Prothom Alo wins Best in South Asia award

Prothom Alo has received global recognition for its courageous journalism during the July mass uprising, youth reader engagement, and subsequent initiatives.

Prothom Alo received the ‘Best in South Asia’ award at the INMA Global Media Awards 2025 by the International News Media Association (INMA), the largest global platform of media organisations. Six initiatives from six different regions across the world were selected as winners, and Prothom Alo was chosen from South Asia.

The Global Media Awards recognise innovative initiatives and best practices in media around the world and these awards are considered the highest international recognition for media organisations.

Prothom Alo also won two more awards in two categories at the INMA Global Media Awards.  Prothom Alo won first place in the Best Idea to Encourage Reader Engagement (national brand) category, followed by Grupo El Comercio from Peru and Schibsted from Norway.

Prothom Alo also won third prize for its National Health Olympiad initiative in the Best Use of an Event to Build a News Brand (national brand) category. Dow Jones from the US and Hindustan Times from India bagged the first and the second places.

The awards were presented at the Global Media Congress held at the ballroom of the Edison Hotel in Manhattan, New York, at 9:00 pm. local time on Thursday (7:00 am Friday Bangladesh time).

Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman received the award.

He said that Prothom Alo’s reporting during the July uprising was a reflection of courageous journalism. Various multifaceted follow-up initiatives of Prothom Alo were extraordinary, thus, this media organisation bagged this top international recognition.

The International News Media Association (INMA), which comprises more than 1,000 media outlets from 93 countries, has been recognising various outstanding media initiatives around the world since 1937.

The 2025 Global Media Awards competition attracted 839 entries from 286 market-leading news media brands in 49 countries.  Participants included newspaper media, magazine media, digital media, television media, and radio media.

An international jury of 60 media executives from 26 countries selected 198 finalists earlier this year.

Alongside Prothom Alo, this year’s winners include The Washington Post and The Boston Globe from the US, The Financial Times from the UK, The Toronto Star from Canada, Amedia from Norway, The Waikato Times from New Zealand, Prisa Media and Vocento from Spain, NTM from Sweden, Alma Media from Finland, RBS Group from Brazil, The Hindu, Jagran Prakashan, and ABP from India, News Corporation from Australia, and South China Morning Post from Hong Kong, among others.

The Daily Star, an English-language newspaper in Bangladesh, won second prize in the ‘Best Commerce Product or Service’ category for its e-learning initiative ‘Keeron.’

Previously, Prothom Alo also bagged honours in this global competition. Prothom Alo received an honourable mention in 2021, a first place and a second place in 2022, a second prize and an honourable mention in 2023, and a second prize, a third prize, and an honourable mention in 2024.

Prothom Alo continuously published objective news in print, digital, and social media platforms during the student-led mass uprising in July–August 2024. Prothom Alo became the primary source of accurate news for the readers because of this truthful and courageous reporting.

In the 36 days of the movement (from 1 July to 5 August), Prothom Alo’s online version, Prothomalo.com, received 310 million page views. Prothomalo.com recorded 350 million page views in August alone, which was a milestone for any Bangladeshi media outlet.

Among the 310 million page views during the 36 days, Gen Z (Generation Z) readers made up 43 per cent of the audience, with an engagement rate of 74.52 per cent. The newspaper’s print circulation rose by 200,000 copies during this time.

Prothom Alo created a digital respiratory of reports, interviews, slogans, opinions, graffiti, photos, and videos published during the July–August uprising. The site includes a 36-day timeline and 24 selected stories of the martyrs like Abu Sayed, Mugdho, and Farhan, as well as the survivors.

The digital archive provides at-a-glance information on casualties and special exhibitions and memorabilia related to the July uprising. 

Prothom Alo objectively covered the events, documented deaths, and published humanitarian and analytical reports from the beginning.

Stories of rebellion, pain, and heroism emerged through these reports. Images of state repression were also boldly published online and in print. The digital respiratory is titled ‘July Mass Uprising 2024, accessible at https://services.prothomalo.com/bidrohe-biplobe/.

People from all walks of life participated in the student-led movement in July–August. These events were captured not only by professional journalists and photographers, but also by common people.

Prothom Alo launched a reader engagement campaign called ‘Rebellion in the camera’ on its 26th anniversary to collect these rare and daring photos and videos.

Readers submitted their own photos and videos to the campaign. From over 1,000 submissions, 10 photos and 10 videos were judged for prizes.

To highlight the uprising of people from all walks of life, Prothom Alo also published a special supplement titled ‘Bidrohe Biplobe, four regional supplements, four special issues for its 26th anniversary, three video documentaries, a July awakening exhibition, a painting of martyr Abu Sayed, a photojournalism book Mukto Koro Bhoi, and six books from Prothoma Prakashon, as well as many initiatives throughout the year.

The “Health Olympiad” was organised involving school students from 12 regions with the aim of spreading health awareness across the country.

The initiative, conducted by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) and supported by USAID, sought to disseminate various health-related information among students of Prothom Alo School and to raise awareness and prevent the spread of tuberculosis.

Students participated in the competition through exams, wall magazines, and other creative activities and successfully spread awareness about tuberculosis and general health among themselves, their families, and their communities.

The INMA Awards give special recognition to excellence in areas such as the use of newspapers, television, radio, and digital platforms, reader engagement, subscription models, artificial intelligence (AI), business innovation, and data insights.

INMA selects the top initiatives from its six regional platforms—Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America, and South Asia—for consideration in the Global Media Awards.

The highest recognition at the 2025 Global Media Awards, the ‘Best in Show’ award, was won by Ukraine’s The Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers, who provided extensive support to the country’s regional publishers during the ongoing war.

Speaking about the initiative, INMA CEO and executive director Earl J Wilkinson said the Global Media Awards showcased how media companies are breaking away from long-standing norms to better connect with readers in today’s rapidly changing and often challenging news landscape.

“This year’s winners are among the most creative and inspiring we’ve seen,” he added.