VG won the category “Best trust initiative” during the European Digital Award 2023 held by the international press organization Wan-Ifra.
“Trust is perhaps the most important element of editor-controlled media today. The fact that VG has received international recognition for being at the forefront of this work is really encouraging,” says development editor Øyvind Brenne.
The transparency portal “How we work in VG” was launched in October 2022. The portal collects existing measures such as a corrections overview, external profiles’ connections and VG employees’ traffic rules as well as three completely new initiatives:
- General questions and answers about VG’s coverage
- Press releases from VG
- A ground-breaking new regime for sharing editorial assessments with users both in a combined feed in the portal and in the articles
“The transparency portal and the thinking behind it show a big shift compared to the traditional ways of doing things. Design and functions are aesthetically pleasing and practical, giving users an optimal reading experience. The successful launch of the transparency portal is a great achievement in itself. It shows that VG is willing to be open to users about internal discussions, and has implemented this as best practice in the media house,” writes the jury in its justification.
Agence France-Presse and Swedish Stampen Media were the other two nominees in the category.
VG’s overview of electricity prices was also honored – as winner of the best data visualization project:
“VG’s creative team took inspiration from the Corona special, and managed once again to deliver an understandable and highly relevant product better than anyone else. Electricity has been an important issue for many Norwegians for several periods, and the topic will continue to be important in the future. For VG, as the primary news destination for the entire population, delivering data-driven narrative techniques on this topic is crucial,” says Brenne.
