Independent wins more accolades at AOP awards for online publishers

Website takes two prizes as it celebrates its first year as an online-only publication

The Independent recorded its best ever performance for UK unique visitors in December, according to Comscore data (The Independent)

The Independent won a pair of awards at the annual Digital Publishers Awards.

Editor, Christian Broughton, won Digital Editor/Content Strategist of the Year and along with sister site Indy100, the website picked up the prize for Best Use of Social Media at the Association of Online Publishers awards ceremony in London.

The title also won National News Site of Year at The Drum Online Media Awards earlier this month.

Mr Broughton said: "It’s been a remarkable year for The Independent, thanks to an incredible team I have the pleasure of working with.

"At a time when there are so many questions about the sustainable future of quality journalism, I hope our success story is good news for everyone – from readers to reporters.”

Dina Rickman, Head of Social and Trending Content, added: “In the last 12 months the digital-only Independent has cemented its position as a world-leading site on social.

"Respected Newswhip analysis shows we were the most engaged news site in the world reporting on the general election (with three times more engagement than our closest rival, the BBC), and we were also the only UK publisher in the top 10 most engaged sites reporting on the US election in November.

“It's not just politics: more recently, we were the most shared news site in the world for our Glastonbury coverage on Facebook."

She added: "Our team has proved time and time that social audiences love news and I'm so proud of them and thankful to our editor for all his support and guidance.”