As seen on Digiday

Community, changemakers, collaboration and inclusivity emerged as thematic highlights in this year’s Digiday Media Awards shortlist. Several entrants stood out with multiple nominations across categories. Our highlights paint a picture of 2020 as a year of big ideas; the competition was fierce, and the programs were robust.

For example, Complex Networks launched a no-holds-barred submission this year. The publisher netted two nominations for Best Editorial Package and also Best Virtual Event, Best Use of Video, Best Use of Audience Insights and Best Brand Partnership in the business-to-consumer category.

From unpacking the rise of the drill musical genre in Brooklyn — an extensive editorial program rich with profiles and history — to a partnership with Microsoft that spotlighted brands and philanthropic organizations bringing diversity and inclusion to sports and schools and women’s lives, Complex Networks was busy in 2020. The teams there also built ComplexLand, a three-dimensional online theme park packed with retailers, food vendors, concerts, conversations and limited drops.

Big ideas were the big idea at Harvard Business Review, where the writers dug into remote work and collaboration across a year of quarantine. Nominated for Best Editorial Package, Best Podcast, Best New Vertical and Publisher of the Year, HBR examined what work-from-home meant to teams and what WFH will mean going forward. Change in the office also dominated the Review’s podcast landscape, as ‘IdeaCast’ launched a look at BIPOC in the workplace, complete with in-depth interviews featuring leaders making a deep impact.

Third among our highlights, In The Know — focused on Generation Z and covering food, travel, beauty, sports, conservation and technology — netted nominations for Best Story, Best Editorial Package, Podcast, Commerce Partner and Publisher of the Year. They did that by building a 34-profile package around Black Gen Z changemakers, spotlighting the leaders — national and those on their way to wider recognition — who are inspiring a generation. In The Know also partnered with the brand Our Place and helped its founder, Shiza Shahid, share from-the-kitchen tips and inspirations of her own.

All of these shortlisters are on our judges’ minds in this year’s awards, plus many more. In advance of their final decisions, the full roster of the 2021 Digiday Media Awards nominees follows:

Best Story

NRK – Your Climate Future

In The Know – Where you can still find household essentials

UPROXX – Rico Nasty’s Nightmare Vacation

AccuWeather

HealthCentral – “Let’s Talk About the Novel Coronavirus”

In The Know – Next Gen: Myles Loftin

Best Editorial Package

NRK – Your Climate Future

Complex – Brooklyn Drill: The New Sound of New York

Complex Networks and Carat – In The Business of Building Communities

HealthCentral – “Get Your Chronic Vax Facts Here!”

Harvard Business Review – Big Idea: The New Reality of WFH

In The Know – Black Changemakers

Best Newsletter

CNET Media – COVID Newsletter

TODAY Digital – Read with Jenna newsletter

The Wall Street Journal – New Approaches to Evergreen Coverage

The Hill – 12:30 Report

CO— by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – Midnight Oil

Sailthru and Morning Brew

Best Brand Partnership – B2B

The New York Times and Verizon – The 5G Journalism Lab

WP Creative Group at The Washington Post

Imgur and McDonald’s

IBM, WPP and IDG – Cloud Innovators

Pfizer, Inc. – Pledge to #StandWithScience

The New York Times and Facebook – AR Lab

Best Brand Partnership – B2C

Complex Networks, United States Army, Fluent 360 / OMD – Job’s Unlisted

Foundry @ Meredith and J3 | Johnson’s® – #InItTogether

GameOn Technology and NBA

Who What Wear and Affirm – Shop with Who What Wear

ViacomCBS Velocity and Google – The Daily Social Distancing Show

S4M and Palmer’s

Best Branded Content Program – B2B

Atlantic Re:think and Amazon Web Services – Disrupting Within

WP Creative Group at The Washington Post

Front Office Sports and Pepsi Sports – Sports Marketing Essentials

Splunk – What’s Your Data Really Worth?

Bloomberg Media and JLL – Building City Resilience

Spotify – 2020 Wrapped for Advertisers

Best Branded Content Program – B2C

Rolling Stone and HBO Watchmen – A Discussion About the Score of Watchmen

Madwell and Visible – Red Rocks Unpaused

Tastemade and Hyundai – The Un-Adventurers

WP Creative Group at The Washington Post and Purina

Velocity at ViacomCBS – The King of the 2020 VMAs

Tastemade and Realtor.com – Beyond the Block

Best Virtual Event

Complex Networks and Jam3 – ComplexLand

Refinery29 Unbothered – Wash Day

Reingold – Facebook Education Modernization

AfroTech – AfroTech World

The New York Times – DealBook Online Summit

Architectural Digest and Black Interior Designers Network – The Iconic Home

Best Virtual Event Series

The Wall Street Journal – Future Of Everything

Madwell and Visible – Red Rocks Unpaused

ViacomCBS – MTV’s Friday Livestream

Scary Mommy – Live.Work.Thrive

AARP – The Girlfriend

The Hill – Future of…

Best Use of Social

AARP, Grey, Kenshoo and Flatiron Collective

Pfizer, Inc. – Pledge to #StandWithScience

The Globe and Mail – Sophi.io

ESPN – SportsCenter On Instagram

RT Creative Lab – The Endless Letter on Instagram Stories

Waste-Ed and Maffick – Waste-Ed

Best Use of Video

TV 2 Denmark

Madwell and Visible – Red Rocks Unpaused

Tastemade and Realtor.com – Beyond the Block

Complex Networks, Paqui, UEG and Edelman – #OneChipChallenge

Global Citizen – One World: Together at Home

Breakwater Studios – Unity IPO Creators

Best Podcast

CBS News – My Life of Crime with Erin Moriarty

In The Know – We Should Talk

Vox Media Podcast Network and Frequency Machine – Chicano Squad

Showtime, Black Effect Network and iHeartRadio – All The Smoke

Investopedia – The Investopedia Express

Harvard Business Review – HBR IdeaCast

Best Site Design

Bustle Digital Group

RT Creative Lab – #VictoryPages: Social Media History

Verywell Health

Best Use of Audience Insights

Pfizer, Inc. – Pledge to #StandWithScience

OpenWeb and Jigsaw

Google – GNI Data Tools

Complex Networks, Ad Council and CDC – The Power of Us

Verywell Health

Curacity

Best Custom Advertising

Brit + Co and Office Depot – Selfmade

National Basketball Association – NBA Finals

Slate Studios and Century 21 – The Relentless

Tastemade and Walmart – Struggle Meals

WeTransfer and Oatly

Spotify, USPS and UM Studios

Best Ad Tech Platform

TripleLift

InMobi

Adapex, LLC – m3 Tech Suite

GumGum – GumGum Verity

Vox Media – Concert

DeepIntent

Best Video Platform

JW Player

Stringr

The Hill

Minute Media – Voltax Video

STN Video

Connatix – Elements

Best Publisher Platform

The Globe and Mail – Sophi.io

Piano

Connatix – Playspace

Insticator

Duration Media – VaaS™

Adapex, LLC – m3 Tech Suite

Best First-Party Data Strategy

Criteo

Refersion

Vox Media

Mediavine – Grow.me

Merkle and Carter’s

BlueConic and Wehco Media

Best Commerce Partner

In The Know and Our Place

CNET Media

NTWRK

Best Subscription or Membership Product

The Globe and Mail – Sophi.io

Audible

Bloomberg Media

Mahlab – Australian Pharmacist

DAZN

Best Digital Product Innovation

Fabrik

Sputnik – Moon Base

Forbes and Trackonomics

Connatix

AccuWeather

Kubient and The Associated Press

Best Revenue Diversification Strategy

Blockworks

Sophi.io

Editorial Team of the Year

AccuWeather

Mahlab

CNET Media

The Points Guy

Grist

Publishing Executive of the Year

Mike Federle, CEO, Forbes

Heather Dietrick, CEO, The Daily Beast

Asaf Peled, CEO and founder, Minute Media

Mark Larkin, evp, CNET Media

Bryan Goldberg, CEO and founder, Bustle Digital Group

Best New Vertical or Brand

Harvard Business Review – Ascend

Dennis Publishing – The Week Junior US

Jukin Media – WeatherSpy

Best Content Studio

T Brand at The New York Times

Ellen Digital

UPROXX

Foundry @ Meredith

RT Creative Lab

Bloomberg Media Studios

Most Engaged Community

Overtime – The OT Fam

Maffick

Jellysmack

Jubilee Media

Publishers Clearing House

redfish

Media Brand of the Year

Secret Base an SN Nation Community

DAZN

Verizon Media

CO — by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Time Out Group

The Hill

Publisher of the Year

Harvard Business Review

WAVE.tv

The Daily Beast

In The Know

UPROXX

TIME