The media awards are handed out by the National Association of Media Companies during the Nordic Media Days in Bergen. Winning a total of nine prizes, it was certainly a night to celebrate for Schibsted.
Editor-in-chief Trine Eilertsen and the delegation from Aftenposten received a standing ovation when they entered a packed stage to receive the evening’s last and most prestigious award:
“AMAZING!” was Eilertsen’s first reaction, before she paid tribute to the employees in the media house.
Among other things, the jury points out that Aftenposten “with clear priorities, a great willingness to change and extensive insight work, dares (…) to be different and has become more confident in its uniqueness in the last year. When the media house’s DNA is cultivated, the product becomes genuine and diverse, and has quality in every aspect.”
Aftenposten also took home these awards earlier in the evening, :
- National News Website of the Year
- National News Coverage of the Year for the coverage of the war in Ukraine
- Inspirational Case of the Year for the Culture Review
A double-win
The other week Aftenposten received the prestigious SKUP award during the SKUP conference in Tønsberg for the second year in a row. Aftenposten has now received what many believe to be the two highest national awards a newsroom can receive in Norway; Eilertsen explains this can be attributed to the change initiatives that emerged as digital subscription growth stopped in 2019.
“I am so pleased that all the hard work is being noticed outside of Aftenposten as well. It is a wonderful recognition of the enormous work that Aftenposten employees have put in, in recent years,” says Eilertsen.
Results don’t emerge out of the blue, it requires employees who want to be part of the changes, who work to improve every single day, who cheer each other on and who challenge without losing their spirits, Eilertsen continues.
“It’s also necessary to have owners who understand what Aftenposten needs, who invest, and who help move us forward. We have all this. This is a victory that many people are a part of. Cross-functional cooperation has been strengthened during the last few years and this is where the future lies,” she says.
Harder prioritsation
Executive Vice President Siv Juvik Tveitnes in Schibsted News Media was also present during the award ceremony. She praises Aftenposten for the way they have distinguished themselves in the last couple of years, with what she calls “strong and agenda-setting quality journalism”.
“Despite the insanely tough field of nominees for the media awards, Aftenposten has won several of the high-profile awards. I am so impressed by the will, steadfastness and dedication that journalists, photographers and managers in Aftenposten show. I think the success can also be explained by the fact that Aftenposten has implemented a clearer editorial strategy, which means that they prioritise harder and can offer users a better product,” says Tveitnes, who adds:
“So it is very gratifying that several of our media houses also distinguished themselves tonight. I’m really proud of them all.”
This year’s Schibsted winners:
- Inspirational case of the year: Aftenposten
- This year’s national news coverage: Aftenposten
- News website of the year: Aftenposten
- Media house of the year: Aftenposten
- Visual story of the year – Excellence: VG
- Local news website of the year: Bergens Tidende
- Web TV series of the year: VGTV – Ylvis i Sogn
- This year’s local podcast: Bergens Tidende
- Current affairs podcast of the year – Excellence: Bergens Tidende
This year’s media house – the jury’s reasoning
“This year’s media house is informative, in-depth and gives the reader an overview of what they need to know and insight into matters they didn’t know they needed. With clear priorities, a great willingness to change and extensive insight work, this year’s media house dares to be different and has become more confident in its uniqueness in the past year. When the media house’s DNA is cultivated, the product becomes genuine and diverse, and has quality in every aspect.
In a demanding and extraordinary news year, they stand firm and show their strength both through international presence, analysis and insight and major revelations that change society, and they confirm that they have one of the country’s most competent and best newsrooms. The media house delivers strong journalism on both foreign and domestic matters, and has given a voice to those who cannot shout as loudly, such as children in child care whom the country forgets. Journalism that results in both Skup awards and a record number of media award nominations.
This year’s media house gives readers a better and broader overview in several formats. They were early adopters of sound in their portfolio and have been defining for podcast development in Norway. The media house has strong digital product development with smart algorithm management that helps the reader find the important content. In addition to further developing personalization in the product, in the past year they have also improved their products in a number of other areas and spread their brand well. The digital economy is strong, while at the same time consolidating their position as the country’s largest subscription newspaper – this is impressive.
With their enormous breadth and impressive product development, they appear as a complete media house that is able to provide its users with an incredibly strong portfolio of news and media content.”
Bergens Tidende wins local news website of the year. Photo: MBL
