The Seoul Economic Daily (Sedaily) is competing with the Financial Times (FT) for the title of the world's best newsletter. Sedaily's "AI PRISM" has advanced to the global finals of the Digital Media Awards (DMA), organized by the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), alongside three FT newsletters. This marks the first time in the 17-year history of the competition, launched in 2009, that a Korean media outlet has reached the global finals of the DMA.
WAN-IFRA announced through its website on the 5th the 50 entries across 12 categories that have advanced to the global finals of the DMA, and said the final winners will be announced at the "World News Media Congress 2026" gala event to be held in Marseille, France, on June 2.
Four finalists have been selected as candidates for the 2026 Best Newsletter award. They are Sedaily's "AI PRISM," which won gold in the APAC (Asia-Pacific) region, and three newsletters published by global business daily FT.
FT's three finalists — "Unhedged," which covers U.S. and global market analysis (Americas regional gold); "India Business Briefing," which covers Indian business (South Asia regional gold); and "The AI Shift," which covers artificial intelligence and changes in labor (Europe regional gold) — each won regional gold and advanced to the finals, meaning either Sedaily or FT will take first place.
AI PRISM is a curation newsletter that recommends and reinterprets articles from Sedaily's print edition tailored to eight reader types. It has been published six days a week since its first release in January 2025.
Only 4 of 6 Regional Gold Winners Advance to Finals; FT Takes 3 Regions, Competing in the Same Category
WAN-IFRA, the World Association of News Publishers founded in 1948, has approximately 3,000 media companies in 80 countries as members. Launched in 2009, the DMA has established itself as a venue for evaluating journalism innovation in the digital era.
This year, 811 entries were submitted from 78 countries across 12 categories in six regions (APAC, Americas, Europe, South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East). Of these, a total of 278 works passed the regional finals, and 50 works made the global finals list after additional evaluation by the global judging panel.
WAN-IFRA said the Best Newsletter category "evaluates newsletters as an 'essential form of journalism,'" adding that "regardless of business model or scale, the evaluation targeted works that combine voice, service, and strategy to deepen relationships with readers and build long-term loyalty."
Under strict evaluation criteria, only four of the six regional gold winners advanced to the finals. The threshold is high not only in the newsletter category but also in other categories, where winning regional gold does not guarantee entry into the global finals. For example, India's leading authoritative newspaper The Hindu won South Asia gold in the Best AI News Product category but did not make the global finals.
At the Asia-Pacific regional awards ceremony held in Manila on April 28, Sedaily received the Best Newsletter gold for AI PRISM, the Best AI News Product gold for its integrated AI journalism platform "AI LINK," and the silver for Most Innovative Digital Product for its journalist AI tool "AI NOVA." Of these, two works — AI PRISM and AI LINK — advanced to the global finals.
Daily '8 Personas' vs. Weekly and Biweekly FT Trio… A Four-Way Race Differentiated from Publication Structure
AI PRISM is published daily from Monday to Saturday. It reconstructs about 80 articles from the same day from different angles, tailored to each of eight reader types (job seekers, new employees, startup founders, CEOs, overseas investors, financial investors, real estate investors, and stock investors). Articles are selected only from those published in the print edition and are released after review by reporters and editors.
Unhedged is co-hosted by Robert Armstrong, former U.S. finance editor at FT, and market columnist Katie Martin. Published twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it analyzes trends in U.S. and global financial markets. It operates as a separate product that can be purchased independently even by non-FT subscribers, and has expanded into a podcast of the same name, operating simultaneously across both text and audio channels.
India Business Briefing is an India-focused newsletter launched by FT in November 2024 targeting the Indian market. It is solely authored by Veena Venugopal, who previously served as an editor at Indian daily The Hindu and as a senior editor at Apple headquarters. Published twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays, the first two issues are available for free, after which it is offered to FT Premium subscribers.
The AI Shift is published weekly by FT's inaugural AI editor Madhumita Murgia, co-written with data journalist John Burn-Murdoch. Murgia won the UK Press Awards in both 2024 and 2025. Her book "Code Dependent" was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction in the UK in 2024. The book traces how artificial intelligence is changing the landscape of jobs and labor.
The results of the competition between Sedaily and FT will be finalized on June 2 in Marseille.
