This year, the Newspaper Awards feature 19 categories designed to showcase the best in both printed and digital media. 2012 sees the return of a photography award with the News Photograph of the Year category. Other major changes include the Regional Newspaper of the Year category being split into under 25,000 and over 25,000 circulation and the Weekend Newspaper of the Year category also being split with National and Regional awards. Both these changes have been made to allow smaller regional newspapers to compete with newspapers with significantly larger budgets.
In 2012 there will be a Corporate Environment Award and a Community Environment Award, recognising the difficulty of judging group-wide initiatives against much smaller local projects driven by local newspapers.
Gary Cullum, director of Newspaper Awards, says: “There’s no denying how tough things are. Newspapers are not only having to face dire economic conditions but also have to look closely at how to make real money out of this brave new digital world. The 2012 Newspaper Awards will give everyone a chance to celebrate what our industry has to offer and to look forward to a brighter, more positive future.”
Closing date for entries is 10 February and the winners will be announced on 25 April at the Awards dinner held at the London Hilton.
Entry forms can be downloaded from www.newspaperawards.co.uk
