UGC Site Scoops New Media Prize

A website dedicated to user-generated content (UGC) has topped its category at the recent Newspaper Awards.

Your Mail from the Hull Daily Mail emerged triumphant to win the Best Use of New Media title in the newspaper production awards.

The website was launched earlier this year and its content - from neighbourhood news stories to messageboards and photo galleries - is supplied by users.

According to holdthefrontpage.co.uk, the judges stated that the UGC site is an example of innovative community media and a good blueprint for interaction between newspapers and their audiences.

“The site has had an encouraging start. It has just passed the landmark of 1,000 registered users and has established itself as a mature and responsible forum for people to communicate with others on issues of their choice,” commented John Meehan, editor of the Hull Daily Mail and Mail News & Media.

He added: “The major challenges now are to build a larger, engaged audience and to grow the traffic on the site, while also generating revenues from this new form of publishing.”

The Best Use of New Media category also featured a commendation for the Herald Express in Torquay for a recruitment campaign.

And the coveted award for Electronic News Site of the Year went to timesonline.co.uk, with commendations for the Guardian, BBC and Manchester Evening News.