AOP announces shortlist for 2026 Digital Publishing Awards

Published: 23 Apr 2026

LONDON, 23rd April 2026: The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) has today announced the shortlist for the 2026 Digital Publishing Awards. Now in its 24th year, the awards continue to celebrate the individuals and teams driving innovation and excellence in the creation, delivery, and monetisation of quality digital content.

The 2026 programme features 26 award categories across four groups: Individual Excellence Awards; Team Excellence Awards; Publishing Excellence Awards; and Grand Prix Awards. Entries were evaluated by a panel of digital industry experts, led by co-chairs Chris Cannon, Managing Director at TechFinitive and Jacqui Merrington, Executive Editor at The Independent. The winners will be revealed at the AOP Awards ceremony on 11th June 2026 at Old Billingsgate, London.

This year’s awards include three new categories to reflect current priorities in digital publishing:

• The AOP Publishing Innovation Award: Audiences
• The AOP Publishing Innovation Award: Revenues
• The AOP Publishing Business Effectiveness Award

The 2026 list of finalists features a diverse array of publishers, teams, and individuals spanning national and local media, B2B and B2C, and standout technology partners. Leading the shortlists are The Telegraph with 23 nominations, Reach plc with 12, and both News UK and Immediate with 11.

“Every year, the high standards of our award entries never fail to showcase the resilience and innovation digital publishers demonstrate on a daily basis,” said Richard Reeves, Managing Director at AOP. “While we have categories for public-facing talent, we design our awards to celebrate those who work in the engine room of the nation’s leading publishers, tirelessly driving monetisation, designing products, and crunching data. I can’t wait to give them their much-deserved moment in the spotlight.”

The full list of finalists is as follows and can be viewed online here.

Individual Excellence Awards

Editor of the Year

• Katie Jones – Farmers Guardian, entered by Agriconnect (Arc Europe)

• Maisie McCabe – Campaign, entered by Haymarket Media Group

• Alastair McLellan, Health Service Journal, entered by HSJ Information

• Morgan Jeffery – Radio Times, entered by Immediate

• Chris Lancaster, entered by The Telegraph

Journalist of the Year

• Jessica Mills Davies – Energy Voice, entered by DC Thomson

• Hayley Dixon, entered by The Telegraph

• Robert Mendick, entered by The Telegraph

• Gordon Rayner, entered by The Telegraph

Rising Star

• Jada Walters, entered by Bauer Media

• Zach Letzer, entered by Mail Metro Media

• Niamh Robinson, entered by The Telegraph

• Mariam Shubitidze, entered by The Telegraph

• Armando Abdyli, entered by The Telegraph

• Bethany Walker, entered by William Reed

Sales Person of the Year

• James Brook, entered by News UK

• Tracey Hendle, entered by News UK

• Dan Maton, entered by The Telegraph

• Nick Green, entered by The Telegraph

• Jason Milton-Barker, entered by The Telegraph

• Amber Neary, entered by Times Media

The AOP Award for Inspiring Local Journalism, sponsored by Google News Initiative

• James Holt, entered by Manchester Evening News

• Ezekiel Bertrand, entered by Newsquest

• Kumail Jaffer, entered by Reach plc

• Philip James Lynch, entered by Reach plc

• David Humphreys, entered by Reach plc

• Donal McMahon, entered by Reach plc

• Luke Butterly, entered by The Detail

Team Excellence Awards

Advertising Operations Team of the Year, sponsored by Index Exchange

• Engage Media Group Ltd (TechFinitive.com)
• GB News Ltd.
• New York Times
• The Telegraph
• William Reed

Audience Development Team of the Year, sponsored by UKOM

• Social Monetisation Team, entered by Reach plc
• The Sun
• The Telegraph

Commercial Team of the Year, sponsored by Utiq

• Campaign Commercial Team, entered by Haymarket Media Group
• Automotive Studio: From Creative Solutions To Creative Agency, entered by Haymarket Media Group
• From Transformation To Impact: Thriving Through Change And Driving Record Subscription Growth, entered by Immediate
• The Commercial Engine, entered by News UK
• The Telegraph

Editorial Team of the Year: B2B

• RAIL, entered by Bauer Media
• Farmers Guardian, entered by Agriconnect (Arc Europe)
• ENDS Report, entered by Haymarket Media Group
• Campaign UK & Campaign Red, entered by Haymarket Media Group

Editorial Team of the Year: Consumer

• Grazia, entered by Bauer Media
• GB News
• Radio Times, entered by Immediate
• Manchester Evening News
• The Telegraph

Product Development Team of the Year

• Revenue Operations Team, entered by Financial Times
• Product & Development Team (Digital Subscriptions), entered by Reach plc
• Product & Digital Team, entered by Real Deals Media
• Commercial Digital Product Team, entered by The Telegraph
• William Reed

Digital Publishing Excellence Awards

Best Creative Solutions Led / Content Marketing Campaign

• Cafe Meets, entered by BuzzFeed UK

• Dezeen x ASUS: Design You Can Feel, entered by Dezeen

• Recipe For Growth: How Social‑First Storytelling Cut CPA and Super‑Sized Subs, entered by Immediate

• Part Of The Family – Mail Metro Media, Spark Foundry & Asda, entered by Mail Metro Media

• From Retailer To Relief: When The GP Can't See You, Boots Can, entered by Reach plc

• Disagreeing Well, entered by The Independent / University College London

• Telegraph Puzzles Joined Netflix’s Thursday Murder Club, entered by The Telegraph | iProspect | Netflix

Best Media Technology Partner: Audiences

• Building A Digital Subscription Service For The World’s Oldest Sunday Newspaper, entered by AND Digital

• Arcspan AMS (Audience Monetisation System), entered by ArcSpan

• Proving Audience Value With Brand Lift Data, entered by Brand Metrics

• VidGen, entered by Genna

• DeeperDive: Trusted Answers. Insights that Matter, entered by Taboola

• How Utiq Solved The Programmatic Guaranteed Frequency Problem for Publishers, entered by Utiq

Best Media Technology Partner: Revenues

• Supercharging Ad Performance For Times Higher Education, entered by Content Ignite

• Google

• The Guardian Boosts Auction Efficiency and Revenue With Index Exchange's Transparent Dynamic Take Rate, entered by Index Exchange

• Mantis, A Reach Product, entered by Mantis

Best Publisher-led Social Good Initiative or Campaign

• Save Britain's Family Farms, entered by Farmers Guardian (Agriconnect)

• Greenwashing Intelligence, entered by Financial Times

• Gardeners' World Make A Metre Matter, entered by Immediate

• Keep Britain Tidy: The Great British Spring Clean - A Nation Mobilised, entered by Reach plc

• World AIDS Day, entered by The Independent

• The Sun & Tesco: Cooking For All, entered by The Sun

Best Research / Insight Project

• Bridging The Trust Gap: From Research To Revenue, entered by Financial Times

• Understanding Why Audiences Choose What To Watch: Turning Audience Motivation into Advertiser Strategy, entered by Immediate

• Attention: A Newsworks Study, entered by Newsworks

• Digital CFlight, entered by Sky

• Auto Match: Proof That TV Ads Influence Car Buying, entered by Sophus3

• The First UK Publisher To Guarantee Uplifts In Trust, entered by The Telegraph

Best Use of Audio

• The Next Five Podcast, entered by Financial Times

• Boy Wasted, entered by Haymarket Media Group

• Go Doxx Yourself, entered by Reach plc

• Ukraine: The Latest, entered by The Telegraph

• The Business Podcast, In Partnership With PwC, entered by Times Media

Best Video Strategy

• Radio Times, entered by Immediate

• New Scientist

• Sun Originals, entered by The Sun

• The Telegraph Video Team, entered by The Telegraph

• Which?

The AOP Employer Excellence Award, sponsored by Lewis Silkin

• Haymarket Media Group Becomes B Corp Certified Globally, entered by Haymarket Media Group

• IM, entered by Immediate

• Media Literacy Programme, entered by The Telegraph

The AOP Publishing Business Effectiveness Award

• Transforming Commercial Operations, entered by Financial Times

• Project North: Transforming Immediate’s Operating Model To Power Scalable Subscription Growth, entered by Immediate

• Project Tempo, entered by The Telegraph

• William Reed – From Silos To System: How Collaboration And AI Delivered Significant Growth, entered by William Reed

The AOP Publishing Innovation Award: Audiences

• PRWeek's 'The Companies House Files', entered by Haymarket Business Media

• Good Health By Good Food, entered by Immediate

• From One Producer To 70 Million Views, entered by Reach plc

• Mantis Scribe, entered by Reach plc

• Reimagining The Observer For Modern Audiences, entered by The Observer

• Times Holidays, entered by Times Media

The AOP Publishing Innovation Award: Revenues, Sponsored by Google

• In Journey Video Ads, entered by Citymapper

• Social Monetisation Team, entered by Reach plc

• The Guardian’s 1st-Party Data Revolution, entered by The Guardian

• Ad.Studio: From Zero To Hero, entered by The Telegraph

• Times Luxury eCommerce, entered by Times Media

Grand Prix Awards

Best Online Brand: B2B

• The Banker/thebanker.com, entered by FT Specialist

• Campaign, entered by Haymarket Media Group

• Health Service Journal, entered by HSJ Information

• Professional Adviser, entered by Incisive Media

• Relaunching The Observer, entered by The Observer

• The Grocer, entered by William Reed

Best Online Brand: Consumer

• Radio Times, entered by Immediate

• The Intercooler

• The Sun

• The Telegraph

• Rock Sound, entered by whynow

Small Digital Publisher of the Year, sponsored by Deloitte

• solli: Transforming Pharma Media, entered by Skittle Media

• SoPublishing

• DriveNation Media Ltd, entered by The Intercooler

• Trending Now, entered by Trending Now Media Limited

ENDS

About the Association of Online Publishers

The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) is an industry body representing digital publishing companies that create original, branded, quality content. AOP champions the interests of media owners from diverse backgrounds including newspaper and magazine publishing, TV and radio broadcasting, and pure online media. For more information, please visit www.ukaop.org.