Verificado 2018, the news verification initiative by AJ+ Español, Animal Político and Pop-Up Newsroom, wins a World Digital Media Award

Verificado 2018, the collaborative initiative co-founded by AJ+ Español, Animal Político and Pop-Up Newsroom to verify content during the 2018 Mexican elections, won the 2019 World Digital Media Award in the category of Best Innovation to Engage Young Audiences.

“Verificado is a living example of how far collaborative journalism can go in excellence and innovation. This is the first-ever journalistic initiative of this size and scope for AJ+. It has become a multi-awarded project and a reference within the journalism community from Latin America to India. Congratulations to our partners, Animal Político and Pop-Up Newsroom, and to the AJ+ Español and Verificado teams”, said Dima Khatib, Managing Director of AJ+ Channels.

During its 119 days of operation and with its 90 partner organizations, Verificado 2018 successfully engaged young people between 18 and 34 years old, who represented 65% of the initiative’s fans and 52% of registered interactions on Facebook. These were mainly first time or one-time voters. Overall, the initiative’s Twitter and Facebook accounts racked up more than 200,000 followers in each platform.

“We are thrilled with the fact that the initiative keeps being recognized by the industry for its impact within young audiences and its collaborative nature. Without what each of the initiative’s partners brought to the table, and the room for experimentation that we have at AJ+, we couldn’t have done this!”, said Diana Larrea, Sr. Strategist at AJ+ and co-founder of Verificado 2018.

The World Digital Media Awards Ceremony took place on 2 June, during WAN-IFRA's 71st World News Media Congress, in Glasgow, Scotland. After winning the LATAM Digital Award, Verificado 2018  became a global finalist at the World Digital Media Awards, competing against the winners of the same category in other Digital Award’s regional editions, namely Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South Asia. Verificado 2018 beat regional winners from the United States, India and South Africa.

This is the third award won by Verificado 2018. In addition to the World Digital Media Award, the initiative has been honored with a LATAM Digital Award and an Online Journalism Award, from the Online News Association (ONA). It was also a finalist at the Premio Gabo, of the Gabriel García Márquez Foundation, one of the most prestigious awards in the Spanish-speaking world.