Online & Digital Media News – Digital Publishing Award winners recognized

The National Media Awards Foundation (NMAF) has announced the winners of the 2020 Digital Publishing Awards. Now in their fifth year, the DPAs recognize and promote the work of Canadian digital publications and creators. The General Excellence awards were presented in three divisions: small, medium, and large. In the small division, The Tyee took Gold. Hakai Magazine was the Gold winner in the medium division, while Le Devoir took the Gold Medal in the large publication division. Jane Lytvynenko of BuzzFeed News was the recipient of this year’s Emerging Excellence Award, which honours an individual whose early work in Canadian digital publishing shows the highest degree of craft and promise. Find the complete list of winners, here.

Underknown’s What If show has been named the Best Science & Education video series at the 24th annual Webby Awards. The Toronto social video and digital storyteller was recognized for the web series that asks questions like What If the Sahara Desert Was Covered With Solar Panels? What If Another Sun Entered Our Solar System? What If You Stopped Sleeping? Vancouver production house Kelly&Kelly was also recognized for satirical New York Times Opinion video AFTERSHOT: An App to Help Cowardly Politicians Talk About Gun Control, which claimed the award for Best Writing in the Public Service & Activism category.

The Weather Network has launched Brighter Day, a content hub dedicated to positive news. The site highlights acts of kindness and shares stories of resilience, creativity and heroism. In addition to being available on The Weather Network website and dedicated social media channels on Instagram and Twitter @Brighter_Day, The Weather Network’s morning and evening TV programs will also feature highlights. Viewers are encouraged to submit their stories through Instagram and Twitter using the Brighter Day handles.

Liquid Media Group has announced the successful launch of the two-day New Faces New Voices 2020 Film Festival on its ReelhouseLIVE platform, which connects filmmakers with paying audiences so they can watch movies together and socialize in real-time. Called the Shopify of film in engineering circles, Reelhouse is a creator-focused platform that allows filmmakers to self-distribute content directly to viewers via a video-on-demand (VOD) e-commerce store and subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) channel. Vancouver-headquartered Liquid Media Group acquired the platform in February and says it will launch additional tools within Reelhouse in the near future to drive further monetization for filmmakers while offering the streaming community a more enjoyable experience.