i next seals the big show at WAN-IFRA awards

Taking yet another big leap in the arena of world print media fraternity, i next has once again outsmarted its contemporaries by bagging the top honours in WAN-IFRA (World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers) awards for the year 2012. With an unrelenting focus on espousing youth’s philosophy and its vision, i next, this time too stole the show and won both the top award in the Public Service category for this year's World Young Reader Prize and has also been named World Young Reader Newspaper of the Year for 2012, by piping major print publications from across the world that compete in this summit. The prizes will be awarded on 10 July in Bangkok, Thailand at the 1st Asia-Pacific Young Reader Summit.

 

WAN-IFRA, a global organisation of the world’s press, representing more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries, gives away awards for excellence in the defence and promotion of press freedom, quality journalism, editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses and technology.

 

Welcoming the announcement, Shri Shailesh Gupta, Director, Jagran Prakashan Limited, congratulated the team and lauded the efforts that went into the winning campaigns and the stories. “It is for the substantial focus and tangential wisdom on the part of team i next that such smart campaigns were run, which incorporated both the news value and more importantly, the societal concerns. It has been yet another token of excellence for the Jagran group and I believe the good work would be kept up with in the future too.”

 

This year, i next’s pursuit at WAN-IFRA hinged on three major stories- The Power of youth; wherein survey was done to tap the thinking and preferences of youth in run up to the assembly elections in UP and Uttarakhand. Tol Mol Ke Poll was an election page carried daily till elections. Throughout Feb, this page focused on each issue related to elections almost daily and succeeded in connecting with youth through a column ‘Sadda Haq’. Second campaign was Bhari Basta; an educative and investigative campaign that activated the government machinery, school authorities, parents and teachers alike to reduce the weight of schools bags of kids. It was run across 12 cities of 4 states and proved to be a catalyst in children empowerment. The Jury also found i next’s iktara campaign, a unique folk singing competition, integrated online to bring out the talent in folk singing, a new approach to entertainment. It created a strong buzz across the country in favour of the old, relegated art.

 

The jury observed that these campaigns provided a refreshing perspective on the 3Cs-corruption, compassion and creativity.

 

"i next did an excellent job in galvanizing youth to get out and vote. We found it especially interesting that youth considered corruption the number one topic of concern. The other two projects entered also showed creativity and relevance. The investigative report and campaign about heavy back-packs truly made a difference, and the folk singing contest was a fresh approach to youth entertainment,” The official communication, in this regard by WAN-IFRA management mentioned.

 

Last year, the World Young Reader Newspaper of the Year award was won by Indonesian newspaper JAWA POS, while for 2010 the winner was French newspaper Le monde. This year, i next joins the distinguished league of such illustrious antecedents for the top honour in style. Besides this, i next has maintained a consistent trend of sorts, of winning laurels at coveted forums. In the last 3 years, it has won many prestigious awards like- Afaqs News Innovation Award (2010) – Silver in ‘news gathering’ category, INMA Awards (2011) for ‘marketing solutions for advertising clients’ category and ‘brand awareness across platforms’ for its yearly flagship event- Bikeathon, INMA Awards (2011) for ‘brand awareness across platforms’ for Fresh N’ Crazy etc. At WAN-IFRA itself, it has won Top prize in ‘brand’ category for Health Meter in 2010 and Special Mention in ‘brand’ category for Bikeathon in 2011.

 

Expressing pleasure at the development, i next’s Project Head and COO, Shri Alok Sanwal revealed that it is i next’s youthful vision that provides the cutting edge to the tabloid. “We have always tried to capture the social concerns with a young eye. All our major campaigns are directed at influencing young minds and developing in them a taste of societal awareness and understanding. We would continue to undertake such path breaking campaigns that underline our responsibility to change the world around us.”