The Hindu Group named ‘Champion Publisher of 2026’

Members of Hindu Group pose with the awards along with other winners at the WAN-IFRA event in New Delhi. | Photo credit: RV Moorthy

The Hindu Group has been named ‘Champion Publisher of the Year 2026’ by the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), winning this title for the third time. The group topped the table with seven awards at the WAN-IFRA Digital Media Awards South Asia 2026.

The title is awarded to the publisher that secures the highest number of wins in the annual awards, which recognize outstanding digital projects that demonstrate innovation, audience engagement, journalistic excellence and effective use of technology.

The Hindu bagged a gold each for ‘Bihar SIR’ in ‘Best AI-Driven News Product, Format or Strategy’ and ‘Young People’s Club’ in ‘Best News Website or App Relaunch’. It also won silver for “Written by Journalists” in the “Best in Countering Disinformation” category. The publication also bagged three bronze awards: ‘Made of Chennai’ for ‘Best News Brand Marketing Campaign’, ‘The Hindu Explains’ for ‘Best News Reporter’ and ‘We went to the Middle East, talked about INR and found gold!’ for ‘Best Readership’.

Frontline won bronze for ‘Mission Manipur’ in the ‘Best Use of Sound’ category, taking The Hindu Group’s total to seven awards.

Competing with media houses across South Asia, The Hindu was among the winners along with HT Media Labs, Reuters, The Quint, Jagran News Media, Malayala Manorama, Financial Times and others.

Hindu Group CEO LV Navaneeth received the ‘Champion Publisher of the Year 2026’ award from WAN-IFRA executives — Chief Operating Officer Thomas Jacob, CEO Stig Orskov and Managing Director (South Asia) Magdoom Mohamed at the Digital Media India 2026 conference in Delhi on Thursday.

“Our aim has always been to strive for the highest standards of journalistic excellence and ethics. It is heartening to be recognized for this work. Winning this honor for the third time shows that every member of The Hindu Group is doing something right,” said Mr Navaneeth.

WAN-IFRA is the world’s largest international news media organization, representing 3,000 news publishing companies and technology entrepreneurs, along with 40 publisher associations representing 18,000 publications in 120 countries.

The Digital Media Awards South Asia 2026 featured 12 categories, with entries judged by digital media experts, editors and industry leaders.

Published – 26 Jun 2026 22:56 IST