The World Association of News Publishers has announced DL News’ Robert Holloway as winner of “Best Trust Initiative” category at the World Association of News Publishers’ Digital Media Awards Middle East 2023.
The competition’s aim is to “recognise publishers who have adopted digital media strategies as part of their total product offering to meet the changes in how people consume news and information.”
DL News is the first publication focused on cryptocurrency and decentralised finance ever to win this award. Winners of the competition were announced on December 5th.
Holloway was selected as the winner for DL News’ submitted project, “An old-school solution to modern misinformation.” It highlighted his efforts to debunk misinformation and disinformation, explain journalistic ethics and media law, and improve media literacy and perceptions within the crypto community.
“I am delighted that DL News has been chosen for this award because it stands for ethical reporting in the rapidly changing world of journalism and the uncertain field of crypto,” said Holloway. “Working with the editorial team, I am pleased that our efforts have been acknowledged.”
Since DL News launched in January, Holloway has published regularly on topics including the importance of fact-checking, why outlets can’t publish rumours, and how libel law influences the industry.
Holloway has over 40 years of experience working as a journalist and media trainer, and has done extensive work in the promotion and education of journalistic ethics. His tenures include time at Agence France-Presse, the UN and European Commission, and the non-profit AFP foundation.
As ombudsman and whistleblowing officer at DL News, Holloway has written on subjects of journalistic integrity in decentralised finance and cryptocurrency — a new journalistic field often left unchecked.
In his articles, Holloway has emphasised the importance to remain neutral and accountable to readers. He wrote about journalists’ temptation to get chummy with subjects via abbreviations.
Holloway has also written about the often challenging duty for journalists to not to modify stories based on demands from their subjects.
Below are some of Robert’s notable pieces:
It’s not just the crypto world – why we all fall for disinformation and hopium
Why we won’t change our article to suit a subject’s whims
Why we kept racist comments out of our Indexed Finance hacker interview