Katie truly understands her audience and her voice comes across to her readers as credible and authentic. The judges were hugely impressed with how she has used digital platforms to diversify and grow subscriptions, transforming the Farmers Guardian into a multichannel publication whilst staying true to her readers’ interests.

Gordon demonstrated his journalistic skills with an excellent range of stories and enthusiastic use of multimedia to tell those stories. Impressive investigative reporting from our worthy winner.

Bethany stood out as a multi-talented candidate who made real impact. The fact that she started a new social channel and successfully made it credible is a great achievement. She’s delivered audience and revenue impact. A self-starter with drive to teach herself new skills. And also a great mentor to other team members.

Amber stood out thanks to her blend of innovation, leadership and performance. Her Ask Amber AI initiative is a genuinely great approach and use of AI. Commercial execution delivered 105% YOY podcast revenue growth which is a notoriously hard product to sell. Beyond the numbers her commitment to mentorship colleagues around data-driven practice is exceptional.

The judges were blown away by Ezekiel’s passion and commitment to his local community, the quality and breadth of his reporting and the impact this has had on citizens. That he has done all this at such a young age already is outstanding!

This entry demonstrated holistic success, supporting the broader organisation’s objectives, and it clearly showed how valued they are by colleagues and partners, through the impressive testimonials.

The judges were impressed by the exceptional performance in this entry. The passionate and committed team spotted an opportunity for audience engagement , led by unexpected audience insights and dug in to create new opportunities.

This successful entry in a tough category showed re-invention, revenue diversification and effective growth in the studio brand. Judges were impressed by the pivot to a social content agency. Glowing client testimonials were the icing on the cake!

The judges were impressed by how this new team has transformed their digital footprint while delivering impressive year-on-year growth.

MEN demonstrated clear focus on high quality journalism. Growth across all channels showed how local journalism done brilliantly really resonates with audiences.

The FT demonstrated AI in both internal and client facing capacities. They had strong pipelines of successful product, which delivered tangible results, and unified internal data into a client facing platform.

The judges commented that this concept was really unique with very clever execution. The fact that the results performed better than their standard puzzles and had an 88% completion rate proved that innovation created really strong engagement.

The judges admired how this entry built out a privacy-complicit solution that solved a real problem. It delivered addressability whilst reducing consent fatigue, and provided huge value for both advertisers and publishers whilst delivering an enhanced UX.

The judges were really impressed by the partnership approach and the way in which Google worked with the team at the Guardian to solve a specific problem. Judges noted that they anticipate that this approach can be used by other publishers and the learnings shared.

A smart collaboration that had a real world impact!

This brand championed their own editorial content and provided valuable research and insights for advertisers. The judges appreciated the innovative look at the content they’re curating and for that they win this category.

The judges were impressed by the huge commitment made by the Telegraph to produce high quality daily episodes, generating significant audience engagement on an important and serious subject. The demonstration of how to produce a long-running series on a challenging subject which sparks mass interest is to be applauded.

A standout entry in this category. The judges particularly commented on the focus on data driven decisions to create engaging, sought after content which helped to educate and inform audiences. They also commended the strong performance in terms of watch hours and subscriber growth, especially in target demographics.

A solid example of community first innovation, inclusion and learning at every level- a great place to work – all the judges want to work there!

Unanimous support from the jury. Delivering transformation in practical terms with phenomenal results. Unifying different strands/teams of the business is very impressive.

This entry showed incredible innovation in finding a brand new audience on an original platform, growing this organically.

Clear prioritisation of advertising UX whilst still delivering an impactful ad lift. Simple idea executed brilliantly. Loved the way that the creative was adapted to the platform.

An industry leading publisher that has delivered all round success- from quality journalism in digital podcasts to new revenue streams at events. Results have followed their commitment to finding new ways of growth, impressing the judges.

Excellent example of a niche brand that has nailed it’s audience strategy and developed a successful growing business across multiple channels. Brilliant innovation, a hugely engaging platform, lively socials and exceeding growth targets. Very impressive!

This entry demonstrated excellence in local journalism, investing in their content to serve local communities and setting a high standard for independent small publishers.

William Reed was a standout winner in this category. In an incredibly challenging B2B publishing landscape, they took a good honest look at how they were operating and realised significant changes needed to be made to reach their full potential. They looked at their people, their brands, their products and their values and they amplified them all, achieving incredible results in the process, not only in terms of the numbers, but more importantly in staff morale and engagement. They should be truly proud of this win!