BusinessDay wins Best Designed Media Website at 30th DAME awards

BusinessDay won the best designed media website at the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) held at the Muson Centre Sunday.

The Guardian and Daily Trust, the first and second runner-ups, were nominated along with BusinessDay in the category.

Kehinde Taiwo, president, executive editor, DAME, presented the award to BusinessDay for its website, which is “user-friendly, and provides fresh quality content that speaks to visitors clearly, cleanly, and concisely.”

BusinessDay, Nigeria’s leading provider of premium market and financial intelligence began to focus on a digital-first subscription model two years ago. It aims to transit to a reader-revenue model by providing content worth paying for on digital platforms like its website.

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A four-part investigative story by Ibrahim Adekunle for BusinessDay about girls raped or forced to marry Boko Haram terrorists was the second-runner up for the child-friendly category. Juliana Francis of New Telegraph won the award with her story on how quarries exploit child labour.

The Diamond Awards for Media Excellence was set up in 1991 to “reward superior performance to boost public confidence in the media.” And it is the only media award that covers print journalism, broadcasting and advertising.

DAME awards and Media Review, the publication, are a platform to honour the best in media. DAME has presented over 500 awards in different categories have been awarded since 1991

BusinessDay was among 14 news media organisations nominated for thirteen categories such as best designed paper, education, judicial nutrition and investigative reporting.

Only 11 of 24 advertised categories got nominations.

Lanre Idowu, editor-in-chief of Media Review, began his welcome speech requesting a minute of silence for journalists who died during the year, Lateef Jakande, Ben Egbuna, Tony Momoh and Eddie Aderinokun. Jakande received the lifetime award 11 years ago.

The recipient of the lifetime award this year was Oyinlade Bonuola, past editor-in-chief and managing director of The Guardian. Also known as Ladbone, he “transformed rookies into respected news hunters and opinion moulders.”

Veteran and young media professionals from traditional and online media organisations were gathered at the 550-seater Shell Hall to mark the 30th edition of the DAME awards.