Al Jazeera picks up Online Media Awards

Al Jazeera has won three awards at the prestigious Online Media Awards in London, for Best Technical Innovation, Best Use of Photography and Outstanding Digital Team.

The Best Technical Innovation and Outstanding Digital Team of the Year went to the Palestine Remix project which was a network-wide initiative that allowed users to access some of Al Jazeera’s best documentaries on Palestine.

The project also had interactive maps and timelines which allow users to truly understand the Palestinian issue and to contextualise it.

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Try the multi-award winning Palestine Remix by clicking on this link

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Mohammed El-Haddad, senior producer and technical lead on the Palestine Remix project, welcomed the recognition.

“Winning two awards for the best digital team and best technical innovation is a huge privilege for Al Jazeera. Palestine Remix weaves the latest HTML5 video technology with informative videos to truly involve our audience in the storytelling process,” Haddad said.

“The interactive team alongside our journalists constantly tries and uses new ways to tell a story. Winning these awards has shown Al Jazeera is ahead of the pack for original journalism and using innovative tools.”

Judged by an independent panel from the British Journalism Review for the outstanding digital team award, Al Jazeera beat Vice News, Channel 4 News online, the Huffington Post, the Guardian and BBC News Online. For best technical innovation, Palestine Remix was awarded for demonstrating how technology was applied in a way that is creative and mould-breaking.

Pushing boundaries

Best Use of Photography was given to Al Jazeera English for its Portrait of a Yogi, which was a photographic exploration of the power of yoga to unite people across cultural and physical divides. The photo gallery was commended for its innovative and dynamic approach to photography.

Imad Musa, head of online at Al Jazeera English, said the awards were the culmination of years of hard work from members of the entire newsroom.

“This recognition by our peers is a testament to Al Jazeera’s efforts to find new ways of storytelling and to explain complex issues to a global audience. Our team is small but incredibly passionate about what they create, and it’s great that our peers agree that they are the best digital team in the world. We will continue to push the boundaries of original journalism and innovative design.”

The Online Media Awards, now in its fourth year, identify the cleverest, boldest and most original purveyors of news and views from around the world.

BBC News won five awards, including for Best National / World News site. The Guardian won the award for Best Site for News-Led Journalism.

Reuters took the Chairman’s Award and Vice News picked up the Grand Prix Award.

The Online Media Awards are organised by The Drum marketing network.