This is the paper that demonstrates the most substantial improvement in quality, engagement and relevance to its readers across all media platforms available.

This award is open to News Limited papers and is judged on innovation and success in responding to challenges, not on resources or highest circulation.

Who can enter

All News Limited regional newspapers are eligible for this award.

For the purposes of this award, Regional Newspapers are: The Cairns Post, Townsville Bulletin, NT News and Sunday Territorian, Gold Coast Bulletin, The Weekly Times, Geelong Advertiser, The Mercury and Sunday Tasmanian and The Post Courier in Papua New Guinea.

Criteria

• Improvements need to be demonstrated by a combination of:
• News breaking and campaigning in the public interest 
• Engagement with the community on important public issues
• Original and leading coverage across print and digital assets
• Innovation, creativity and performance as a multi-platform publisher 
• Editorial innovation to meet the challenges of circulation and readership and to strengthen the brand 
• Best use of available resources and talent development 
• Design, layout and artwork in print and online 
• Level of improvement in past 12 months

What to submit 

1. A supporting statement of up to 1200 words, plus any relevant supporting documentation, to show how the entry meets the selection criteria, 
2. Two copies of your newspaper from within the judging period. These may be two copies of the same edition, or separate editions from different dates.

Your paper’s website address or links – if applicable - should be provided in your supporting statement.

Important note to editors

Your supporting statement provides the context to judge your entry. It is the most important element of your submission. You need to be detailed and specific in addressing how your paper meets the criteria. Your entry is not judged on the quality of the printed newspaper alone and will be assessed on your innovation and use of other available platforms to increase penetration of your potential audience. Please include details of how your newspaper had a competitive advantage over not just print rivals but also other media outlets and websites.

Who can nominate

Entries for Regional Newspaper of the Year must be lodged by editors, editors-in-chief or divisional managing directors or general managers.

What to enter

Entries in previous years have become elaborate productions, with attachments or inclusions which made the file sizes too large and time consuming for judges to open. Please remember your submission is NOT for publication and does not need to be high resolution. The document needs to be read, not reproduced. The entry will be judged on its content, NOT its appearance. Please keep file sizes down. Ideally, entries should be less than 10MB.

Newspaper copies ONLY can be sent in the internal mail (where this service is provided) to News Awards, c/o Corporate Affairs, Level 5, News Limited, 2 Holt Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010.