Online & Digital Media News – Digital Publishing Awards handed out

The National Media Awards Foundation has announced the winners of the 4th annual Digital Publishing Awards, which were handed out Wednesday night at a gala event in Toronto. The ceremony was opened with the presentation of the Leadership Award to Kathy Vey, TVO’s executive producer of Digital. In General Excellence in Digital Publishing, The Sprawl took Gold in the small division, Maclean’s was the Gold winner in the medium division, while CBC News was the Gold-winner in the large division. Overall, The Globe and Mail came away from this year’s awards with nine Gold and three Silver awards, while CBC claimed seven Gold and five Silver. Hakai Magazine and Vice Canada also earned multiple awards.Find the full list of winners here.

The Canada Council for the Arts and CBC/Radio-Canada have announced plans to launch a new $1 million initiative to amplify digital creation in Canada. The Creation Accelerator will support projects in a sequence of production stages. Successful applicants will receive an initial grant to work with a producer, along with the mentorship of CBC/Radio-Canada, on the development of an original idea. Following the incubation stage, the Canada Council and CBC will select concepts for production and potential distribution on the public broadcaster’s platforms. The pilot project will be open to artists and arts organizations across the country, in all fields of practice, including early career artists. No prior digital experience will be required. Full guidelines will be released in late June, when the initiative opens for applications on the Council’s online granting portal.

Twitter Canada held its own Upfront outlining new content deals called #TwitterFronts. Among the highlights Sportsnet #IceSurfing will return for a second season, DAZN will offer soccer, tennis and basketball content only viewable in Canada, CBC Sports ‘Road to 2020’ will feature live and video highlights in real-time from a variety of summer and winter sports, Universal Music will stream intimate and interactive performances from a number of artists, and Corus Entertainment’s so.da digital agency will be behind several branded content partnerships.  

YouTube is closing its only permanent studio in Canada. Its Toronto studio will be replaced with temporary pop-up locations in different regions across the country with a goal to give creators in those communities access to the streaming giant’s equipment. Opened three years ago at George Brown College, YouTube’s 3,500-square-foot Toronto facility was accessible to creators with more than 10,000 subscribers.

Sportsnet has launched a multiplatform original content studio where Sportsnet personalities will produce digital and social content including platform-customized video segments. Fans can interact with the content through voting, commenting, and sharing, giving them a chance to interact with each other and network personalities. Content offerings include: Instant Analysis – delivering coverage of big news stories and press conferences as they break in real-time across Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Sportsnet.ca; The Great Debate – Sportsnet’s opinionated personalities weigh in with their quick-hit takes on the latest sports controversies; One Burning Question – Sportsnet asks fans on Instagram to provide their answers to whatever sports question is top-of-mind that day; and video versions of popular podcasts, such as 31 Thoughts and Free Association. Among those contributing are Faizal Khamisa, Danielle Michaud, Donnovan Bennett, and Steve Dangle.  

CBC Sports and National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) have struck a partnership that will see live coverage of 13 games played by Canada’s national softball team, known as the Canadian Wild, available on CBC Sports streaming platforms and on CBC Gem. The NPF league season runs May-August and includes six U.S.-based affiliate teams featuring the most highly-decorated female players from U.S. universities and top players from around the world.

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