It’s a promising awards time for publishing startups, and nowhere is that more in evidence than this year’s slate of finalists for the Digiday Publishing Awards. Business Insider property Insider garnered two nominations.
Insider is up for Best New Vertical and Best Use of Instagram. Launched in 2015 and ramping up its efforts in early 2016, Insider was born out of BI’s desire to be where its readers are: on social platforms. “We are very deliberately launching on social first,” BI president and COO Julie Hansen said in September 2015.
Digiday Publishing Awards judge and Men’s Health editor-in-chief Matt Bean shared his thoughts on the category after the final judging took place: “I really enjoyed [this] category — I think these new niche brands are the way of the future. So much smart thinking, great design, too.”
Other contenders in the Best New Vertical category include BuzzFeed’s Tasty property, Vanity Fair’s “The Hive,” Yahoo Esports and The Player’s Tribune, former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter’s publishing platform for professional athletes to share their unfiltered thoughts and experiences.
Technology will also be a focus at this year’s gala. The finalists for Best Use of AR/VR category include both startup and legacy publishers: The Hook’s 360-degree VR experience for The Blair Witch, McClatchy Video Lab and Save Mart’s “Big Red” VR experience, CNN’s Courageous Studios, the Financial Times’ “Hidden Cities” series with Google and Allure’s augmented reality app “Unbound” are all finalists in this category.
See the complete list of finalists by clicking here.
The winners will be announced at the Digiday Publishing Awards Gala on March 23 at the Diamond Horseshoe in New York City. Tickets can be purchased here.
