SPH bags five awards at Asian Digital Media Awards 2020

SINGAPORE Press Holdings (SPH) was the biggest winner with five awards at the Asian Digital Media Awards (ADMA) 2020 presented on Thursday by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-INFRA).

The Straits Times (ST) and Lianhe Zaobao (ZB) both clinched two wins, while ThinkChina.sg received one. The latter two publications are under SPH's Chinese Media Group; ThinkChina.sg is a China-focused English e-magazine powered by ZB.

This is the largest number of awards for an organisation for this year's edition.

The awards recognises Asian publishers that have delivered unique and original digital media projects in the last 12 months. A total of 140 entries were received this year.

ST's multimedia, interactive piece that exposed a love scammer's ruse and the modus operandi of such con artists scored a Gold in the Best in Lifestyle, Sports, Entertainment Website or Mobile Services category.

The investigative article took "a fresh and creative approach" with "clever use of graphic elements" to alert readers to the modus operandi of such con artists, said SPH in a press statement.

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ST also won a Silver in the Best Project for News Literacy category for its AskST platform, which invited readers to send questions related to Covid-19 through e-mail, and debunked myths and clarified doubts.

Readers turned to the platform for information on a wide range of topics, such as how long the coronavirus could survive on surfaces, and how to make the best of home-based learning.

At ZB, the flagship Chinese daily's rewards loyalty programme won a Gold in the Best in Audience Engagement category.

The programme rewards zaobao.sg readers when they read an article, watch a video or share a piece of content from the website or mobile app. Readers who accumulate enough points can use them to redeem rewards such as grocery and restaurant vouchers.

In addition, an interactive website designed by ZB to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, "70 Years of Waiting", won a Silver in the Best News Website or Mobile Service category.

This digital feature is "replete with visually captivating graphics and photos, an immersive mini exhibition, a bilingual documentary, and print editorial", said SPH.

ThinkChina.sg, meanwhile, bagged a Gold, also in the Best News Website or Mobile Service category.

Launched in September 2019, the website publishes original reporting, opinion pieces and columns. Its topics cover political, economic, socio-cultural and technological developments in China and the Greater China region, from the point of view of Chinese-language journalists and writers in Singapore, China and other parts of Asia.

Lee Huay Leng, head of Chinese Media Group, said that since ThinkChina.sg's inception, the e-magazine "has gotten strong interest and support from experts and writers from Asia and the world".

"Its uniqueness is in how it presents the Asian perspectives of China, especially those who write in the Chinese language through good translations," she noted.

"We will continue to develop and improve our digital products to meet the changing needs of our readers and subscribers," said Ms Lee.

Warren Fernandez, editor-in-chief of English/Malay/Tamil Media Group and editor of ST, said: "The awards reflect our commitment to keep serving our audiences in new and interesting ways."

Other awards recipients at ADMA 2020 included Mediacorp, which won a Silver in the Best Marketing Campaign for News Brand category. Reuters took home a Gold for Best Data Visualisation, for its "Drowning in Plastic" project.

South China Morning Post clinched four awards, including in the Best Native Advertising or Branded Content Campaign and Best Data Visualisation categories.