Stuff Group dominates global media award finalist list

Innovations in AI, unique campaign marketing and engaging digital subscriber initiatives have seen Stuff Group nominated as a finalist in five categories at the 2025 International News Media Association’s Global Media Awards - placing it in the top 10 of 286 media organisations internationally.

The INMA Awards saw more than 800 entries from organisations in 49 countries, with Stuff Group dominating the entries from New Zealand.

Stuff Owner and Publisher Sinead Boucher says digital-first innovations and engaging brand and subscriber initiatives are behind Stuff’s success in the hotly-contested categories.

“Innovation is critical for all organisations now and none more so than in media. Our teams are harnessing the power of AI for new technology solutions, ensuring our resources are focused on delivering the unique, trusted journalism that New Zealand’s largest news audience demands,” she says.

Stuff Group’s finalists are:

• Paddy Gower’s The F#$%ing News - Best Brand Awareness Campaign
• Waikato Times: Democracy.AI - Best Use of AI in Customer-Facing Products
• Te reo Māori translation tool: How AI is helping an indigenous language survive - Best Use of AI in Customer-Facing Products
• The Post: Marketing at the speed of the news cycle - Best Initiative to Grow Subscriptions and Best Initiative to Engage and Retain Subscribers

Boucher says The Post’s finalist positions reflect its growing reach as a national news brand. The success of its subscriber campaigns is reflected in the more than 70% of its digital audience who live outside of Wellington.

“The Post’s ‘At the centre of it all’ marketing is driven by its business and politics news focus, which has seen 100% year on year growth in digital subscriptions,” she says. “We are particularly pleased too that Paddy Gower’s cheeky The F#$%ing News brand has been recognised internationally - his positive news content shows the power of Stuff as a platform for not only our journalists, but our content and commercial partners too.”

The INMA Global Media Awards winners will be announced in May.