Almost 7,000 visitors from exactly 100 countries – the largest number of countries in the history of the event – attended the World Publishing Expo, the largest global trade fair for the newspaper and news publishing industry, which closed in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on Wednesday.

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) honoured eight news media companies on Tuesday with the inaugural World Digital Media Awards, which recognise publishers who have created ground breaking digital products that engage readers while increasing their online business.

The first edition of the awards, presented Tuesday in a ceremony during the 7th Tablet & App Summit at the World Publishing Expo in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, was open to winners of WAN-IFRA's European Digital Media Awards and Asian Digital Media Awards. Other regions will be added in coming years.

"The awards aim to be no less than the most prestigious competition in the industry for publishers to benchmark their digital offerings," said Vincent Peyrègne, CEO of WAN-IFRA. "As news publishers re-invent themselves, it is essential to recognise, and learn from, media that are finding outstanding, innovative ways to demonstrate the opportunities that digital provides. WAN-IFRA serves as a network to bring news media innovators together, and these Global Awards play a big role in that mission."

The 2014 winners include:

Best News Website: The Guardian - Guardian News & Media

Best Digital Advertising Campaign: General Election - Kleine Zeitung

Best Use of Online Video: How to put a human on Mars - BBC News

Best Data Visualisation Project: Null CTRL - Dagbladet

Best Mobile Service: Apple Daily NGA - Apple Daily

Best in Tablet Publishing: The Age - Fairfax Media

Best Reader Engagement: World Chess Championship 2013 - Verdens Gang

Best Outstanding New Product: godt.no - Verdens Gang

WAN-IFRA's regional and world Digital Media Awards are part of the organisation's annual digital media conferences, which have become a referent in the digital publishing industry. More than 1,200 delegates from around the globe attending the Digital Media Europe (DME), Digital Media Asia (DMA), Digital Media India (DMI) and Digital Media Latinoamérica  (DML) editions last year. This DMx network of events makes it one of the most relevant international business platforms dedicated to the transformation of the news media industry.

www.wan-ifra.org

The World Publishing Expo opened in Amsterdam on Monday with a discussion of ways that news publishers can use their strengths to regain a competitive edge and earn new revenues.

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Aggregates best-in-class content from across the internet, including The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, user engagement and social media channels