PARIS, FRANCE — As the only global creative prize judged by the press, The Epica Awards has announced that highly respected journalist Claire Atkinson, who has spent her career covering the global media business, will preside over the jury this year.
Claire writes an influential newsletter, The Media Mix, and is working on a biography of Rupert Murdoch, which Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette, will publish.
Claire started on trade titles, including Ad Age and Broadcasting & Cable, before moving to the New York Post, where she spent seven years writing about media for the paper’s business desk. She later joined NBC News, where she was Senior Media Editor. More recently, she was Chief Media Correspondent at Business Insider.
Raised in the UK, Claire moved to New York in 1999 as she considered it “the capital of media,” her passion, as well as “the capital of ambition.” Her parents were ravenous consumers of news media and she grew up wanting to be a journalist.
“Journalism gives you a ringside seat to history,” she said. “Plus you get to interview some wildpeople that you’d normally never get to meet.”
She loves media and advertising because “it’s a ball that’s constantly in motion.” She added, “I’m fascinated by commercial messaging and the way companies speak to us, as well as how people in power speak to media and how the media speak back.”
She commented on the benefits of a jury of journalists, “We’re always looking for what’s new, what’s different. We spend our lives scouring the internet for stories, watching TV, and reading the news. I think we’re hyper-aware of innovative ways of communicating… As far as I’m concerned, if my eyes are open, I’m working.”
Marketers and journalists are on the same page, she added. “Like us, brands want to know where society is going because they need to be aware of the cultural trends that are going to influence how they sell things and where they’re going to advertise. So I think a jury of journalists is highly appropriate for an advertising awards show.”
Entries for the Epica Awards are accepted until October 11. An online ceremony will be held on December 12.
Find a full interview with Claire here.
adobo Magazine is an official media partner of The Epica Awards 2024.
