IFRA is the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. Its mission is to protect the rights of journalists and publishers around the world to operate independent media. WAN-IFRA provides its members with expertise and services to innovate and prosper in a digital world and perform their crucial role in society. With formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe, it derives its authority from its global network of leading news publishing companies and technology entrepreneurs, and its legitimacy from its 80 national association members representing 18,000 publications in 120 countries. www.wan-ifra.org