NEWS: Registration Opens for World Young Readers Prizes

Paris, France and Frankfurt, Germany, 7 April 2015
For immediate release

Registration Opens for World Young Readers Prizes

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has opened registration for the 2015 World Young Reader Prizes, which annually honour news media that develop strategies and projects to effectively engage children, teenagers and young adults.

 Deadline for entries in 5 May.

Attacks on press freedom figure strongly in this year's awards: a special category for "teaching freedom" will honour projects that make sure new generations understand the importance and fragility of freedom of expression and the role of journalists who have worked and died in its service.

"More than ever before, it is essential that young people understand the central role that press freedom plays in democratic society," said Dr Aralynn McMane, Executive Director for Youth Engagement and News Literacy at WAN-IFRA. "We witnessed some outstanding work in teaching about freedom of the press after the deadly attack on Charlie Hebdo, and know there are more projects out there to be shared. WAN-IFRA wants to make sure those efforts are recognised and repeated as widely as possible."

The World Young Reader Prizes will also feature a second special category on "Digital First," for news publishers that most creatively engage the young solely through mobile telephone, tablets or other digital devices. The category is supported by CCI Europe.

The other categories include brand (marketing initiatives), editorial (for innovative content strategies), enduring excellence, news in education (supported by sitesALIVE), public service, the Natasa Prize for printing plants and the World Young Reader News Publisher of the Year.

Entries are being accepted through 5 May. Full details can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org/worldyoungreaderprize

All categories call for activities that target people under age 25. The awards will be presented on 3 September in Mumbai, India, as part of the WAN-IFRA India Conference & Expo.

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Frankfurt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore and India, is the global organisation of the world's newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.

Inquiries to: Aralynn McMane, Executive Director for Youth Engagement and News Literacy, WAN-IFRA, 96 bis, rue Beaubourg, 75003 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 18. Fax: +33 1 42 78 92 33. E-mail: worldyoungreaderprize@wan-ifra.org

NEWS: Norway local press group takes top World Young Reader Prize

Paris, France and Frankfurt, Germany, 22 September 2014 - For immediate release
Norway local press group takes top World Young Reader Prize

The Norwegian local media group Amedia has been named World Young Reader News Publisher of the Year for putting young people in the heart of its overall readership strategy.
The top distinction in the World Young Readers Prizes, the annual awards from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), recognized the local press group’s commitment to youth as a long-term, must-do priority.

 “This is one of the best long-term young readers programmes ever: led by extensive research, thought out and strategic, guided by a 'need to have' philosophy about young readers,” the jury said in making the award.

The World Young Reader Prizes are part of WAN-IFRA’s efforts to recognise, encourage and disseminate innovative ideas and thinking to help build stronger and vital news media. World Young Reader Prize winning strategies are celebrated and shared as they benefit not only the media companies and their young audiences but also society as a whole.

The awards will be presented at the WAN-IFRA World Young Reader Summit and Ideathon from 24 to 26 November in Bali, Indonesia, a free event with admission open to all news publishers, with priority to WAN-IFRA members and past prize winners.  More about the summit can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/113678

In all, news publishing companies from 13 countries were honoured with World Young Reader Prizes, including these top winners:

WORLD YOUNG READER NEWS PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR

Amedia group (Norway) - Amedia’s multifaceted actions include an ongoing study of the same 3,500 young people since 2008, a daily youth enhancement tip for all the group’s editors, along with a bi-annual compilation of global best, workshops and resources for using the news in education, and an annual Young Reader Conference for the group’s newspapers. And they share some of this with their competitors.

A GREAT HELP – TOP AWARD

Mindener Tageblatt (Germany) for Azubify - a multiplatform set of tools to help companies and youth connect for apprenticeships. This award special category was supported by Chevron and honors a win-win partnership with a financial supporter that helps sustain excellence in news publisher engagement and service of youth.

BRAND – TOP AWARD

Volksblad (South Africa) for SkoolBLUES, interactive comic strip for teenagers.

DIGITAL FIRST - TOP AWARD

VietnamPlus for “Rapping the News”. This special category award is supported by CCI and honors the news publisher that most creatively engages the young through mobile telephones, tablets and other digital devices.

ENDURING EXCELLENCE - (THREE-WAY TIE FOR THE TOP AWARD)

The Star (Malaysia) for the R.AGE news and social media youth initiative that reinvented itself with an array of face-to-face initiatives.

Singapore Press Holdings (Singapore) for The Straits Times Schools Programme – a decade-old multifaceted youth engagement approach that continues to innovate.

Gazeta do Povo (Brazil) for the "Read and Think" news in education programme that continues to offer methods and solid, useful research

GOING GREEN – TOP AWARD

The Mathrubhurni Daily (India) for a "Free The Tree" campaign by youth to stop advertisements being attached to trees. This special category was supported by GreenTEC Campus of Germany and honours projects that give the young guidance and hope for improving the environment.

NEWS IN EDUCATION – TOP AWARD

Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag (Germany) for a Tablet Class program that offers equipment and training to raise awareness among students of news on tablet devices.

PLAYING WITH THE NEWS – TOP AWARD

Jakarta Post (Indonesia) for “Youth Speak Fun Day”, a language festival of competitions, news simulations, games and entertainment to help strengthen the English skills of 15- to 17-year-olds. It is supported by Capital of Children of Denmark and honors initiatives with inventive activities that teach about the news by getting them involved in the news process

PUBLIC SERVICE - TOP AWARD

The Guardian (UK) for a highly interactive children's book website where children read, write and publish reviews, connect with other young readers and have face-to-face interview authors.

Details about the other winners can be found at http:/www.wan-ifra.org/node/116566

Learn more about WAN-IFRA’s news literacy and youth engagement work at www.wan-ifra.org/newsliteracy

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Frankfurt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore and India, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.

Inquiries to: Dr. Aralynn McMane, executive director for youth engagement and news literacy, WAN-IFRA, 96 bis, rue Beaubourg, 75003 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 42 78 92 33. E-mail: worldyoungreaderprize@wan-ifra
 

EVENTS: Teenage News Takeover

News publishers around the world are being invited to give over control of the day's news offer to teenagers for at least one day during November 2014.

The idea of this project is to encourage news companies around the world to hand over some editorial and creative control to young people sometime during the month of November, even if only for one edition.

The World Teenage News Takeover is a hands-on way to teach today’s youth about both the business and art of the news production process, while simultaneously serving as a community engagement tool and acting as still another occasion to teach newsroom staff about youth. Doing it in many countries within the same month makes the message global: that news publishers actively engage the young in ways that enhance news literacy and that make news staff really listen to the youth voice.

Outcomes from the initiative will be revealed in front of an audience at a major WAN-IFRA industry event in 2015.

Full article and link to the guide download

World Young Reader Prize Competition

Paris, France and Darmstadt, Germany, 7 July 2014
For immediate release

Still Time to Enter World Young Reader Prize Competition
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is seeking projects and initiatives that attract people under 25 to news for its World Young Reader Prizes, which will honour those who reach younger news consumers and understand their changing habits and needs.
With the deadline a week away on 15 July, there is still time to enter; full details can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org/worldyoungreaderprize

The World Young Reader Prizes are part of WAN-IFRA’s efforts to recognise, encourage and disseminate innovative ideas and thinking to help build stronger and more vital news media. World Young Reader Prize winning strategies are celebrated and shared as they benefit not only the media companies and their young audiences but also society as a whole.

Four new categories have been added this year to reflect the changing media habits of young people, the evolving media environment and the new players who can help in the effort:

--  “Digital First”; for the news publisher that most creatively engages the young through mobile telephones, tablets and other digital devices. The category is supported by CCI Europe;

-- “Going Green,” supported by Germany’s GreenTEC Campus, which will honour projects that give the young guidance and hope for improving the environment;

--  “Playing with News”, for inventive activities that teach 10- to 14-year-olds about the news by getting them involved in the news process.  Denmark’s Capital of Children is supporting this category;

-- “A Great Help”, for a win-win partnership with a financial supporter that helps sustain excellence in news publisher engagement and service of youth.

The new categories join the core Young Reader Prize categories of brand, editorial, enduring excellence, learning with the news, public service, the Natasa Prize award for printing plants and World Young Reader Newspaper of the Year. All categories call for activities that target people under age 25.

Full details are available at http://www.wan-ifra.org/worldyoungreaderprize

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore and India, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.

Inquiries to: Dr. Aralynn McMane, executive director for youth engagement and news literacy, WAN-IFRA, 96 bis, rue Beaubourg, 75003 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 42 78 92 33. E-mail: worldyoungreaderprize@wan-ifra

NEWS: Thailand to host media summit on young readers

A summit discussing ideas and strategies to attract young readers to all platforms of media will be hosted by Bangkok on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, according to the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers WAN-IFRA, also the organizer.

The event, the first of its kind which is named WAN-IFRA Young Reader Asia-Pacific Summit, will be attended by veteran industry professionals from India, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Belgium, Sweden, and Australia, who are going to provide lessons from successful young reader initiatives at newspapers in Asia, Europe, and Australia.

The focus will be on social media, simple ideas for attracting younger audiences, and advice on rethinking core strategies to appeal to all-age groups.

“Any news organisation that wants to remain relevant to all its readers and users should focus on getting the critical 15- to 24-year old audience on board, as well as reaching children at earlier life stages, their parents and their teachers,” says Aralynn McMane, an executive director at WAN-IFRA.

full article

NEWS / EVENTS: WAN-IFRA Launches first Asian Young Reader Summit

“Catch them young – or not at all!” is the theme of the first WAN-IFRA Young Reader Asia-Pacific Summit, to be held in Bangkok on 10 and 11 July. The event aims to do provide ideas and strategies for engaging the next generation of news consumers on all platforms.

full article - event website

ARTICLES / NEWS / PRINT: Smart newspapers win at attracting youth

I-Next of India has been designated the 2012 World Young Reader Newspaper of the Year in the annual Young Reader Prize competition from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), which awarded 21 prizes to newspapers and a printing plant that have found innovative ways to attract young people to the news.

“Prize winners show that newspapers can successfully appeal to younger audiences in the digital age,” said Aralynn McMane, executive director of WAN-IFRA young readership development.

“This year’s winners offer a fantastic set of examples for how to capture and captivate this audience at that key point in their lives when they will or will not become interested for life in a multiplatform relationship with their newspaper.”

A full list of winners can be found here


Source

NEWS / OPPORTUNITIES / FESTIVALS / PRINT: “My Dream Interview” Festival draws youth to newspapers

Newspapers from around the world are invited to participate in a new global journalism experience for youth organised by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) that results in young people interviewing entertainment stars or other public figures – and increased circulation for participating newspapers.

The "My Dream Interview" international youth reporter festival of success stories, supported by the Fundacion Acindar of Argentina, asks school teams of 11- to 15-year olds to choose a prominent person they would like to interview, then come up with the questions to ask.

The school teams submit their idea and questions to the participating newspaper, which chooses the best set of questions, helps the winning team conduct the interview, and publishes it. Newspapers can then enter the interview in a worldwide WAN-IFRA competition, with the winners presented at a ceremony at the IFRA Expo in Madrid in October. Winning interviews will be distributed globally by The Interview People, with all royalties going to winning schools.

Already on board are La Nacion of Argentina, The Monitor of Uganda, Polskapresse of Poland, The West Australian, and many others. The registration deadline is 29 February. WAN-IFRA is also providing a guide to newspapers to help teachers work with students on creating a journalistic interview

source

NEWS / AWARDS: Digital and mobile categories introduced for 2011 WAN-IFRA young reader awards

Prizes recognising news outlets which have engaged young people have opened for entries, featuring new categories such as engagement via mobile devices.

The World Young Reader Prizes, which are run by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), offer prizes in five core categories, including Editorial and Making the News.

According to a release from WAN-IFRA, the prizes honour newspaper companies that "have devised the best projects and activities during the past two years to promote newspaper reading and usage, on all platforms, among those under 25".

full article

AWARDS: 2010 World Young Reader Prizes

Polish paper takes top award; all winners to be honored at 12th Readership Conference

The Metro newspaper in Poland has been named 2010 World Young Reader Newspaper of the Year in the annual competition by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishing. The newspaper also won the top prize for public service with its widely followed debate and educational campaign that encouraged readers to question their attitudes toward internet piracy.

The prizes recognize newspaper companies that have devised the best projects and activities to promote newspaper reading and usage, on all platforms, among those in under 25.

full article

EVENTS: 8th World Young Reader Conference

Participants who sign up by 31 July for the 8th World Young Reader Conference (27-30 September in Prague) will have free access to a webinar on strategies of Total Youth Think scheduled for 7 August.

The session will be conducted by Marcelo Rech, General Director for Project Management of the RBS Group in Brazil, whose flagship newspaper, Zero Hora, credits its Total Youth Think techniques for a 78% penetration rate among young people aged 20 - 29 years, and a 71% penetration rate among thise aged 15 - 19.

For more info and to register for the conference CLICK HERE

This offer applies to participants who have both registered and paid for the conference by 31 July.

The Conference is supported by Norske Skog, the Noway-based global paper producer, and the Czech Publishers Association. We also warmly thank Metro Prague, Mladá Fronta DNES and Lidove Noviny newspapers, and Futuroom Multimedia education center.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Aralynn McMane, Director of Young Readership Developement at: aralynn.mcmane@wan-ifra.org

NEWS / PROJECTS: Innovative newspaper projects for youth to be awarded

Innovative newspaper projects for youth to be awarded

Posted on: 16/04/2009 Children, Print Journalism, Publications, Specialized Reporting Deadline: 15/06/2009 Region: Worldwide

The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) invites entries for the 2009 World Young Reader Prizes, which award newspapers that have devised innovative projects or activities for young readers (under age 25). Deadline: June 15.

Projects submitted to the Young World Leader Prize may be in one the following categories: Editorial - a newspaper content strategy; Making the News - Activity that gives young people the chance to experience professional newspaper practice; Newspapers in Education - Use of the newspaper as a teaching tool; Public Service - Public service project in areas such as press freedom, literacy, youth civic involvement, etc.; Brand - Other projects that improve a newspaper brand's relationship with youth.

The jury will take into consideration the contribution the program has made to the newspaper business. This could be in terms of revenue generation, circulation, readership growth, or brand awareness. Each winner will receive EU€1,000 (US$1,318).

Entries must be based on a single project or a series of related activities conducted in the 24 months before June 15. Each participant must send in send in a PowerPoint presentation, limited to no more than 15 megabytes on a CD or 5 megabytes via email, of their project in English.

For more information, go to http://www.wan-press.org/nie/wyrp.php.

Source

PRESS RELEASES: Young Reader Prize Adds Press Freedom Category

Paris, 24 March 2009 - For immediate release

Young Reader Prize Adds Press Freedom Category

The World Young Reader Prize, an annual award from the World Association of Newspapers to recognise newspapers that do the most to develop young readership, has added a press freedom category to honour newspapers that teach effectively about the fragility and importance of press freedom in a democratic society.

The deadline for the press freedom award is 15 April. The award will be announced on 3 May, World Press Freedom Day and presented at the 8th World Young Reader Conference, to be held on 27 to 30 September in Prague.

Judges for the special press freedom category will be WAN Golden Pen laureates Doan Viet Hoat (Vietnam) and Pius Njawe (Cameroon) and Nayla Tueni, daughter of assassinated Lebanese publisher Gebran Tueni.

In addition to the new Press Freedom category, WAN has created a new “Making the News” category that honours innovative projects that allow young people to try their hand as journalists. Other categories are Editorial, Brand, Public Service and Newspapers in Education. Deadline for all but the press freedom category is 5 June.

The World Young Reader Prizes are awarded annually to innovative newspapers that have devised, in the judges' opinion, the best project or activity in the past 24 months in one or more of the main areas of young reader development. "Young reader" refers to those under age 25.

The prize is sponsored by the paper manufacturer Norske Skog as part of its support for WAN’s young readership development activities.

Full details about the prize can be found at http://www.wan-press.org/worldyoungreaderprize

WAN is also reinforcing other initiatives that engage young people in the defence of press freedom and that encourage teachers to make sure that young people understand the importance of, and threats to, press freedom.

These include:

- Creation of a Facebook group called, “Show Your Face to Free Shi Tao,” where Facebook users are encouraged to download posters of the jailed Chinese journalist and upload photos of themselves posing with it and their local newspaper. Information about the group can be found at http://www.wan-press.org/nie/articles.php?id=1923

- Creating new exercises and materials on press freedom themes for parents and teachers targeting 12- to 16-year olds, with the help of Newspapers in Education experts from Argentina, Belgium, Palestine and Denmark. The exercises incorporate WAN’s 2007-2008 press freedom films, available on YouTube.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers world-wide. Representing 18,000 newspapers, its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 regional and world-wide press groups.

Inquiries to:
Larry Kilman, Director of Communications and Public Affairs,
WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00.
Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36.
E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr