Ireland Travel TV Wins Triple Crown: Lisa Niver’s Celtic Charm on The Jet Set TV earns dotCOMM Platinum, Telly Silver & Journalism First Place
Excellence in storytelling isn’t measured by miles traveled — it’s measured by impact.
In 2025, my Ireland Travel Special on The Jet Set TV, Celtic Charm, earned recognition across three of the industry’s most respected platforms — forming a true Triple Crown of honors in digital media, broadcast television, and journalism.
- 🏆 Platinum – dotCOMM Awards
- 🏆 Silver Winner (Travel & Tourism) – Telly Awards
- 🏆 First Place, Lifestyle Feature – Southern California Journalism Awards
Each award represents a different dimension of storytelling. Together, they reflect something rare: a travel story that resonates across platforms and disciplines.
Platinum: Digital Excellence at dotCOMM
Celtic Charm received Platinum, the highest distinction awarded by the dotCOMM Awards, administered by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals.
The competition honors excellence in digital communication and web creativity, evaluating entries from global agencies, production companies, corporations, and independent creators. Platinum status is reserved for the top-scoring work in each category — placing Celtic Charm at the highest tier of digital storytelling.
In today’s media landscape, a travel story must live beyond broadcast. It must perform online, travel through social platforms, and maintain narrative integrity across formats. Platinum recognition affirms that this story did exactly that.
Silver: Broadcast Distinction
The journey continued with a Silver Telly Award in the Travel & Tourism category for Ireland Travel Special: Celtic Charm, which aired nationally on The Jet Set TV.
Out of more than 13,000 entries in 2025, the Telly Awards recognized the most innovative stories across all screens. This year’s honorees included acclaimed programs such as Samantha Brown’s Places to Love and The Good Road — placing Celtic Charm in distinguished company.
Broadcast excellence demands cinematic visuals, pacing, and emotional connection. Ireland delivered all three.
First Place: Journalistic Depth
Rounding out the Triple Crown, Celtic Charm earned First Place in Lifestyle Feature at the Southern California Journalism Awards.
This distinction celebrates reporting clarity, cultural insight, and narrative depth. Travel journalism at its best goes beyond scenery — it provides context, conversation, and meaning.
The Ireland Behind the Honors
Awards matter. But Ireland is why this story resonated.
From the limestone expanses of The Burren to the myth-laced basalt columns of Giant’s Causeway, the journey unfolded where geology and legend intertwine. At Giant’s Causeway, volcanic science explains the formations — yet the legend of Finn McCool remains just as present. In Ireland, folklore is not decoration; it is identity.
Creativity became immersive at the Burren Perfumery, where crafting a custom fragrance felt like bottling the Atlantic air. At Kylemore Abbey, making chocolate with Sister Genevieve blended sweetness with centuries of history.
Movement told its own story during a vibrant dance lesson with Trad on the Prom. Even moments of play — like spinning a hula hoop inside a turret at Abbeyglen Castle Hotel — reflected Ireland’s effortless blend of heritage and joy.
Falconry at Dromoland Castle offered a powerful connection to tradition, a hawk launching skyward over rolling green countryside. In Dublin, elegance and literary history converged at The Shelbourne Hotel. Driving stretches of the Wild Atlantic Way revealed dramatic cliffs and shifting light that felt cinematic long before cameras rolled.
Meeting artisan Malachy Kearns and learning about his handcrafted bodhráns underscored something essential: Ireland’s heartbeat is carried through music, craftsmanship, and story.
Every encounter layered into the narrative. Every landscape carried meaning.
Why the Triple Crown Matters
Few travel projects are recognized simultaneously for:
- Digital impact
- Broadcast production
- Journalistic integrity
Together, these honors reflect the evolving nature of modern travel storytelling — content that must inspire viewers, inform readers, and resonate across platforms.
For me, this Triple Crown represents growth as a multimedia journalist — committed to curiosity, cultural depth, and meaningful connection wherever the journey leads.
Watch the Award-Winning Journey
Ireland has always been a land of storytellers.
I’m honored that this story — told through landscapes, legends, artisans, music, and hospitality — has now been recognized three times.
If you haven’t seen Celtic Charm, I invite you to watch the award-winning Ireland Travel Special here.
And if Ireland is calling your name, consider this your invitation.
Some stories are meant to be told.
The best ones are meant to be lived.
Together, these honors reflect the evolving nature of travel storytelling — content that must resonate on television, online platforms, and within traditional journalism standards simultaneously.
In Celtic Charm, Lisa Niver guides viewers through Ireland’s historic cities, vibrant culture, and breathtaking landscapes with curiosity and warmth. The segment balances cinematic visuals with cultural insight — an approach that continues to define her award-winning work.
From broadcast screens to digital platforms to the journalism stage, Celtic Charm proves that meaningful travel storytelling still matters — and that excellence travels well.
Awards & Honors
Over the past several years, my work across podcasting, television, and journalism has been recognized by leading industry organizations, reflecting a continued commitment to thoughtful storytelling, cultural curiosity, and meaningful conversations.
2025
- Platinum DotCOMM Award
Immersing in Ireland — The Jet Set TV - Silver Telly Award
Celtic Charm travel special — The Jet Set TV - First Place Winner — National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards
Podcast Host of the Year - First Place Winner— Southern California Journalism Awards
Lifestyle Feature (Make Your Own Map podcast) - Third Place — Southern California Journalism Awards
Online Journalist of the Year
2024
- Winner — National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards
Diversity in the Entertainment Industry - Winner (2x) — Southern California Journalism Awards
Podcast interviews with:- Samantha Brown (Places to Love)
- Tony Phelan (A Small Light)
- Finalist (4x) — National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards
- Online Journalist of the Year
- Podcast interviews with:
- Beth Santos (Wanderful)
- Carolyn Ray (JourneyWoman)
- Samantha Brown (Places to Love)
- Finalist (6x) — Southern California Journalism Awards
Categories included:- Online Journalist of the Year
- Podcast Host
- Podcast interviews with Andrew McCarthy, Samantha Brown, Christie Tate, and Tony Phelan (A Small Light)
2023
- Winner — National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards
Diversity in TV/Streaming - Finalist (3x) — National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards
- Podcast Host
- Diversity in Entertainment
- Personality Profile
- Make Your Own Map has been streamed in 68 countries across all seven continents, connecting global audiences through conversations about creativity, courage, travel, and reinvention.
- 2025 Winner: 1st place Lifestyle Feature for Make Your Own Map, “Ireland: Neville’s Stories at Giant’s Causeway”, 3rd place Online Journalist of the Year
- 2025 Winner: Silver Telly Award for Celtic Charm travel special!
- 2025 5x Finalist: Southern California Journalism Awards for Online Journalist of the Year, TV/Streaming/Radio Feature, Lifestyle Feature (Podcast) & Travel Reporting (Podcast)
- 2024 Winner: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards Diversity in the Entertainment Industry
- 2024 4x Finalist: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards finalist for Online Journalist of the Year, and for three of my podcast interviews with Beth Santos, Wanderful, Carolyn Ray, JourneyWoman, and Samantha Brown, Places to Love.
- 2024 2x Winner: Southern California Journalism Awards for podcast segments with Samantha Brown, Places to Love, and Tony Phelan, A Small Light
- 2024 6x Finalist: Southern California Journalism Awards for Online Journalist of the Year, Podcast Host and for my podcast interviews with Andrew McCarthy, Samantha Brown, Tony Phelan and Christie Tate
- 2023 Winner: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards Diversity in Entertainment
- 2023 3x Finalist: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards
- 2023 2x Finalist: Southern California Journalism Awards for Travel Reporting and Podcast Interview
- 2022 Finalist: Southern California Journalism Awards for BOOK CRITICISM
- 2021 Finalist: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards for Commentary Diversity/Gender and Commentary Analysis/Trend — Film
- 2021 Winner: Southern California Journalism Awards for TECHNOLOGY REPORTING
- 2021 Finalist: Southern California Journalism Awards for BOOK CRITICISM
- 2020 Winner: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards for Book Critic. See all of Lisa’s book reviews here.
- 2020 Finalist: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards for Book Critic
- 2020 Winner: Southern California Journalism Awards for print magazine article: Hemispheres Magazine for United Airlines
- 2020 Five Time Finalist: Southern California Journalism awards
- 2019 Winner: NAEJ Award for KTLA TV segment
- 2019 Finalist: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards in three categories
- Category H2a. Soft News: Ms. Magazine: Polar Bears Can’t Vote So You Have To
- Category F6a. Soft News Feature – Under 5 Minutes—Film/TV: KTLA TV Oscars Countdown to Gold with Lisa Niver
- Category C1b. Business, Music/Tech/Art: My Wharton Magazine article: Four Female Founders Share Their Origin Stories
- 2019 Finalist: Southern California Journalism Awards for Broadcast Television Lifestyle Segment: Ogden Ski Getaway
- 2018 Finalist for three categories of Southern California Journalism Awards:
- SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY REPORTING: Smithsonian
- TRAVEL REPORTING: Popsugar Fitness
- PERSONALITY PROFILE: Saturday Evening Post
- 2017 2nd place winner for Southern California Journalism Award Print Column “A journey to freedom over three Passovers” and finalist for Travel Reporting.
More about Lisa Niver: https://lisaniver.com/awards/
Have you read my memoir, BRAVE-ish? My book has won 10 awards!
2025 International Impact Book Awards—Travel
2024 Gold Medal – Inspirational – North American Book Awards
2024 Gold Bookfest Award – Nonfiction Memoir Travel
2024 Gold Nonfiction Book Award – Nonfiction Authors Association
2024 Literary Titan Gold Book Award – Non-fiction
2024 Silver Bookfest Award – Nonfiction Self-Help Inspiration
2024 Readers’ Favorite Honorable Mention – Non-Fiction – Women’s Genre
2023 Hearten Book Awards First Place Winner – Inspiring & Uplifting Non-Fiction
2023 Zibby Awards Runner-up – Best Book for The Strong Woman
2023 Goody Business Book Awards Winner – Memoir/Self-Help
Featured in Conde Nast Traveler Women Who Travel Book Club: 10 New Books We Can’t Wait to Read this Fall
As seen in Forbes Best New NonFiction
