PinkNews’ Anthony James wins Game Changer of the Year at prestigious PPA Independent Publisher Awards

PinkNews’ Chief Operating Officer (COO) Anthony James has won the Game Changer of the Year award at the prestigious Professional Publishers Association (PPA) Independent Publisher Awards.

The annual PPA Independent Publisher Conference and Awards took place on Friday 25 November, bringing together the independent publishing community to recognise outstanding work and achievements by brands and individuals across the sector.

James, who has served as PinkNews’ COO overseeing business operations since November 2021, was praised by the PPA Independent Publisher Awards for bringing “distinct changes” and a “positive impact” to the business as he was named Game Changer of the Year for 2022.

Reflecting on the win, James paid tribute to the wider PinkNews team and re-emphasised the brand’s ongoing mission to inform, inspire and empower both LGBTQ+ audiences and allies.

“I am delighted and honoured to have been named Game Changer of the Year by the PPA at their Independent Publisher Awards,” said Anthony James, who earlier in the day delivered a talk on ‘workflow magic’ at the PPA Independent Publishers Conference alongside PinkNews CEO Benjamin Cohen.

“Although this is labelled an individual award, it highlights the team effort that goes into every aspect of work at PinkNews. From our innovative Snapchat shows to our award-winning editorial stories and championing our global LGBTQ+ community, the PinkNews mission is to inform our audience, inspire change and empower people to be themselves.

“Our mission is shown daily in the content we produce and within the growing PinkNews team, a team which I am thrilled to lead with our CEO, Benjamin Cohen.”

As well as James’ Game Changer of the Year win, PinkNews came in for further plaudits at the PPA Independent Publisher Awards 2022 after its work was highly commended in the Content of the Year and Launch/Relaunch of the Year categories.

PinkNews’ exclusive investigation ‘100 days of war: LGBTQ Ukrainians on their new reality and why help is now needed more than ever’ was highly commended in the Content Piece of the Year category after illustrating the hardships faced by LGBTQ+ Ukrainians following Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

The heartrending piece by Features and Special Reports Writer Patrick Kelleher also highlighted the ongoing work of the PinkNews’ LGBTQ+ Refugees Welcome campaign, a content series encouraging donations to benefit the charities GiveOut and Micro Rainbow that has already raised thousands of pounds for queer refugees and asylum seekers.

You can donate to the PinkNews: LGBTQ+ Refugees Welcome campaign via our GoFundMe page.

Elsewhere, PinkNews’ fashion and pop culture Snapchat series Closet Critic was highly commended in the Launch/Relaunch of the Year category as PinkNews continues to bring its unique brand of LGBTQ+ programming to an audience of millions across the social media platform.

It comes after PinkNews‘ flagship Snapchat show, The Queer Catch-Up, was named Best Snapchat Show at the 2022 Digiday TV and Video Awards in April.

The Queer Catch-Up also saw PinkNews honoured with the Best Use of Video award at the AOP Digital Publishing Awards in June, during a ceremony that also saw PinkNews highly commended for Editorial Team of the Year – Consumer.

Other industry awards highlights in 2022 include PinkNews winning Editorial Team of the Year at The Drum Awards for Online Media – where judges included a panel of digital advertising leaders from CNN, NBCU, Bloomberg, Elle, LinkedIn, Wired UK, The Athletic and Insider – and winning Video Team of the Year at the Digiday Media Awards.

Elsewhere, PinkNews was named Publisher of the Year at the Digiday Media Europe Awards and saw its Chief Product Officer, Sarah Watson, pick up the award for Publishing Executive of the Year.

2022 also saw PinkNews Senior Producer Chandni Sembhi included on the esteemed PPA 30 Under 30 list celebrating young talent in the industry.

With 2023 just around the corner, more exciting times beckon for PinkNews as the brand continues to deliver award-winning and cutting-edge journalism and video content to LGBTQ+ audiences, communities and allies across the globe.