The 2025 EPPY Awards, celebrating the best in digital journalism and innovation, once again spotlighted excellence from newsrooms large and small. This year’s winners showcase how technology, collaboration and storytelling continue to evolve across the media landscape — from bold investigative work to cutting-edge audience engagement.
Among the standouts, Block Club Chicago took top honors as Best Daily News Website (1M+ visitors), while The Telegraph in Alton, Illinois claimed the same distinction among smaller outlets. ESPN Digital continued its digital dominance, earning multiple awards for Best Sports News Website and Best Investigative/Enterprise Series (“The Battle Over the NFLPA”). Meanwhile, Singapore’s The Straits Times impressed judges across design and innovation categories, including Best Overall Website Design and Best Use of Data/Infographics.
New this year, the EPPYs also recognized exceptional branded content and audience engagement efforts. Lianhe Zaobao (SPH Media) won Best Incorporation of Sponsored/Branded Content for its creative explainer, “Answer Your Burning Questions About CPF,” while TODAY/Shop TODAY earned second place for “From Start to Finish: Le Creuset.” The Straits Times also took home Best Audience Engagement Strategy (1M+ visitors) for its “Listen First” campaign, and The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette won in the same category (under 1M visitors) for “The Orsini Tapes.”
In live and experiential engagement, TODAY’s “Making Space: A Wellness Weekend with Hoda Kotb” was named Best Audience Engagement or Brand-Building Event, with Shop TODAY Stages earning second place. STAT claimed Best Revenue-Generating Community Event (under 1M visitors) for its “STAT Open Doors” initiative.
Smaller and nonprofit newsrooms also shined. Truthdig swept several categories, including Best Overall Website Design (under 1M) and Best Promotional/Marketing Campaign, while FRONTLINE and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU earned multiple honors for “Alaska’s Vanishing Native Villages,” recognized for investigative reporting, video and community service.
“The 2025 EPPY winners prove that excellence in digital journalism isn’t defined by scale but by creativity, integrity and purpose,” said Mike Blinder, Publisher of Editor & Publisher Magazine. “These honorees demonstrate how the industry continues to innovate — from world-class newsrooms to student journalists building the next generation of storytelling.”
“Each year, the EPPYs remind us just how vibrant and innovative digital journalism has become,” said Christian A. Hendricks, lead judge of the 2025 EPPY Awards. “This year’s winners stood out not only for their technical excellence and storytelling craft but also for their deep commitment to serving audiences with integrity and creativity. Judging these entries was both inspiring and humbling — a testament to how strong the future of journalism remains.”
The EPPYs, now in their 27th year, celebrate outstanding achievement in digital journalism across more than 45 categories, honoring professional, collegiate and nonprofit media organizations worldwide.
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