InPublishing: Digital Publishing Awards 2023: Winners announced

The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) has celebrated its 21st Awards this week, honouring some of the digital publishing industry’s top talent at the in-person ceremony, held at Old Billingsgate in London.

AOP’s event, organised in association with headline partner PubMatic, was hosted by comedian Catherine Bohart and recognised some of the individuals, teams and companies driving the impressive growth of the digital publishing sector. There were 27 category winners, including Ryan Uhl, chief brand strategy officer at Mail Metro Media, the first recipient of the newly created Bill Murray Award for Outstanding Contribution to Digital Publishing. In partnership with UKOM, and with the support of Haymarket Media Group, the new AOP Award honours the memory of Bill Murray, who passed away suddenly in February 2023.

Categories were judged by a panel of experts under the guidance of co-chairs, Hannah Barnett, commercial director, digital sales at Mail Metro Media, and Gideon Spanier, UK editor-in-chief at Campaign.

“The Digital Publishing Awards were, yet again, a brilliant night to celebrate the incredible people that make up our industry,” comments Richard Reeves, managing director at AOP. “This year awarded those who have gone above and beyond to deliver high-quality content in the ever-changing media landscape. I would like to personally congratulate all the inspiring winners who work hard to change the digital publishing industry for the better.”

Emma Newman, CRO, EMEA at PubMatic commented: “The 2023 Digital Publishing Awards were a brilliant example of why we continue to support the AOP. We were thrilled to help spotlight and celebrate the successes of our industry’s pioneers over the past year. A huge congratulations to the winners and everyone shortlisted.”

Among the other winners on the night was Tom Ravenscroft from Dezeen – who took home the Editor of the Year award for his strong vision to energise his team during a potentially difficult and challenging time for the business – and Wendell Steavenson from 1843 Magazine, who was awarded Journalist of the Year. This was for her investigative journalism, which has seen her put herself in the middle of dangerous situations to report the news and build the publication’s readership. Meanwhile, Ozone won Best Digital Publishing Innovation, impressing the jury with its Ozone Smart Bidstream product, an offering that is helping to power a more sustainable digital publishing industry.

The full list of winners is as follows:

INDIVIDUAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS

EDITOR OF THE YEAR

Winner: Tom Ravenscroft, entered by Dezeen

JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

Winner: Wendell Steavenson, 1843 Magazine, entered by The Economist

Highly commended: Mark Ogden, entered by ESPN

RISING STAR

Winner: Ralph Karumazondo, entered by ESPN

Highly commended: Albert Bynorth, entered by Mail Metro Media

SALES PERSON OF THE YEAR

Winner: Harry Rich, entered by News UK

THE AOP AWARD FOR INSPIRING LOCAL JOURNALISM, SPONSORED BY GOOGLE NEWS INITIATIVE

Winner: Anna Whittaker, Notts TV

Highly commended: Katy Rink, My Shrewsbury Magazine

TEAM EXCELLENCE AWARDS

ADVERTISING OPERATIONS TEAM OF THE YEAR

Winner: The Telegraph Campaign Planning and Operations Team, entered by The Telegraph Media Group

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT TEAM OF THE YEAR, SPONSORED BY UKOM

Winner: The Times and The Sunday Times, entered by News UK

EDITORIAL TEAM OF THE YEAR: B2B

Winner: Campaign, entered by Haymarket Media Group

Highly commended: Travel Gossip News, entered by Travel Gossip

EDITORIAL TEAM OF THE YEAR: CONSUMER

Winner: BBC Good Food and Olive Magazine, entered by Immediate Media Co

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TEAM OF THE YEAR

Winner: PinkNews

SALES TEAM OF THE YEAR

Winner: Commercial Team at HELLO! / HELLO! Fashion, entered by HELLO! Limited

PUBLISHING EXCELLENCE AWARDS

BEST CREATIVE SOLUTIONS LED / CONTENT MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Winner: Last Player Standing, entered by IGN

BEST DIGITAL PUBLISHING INNOVATION

Winner: Powering Premium Programmatic with Ozone Smart Bidstream, entered by Ozone

Highly commended: Nectar360’s Digital Trading Platform, entered by J Sainsburys

BEST DIVERSIFICATION OF COMMERCIAL STRATEGY, SPONSORED BY GOOGLE

Winner: Independent Licensing and Syndication, entered by Independent Digital News And Media

BEST MEDIA TECHNOLOGY PARTNER

Winner: SeenThis Adaptive Streaming, entered by SeenThis

Highly commended: Sourcepoint: Bringing UK Publishers Together to Develop Enhanced Privacy Solutions, entered by Sourcepoint

BEST PUBLISHER-LED SOCIAL GOOD INITIATIVE OR CAMPAIGN, SPONSORED BY DELOITTE

Winner: Campaign Ad Net Zero Awards, entered by Haymarket Media Group

Highly commended: Reach PLC Online Safety for Journalists Initiative, entered by Reach PLC

Highly commended: The Telegraph NatWest 100 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch, entered by The Telegraph & NatWest

BEST RESEARCH / INSIGHT PROJECT

Winner: ISBA / AOP / PwC Programmatic Study II, entered by PwC (with ISBA & AOP)

BEST USE OF AUDIO

Winner: Which? Money Podcast, entered by Which?

Highly commended: Immediate Media Co

BEST USE OF DATA

Winner: NationalWorld.com Democratising Ad Effectiveness Data for The SME Marketplace With Brand Metrics, entered by NationalWorld.com and Brand Metrics

Highly commended: Bauer Illuminate Automotive, entered by Bauer Media

BEST USE OF VIDEO

Winner: The Telegraph - Life On The Frontline, entered by The Telegraph Media Group

Highly commended: PinkNews

THE AOP EMPLOYER EXCELLENCE AWARD, SPONSORED BY LEWIS SILKIN

Winner: Immediate Media Co