Cape Town - The News24 Edge app has placed SA digital media on the global stage, after it was crowned joint best app in the world at the World Digital Media Awards in Berlin.
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) named News24 Edge as the World Award Winner in the category Best News Mobile Services at the awards, which form part of the World Publishing Expo.
The awards recognise publishers who have adopted the best digital media and mobile strategies as part of their offerings to meet the changes in how people today consume news and information.
The News24 Edge app delivers a personalised experience to each reader by allowing them to select interests. Through artificial intelligence and machine learning, the app serves the stories readers enjoy reading most.
The more a user consumes, the better the app becomes at providing the most relevant stories.
News24 Edge won the award jointly with TN Todo Noticias New Mobile Apps, one of Argentina’s leading TV news channels.
Reader in mind
The local app was designed with an engaged and busy reader in mind and clear text and crisp images make the content easy to find and easy to read, according to Andreij Horn, head of 24.com. The navigation ensures as few taps as possible to get a reader to their favourite story.
As a finalist of the African Digital Media Awards (in the Best News Mobile Services category), News24 Edge competed against winners in the same category from the Middle East, Europe, North America, Latin America, South Asia and Asia to take home the global accolade.
Horn said personalisation has been talked about and tried for as long as digital publishing exists, but with disappointing results. Machine learning and artificial intelligence now makes it possible to deliver effectively on this promise.
“We are thrilled and honoured that News24 Edge has been recognised on a global stage.
“We respect the fact that our readers are time starved and while our nationwide team of journalists produce reams and reams of solid, quality content, not all of it is of interest to every user. This app makes it easier for our users to find the stuff they want to read - saving them time,” he said.
Horn said 24.com's engineers and data scientists created an app that tracks user behaviour and recommends stories in the home stream based on each user's consumption patterns.
DEMO: Make News24 Edge work for you
* Fin24 and News24 is part of the 24.com, a subsidiary of Media24.
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