Iran International won four top prizes at the 2026 WAN-IFRA Digital Media Awards Middle East, with projects recognized for innovation, audience engagement, data visualization and participatory storytelling under repression.
The network’s winning projects included its Telegram bot, the interactive map of Israeli targets in the 12-Day War, and the Woman, Life, Freedom campaign. The Telegram bot also advanced to the global stage of the WAN-IFRA awards.
The Telegram bot, entered by Volant Media in the United Kingdom, won Best in Audience Engagement and Most Innovative Digital Product. WAN-IFRA described it as a secure, AI-assisted channel that allowed users to submit footage and reports from inside Iran, with all material verified by Iran International journalists.
Launched during mass protests, the bot became a major news-gathering tool, receiving thousands of messages a day from inside Iran.
After a nationwide internet shutdown, it also became a communication bridge, allowing Iranians abroad to send messages to relatives cut off from the internet. The messages were broadcast on satellite TV, with one message displayed every 20 seconds during live programming.
The WAN-IFRA jury said the project showed “exceptionally innovative” editorial use of a familiar technology, adding that its transformation during internet shutdowns into a bridge between diaspora families and people inside Iran showed “significant real-world user impact beyond news gathering.”
The jury said the bot’s verification workflows, security protections and cross-platform integration made it “a strong reference model for participatory journalism in restricted environments.”
Iran International’s interactive map of Israeli targets in the 12-Day War, a project by Amirhadi Anvari, won Best Data Visualization in the Middle East.
The project mapped strike locations across Iran during the 12-day war, combining citizen-reported information with verified data from multiple sources, including international reporting.
WAN-IFRA said the map provided a comprehensive and accessible view of the conflict at a time when location-specific information was scarce and fragmented.
The project’s main editorial challenge was verifying, locating and explaining events across competing information environments. It drew on citizen videos, domestic reporting and open-source geospatial data, with each location cross-checked and mapped with coordinates, classification and explanatory context.
Designed for clarity and usability, the map uses custom markers, layered views and filters to help audiences navigate complex information. Most locations link to visual evidence or related reporting, while additional layers provide context, including the proximity of military and sensitive sites to civilian infrastructure.
The jury called it a “thorough geolocation of categorized information” and praised its link to Google Maps, adding: “The simple and brief narrative allows the user to freely explore the content.”
Iran International also won Best Marketing Campaign for a News Brand for its Woman, Life, Freedom campaign, marking the third anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody in 2022.
The campaign centered on an installation of 1,000 hand-folded origami birds, each carrying the name of a victim and arranged to form “Woman, Life, Freedom” in Persian. The installation was filmed and amplified across broadcast and digital platforms, inviting audiences to fold and share their own origami birds using the hashtag #MahsaBird.
WAN-IFRA said the campaign turned remembrance into collective action in a context where open dissent carries major risks. It offered audiences inside Iran and across the diaspora a simple and safe act of remembrance, using paper, light and human hands to turn individual grief into visible solidarity.
The jury called it “a powerful uplift,” saying it translated Iran International’s mission into “a safe, participatory act of remembrance under repression.”
“Deeply inspiring,” the jury said.
The Iran International Telegram bot has also advanced to the global stage of the WAN-IFRA awards. The global winners are due to be announced in June during the WAN-IFRA World News Media Congress in Marseille, France.
WAN-IFRA, the World Association of News Publishers, is one of the largest international organizations in media and journalism, representing thousands of publishers and news organizations worldwide. Its Digital Media Awards honor leading work in digital journalism, data visualization, media products, marketing and audience engagement.
