PANPA Newspaper of the Year finalists announced

FINALISTS for the PANPA Newspaper of the Year Awards have been decided.

Finalists for the Newspaper of the Year (Daily) 90,000 plus circulation are The Advertiser, The Age, The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, Courier-Mail, The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, New Zealand Herald, Manly Daily, The West Australian.

In the 25,000-90,000 category finalists include Canberra Times, The Examiner (Launceston), The Dominion Post, Fiji Times, Otago Daily Times, The Herald (Newcastle), Geelong Advertiser, Gold Coast Bulletin, The Press (Christchurch), Townsville Bulletin, The Australian Financial Review.

In the 10,000 to 25,000 category finalists include NT News, Sunshine Coast Daily, The Courier (Ballarat), Bay of Plenty Times, Border Mail, Bendigo Advertiser, Wanganui Chronicle, The Advocate (Burnie), Daily Post, NewsMail (Bundaberg), Daily Mercury.

In the under 10,000 category finalists include Ashburton Guardian, Kalgoorlie Miner, Gladstone Observer, Shepparton News, Wairarapa Times-Age, and Fraser Coast Chronicle.

A full list of finalists can be found here.

The finalists were selected from a record of more than 1000 entries by 78 judges from around the world including Australia, New Zealand, Asia, America, UK and Poland.

The industry awards are the biggest in the region. They recognise outstanding achievements in all areas of publishing – from newspapers, websites, photography, marketing and excellence in print and production

This year there was an increase in photography submissions, particularly from newspapers with less than 10,000 circulation. Growth also was recorded in the digital news destination category which may reflect the industry’s shift towards greater integration of digital news.

The Newspaper Works chief executive Tony Hale said: “Participation in these awards has been outstanding – more than 1000 entries were received.

“Many judges who have taken part in similar industry awards have said this is the highest standard of entry they have seen. That says much about the professionalism of our industry.”

This year’s awards have been expanded and now total more than 60. Each category was judged by two or more individuals. Up to five judges considered key categories for newspaper, printing and digital entries.

The 2012 Newspaper of the Year Awards winners will be announced at a gala dinner ceremony in Sydney on Thursday, September 6, which is also marks the end of the first day of the Future Forum conference. The Future Forum is Asia Pacific’s newspaper industry conference across two full days of presentations and workshops.

The first day will feature talks by 10 international and industry leaders including News Limited CEO Kim Williams, PwC executive director Megan Brownlow and Newsonomics author Ken Doctor, with a focus on industry trends, and the challenges and opportunities brought about by the transformation of the newspaper industry. The second day will see members from across the industry including journalists, advertising and marketing, print and production take part in a range of workshops.

Registration to the PANPA Future Forum and Newspaper of the Year Gala Dinner is now open here.