The last few weeks we organized the first edition of the Zapper Media Awards. The Zapper Media Awards have been organized to support travel journalism, as the work field for journalists and bloggers will become challenging. Journalists, bloggers and photographers could submit their best work to have a chance to win € 750. The submitted work was judged by an independent jury.
Zapper PR appointed the following independent professional jury:
- Mark Mackintosh (editor-in-chief Columbus Travel)
- Reza Bakhtali (editor and travel reporter VRIJ Magazine)
- Sara van Geloven (former editor-in-chief of Lonely Planet Magazine and author of travel book Take a Break)
- Herman van Heusden (photographer)
- Lot Wildiers (founder and blogger at Reisgoesting)
Last week, we announced the winners of the Zapper Media Awards. Gijs Hardeman won with his spectacular photo of the Icelandic mountains in Dagblad van het Noorden in the category ‘best travel photo’. Sebastiaan Bedaux won the ‘best travel article in traditional media’ award with his travel article ‘The Silk Road Cities of Uzbekistan’ from National Geographic Traveler. And Jos Ensing of the travel blog Reishonger won in the category ‘best travel article on blog’ with his blog about a road trip in Yukon, Canada.
Facts
- The Zapper Media Awards were announced via a press release, mailing and on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. With these activities we reached more than 1,700 travel journalists and bloggers who were invited to participate!
- Over 100 travel stories, blogs and photo’s were submitted for a chance to win a Zapper Media Award!
Winner in the category best travel picture
Journalist and photographer Gijs Hardeman
Gijs Hardeman is a true adventurer. Gijs travels the world to discover new places. Especially adventurous activities are his favourite, which is clearly visible in the winning photo. A beautiful picture taken in the North Icelandic mountains of Akureyri. The jury agreed, this is a world class photo: “A strong graphic image,” says jury member Herman van Heusden. Sara van Geloven said: “A sharp image full of action.”
Winner best travel article in traditional media
Journalist Sebastiaan Bedaux
Sebastiaan Bedaux is a Flemish journalist, photographer and author and has published in Knack Weekend, Libelle, De Standaard Magazine, National Geographic Traveler, and many other media titles. Sebastiaan convinced the jury with the winning travel article ‘The Silk Road Cities of Uzbekistan’. “The quality of both the text and the image stands out: the structure of the text, the photography, a piece of history and a piece of genuine travel experience. The story is perfectly put together, and shows a part of the world that is not on the radar for most travellers,” said jury member Mark Mackintosh.
Winner in the category best travel blog
Jos Ensing from travel blog Reishonger
Blogger Jos Ensing shares his travel experiences on the travel platform Reishonger. With the motto ‘the world is my playground’ in mind, he traveled to the Canadian Yukon for a spectacular road trip, which he writes about in the winning blog. Jury member Reza Bakhtali says: “It is great how you, as a reader, are swept along on this ice-cold adventure through Canada,” and Lot Wildiers also thinks it is an attractive and inspiring story: “Jos Ensing’s language is clear, the story is calm, yet excitingly built up.”
We thank everybody for their submissions in our first edition of these Awards and all the positive responses we received for organizing this during these challenging times. We really enjoyed organizing the initiative which is why we decided that we will come with a new edition in 2021. So, stay tuned!