The Categories Print, Online, Cross media and AI

The European Newspaper Award has print and online categories. There are also main prizes and Awards of Excellence. Throughout this Call for Entries, we have compiled examples of award winners from all categories. This should make it easier for participants to choose their own work. The jury also reserves the right to move work to other categories, as each piece of work should be given the best opportunity to be judged.

What changes are there compared to last year?

We have streamlined and slightly reduced the number of categories.

European Newspaper of the Year:

The main prize is awarded in four categories
– Local Newspaper
– regional newspaper
– nationwide newspaper
– weekly newspaper
– It is possible that the jury will also award main prizes for online-only projects.

Awards of Excellence Print categories:

1. cover and cover story
1.1 Local newspaper
1.2. regional newspaper
1.3. national newspaper
1.4. weekly newspaper

2. sectional front page
2.1. local newspaper
2.2. regional newspaper
2.3. national newspaper
2.4. weekly newspaper

3. news pages print
3.0. refugees
3.1. terror, war (Ukraine war)
3.2. natural disasters
3.3. environmental protection
3.4. elections (local, regional, national, Europe)
3.5. celebrity deaths
3.6. European Football Championships
3.7. Olympic Games Paris 2024

4. photography
4.0. photographic series
4.1. portrait
4.2. image editing
4.3. sequence
4.4. atmosphere
4.5. perspective
4.6. picture page

5. photo reportage

6. visualisation

7. visual storytelling, alternative storytelling

8. infographics print
8.0. infographics
8.1. small infographics
8.2. infographics with emphasis on maps

9. illustration

10. supplements, special editions
10.0. weekend supplements print and e-paper
10.1. supplements for special occasions, special editions and anniversary issues
11.2. magazine supplements

11. special pages

12. new series, new concepts

Awards of Excellence online categories:

13. Multimedia Storytelling

14. films, animated films

15. web design for news websites

16. cross-media projects

17. infographics online, animated infographics

18. data journalism

19. podcasts

20. AI projects

Sorting into categories
The jury is always looking for the best category for each work. Therefore, it happens that works are sorted into other categories.

Student work
Student work can be entered in all categories.

Local pages
Local pages can participate in all categories. There is no separate category for them.

Submission details · timetable

The competition is hosted by newspaper designer Norbert Küpper since its foundation in 1998. In the media, the competition is also referred to as the „Oscar of the newspaper industry“.

All submissions are made online via the Upload Centre.

Entries must have been published between 1 October 2023 and 15 November 2024.

Deadlines, timetable
– Start of the submission phase: 15 October
– Early Bird submissions until 31 October.
– Regular submission deadline is 15 November.
– Late submissions are possible until 30 November.
– Notification of award winners: early February 2025, by email to the respective contact person.

Main prizes

The main prize will be awarded in four categories
– local newspaper
– regional newspaper
– national newspaper
– weekly newspaper
The main prize is awarded for concept and design. The interaction of print and online plays an increasing role. It is possible that the jury will also award main prizes for online-only or AI projects.

Two complete newspapers
The jury requires two complete newspapers as pdf from the following period:

Daily newspapers: Saturday, 28.9.2024 and Wednesday, 9.10.2024
Special editions, anniversary editions are not allowed here! If your newspaper does not appear on Saturday, send a Friday edition.

Weekly newspapers: Two different copies. The two newspapers must have been published between 1 October 2023 and 15 November 2024.
Special editions, anniversary editions are not allowed here!

Awards of Excellence

– 4 entries are allowed in each category and sub-category. These are, for example, 4 front pages, 4 photo reports, 4 infographics, 4 cross-media projects, 4 data journalism projects, etc.
– Awards of Excellence are given in different categories for print, online and cross-media.
– Submissions must have been published between 1 October 2023 and 15 November 2024.
– Entries must be submitted in pdf format. The captioning must be done according to the categories.

Naming of the pdf’s in print and online categories

The naming will start with the category number, followed by the competition number, then the name of the newspaper. The submissions are presented to the jury in alphabetical order. Therefore, the correct newspaper name is important. Abbreviations, internal names, etc. are not permitted.

1.

Two obligatory issues
Two complete newspapers must be submitted as a pdf. It is best to use the epaper edition of your newspaper. One page will then be less than 1 MB in size. These two issues can be saved as single pages or in a single Pdf.

If you participate exclusively in online categories, no pdfs of the print newspaper need to be submitted.

2.

Print categories
Work in all categories is submitted as pdfs. Sort the pages into the categories of the competition and name each pdf correctly as shown here. Do not submit the same work in different categories.

Online categories
Each submission gets its own pdf document. It is not allowed to collect different online submissions in one document.

3.

Print categories 1 – 12
No multi-page pdfs! Left and right pages must be made into double pages. This is done either during the production of the pdf or in the software Photoshop.
Attention: In Adobe Reader no real double pages can be created! Please follow the instructions in this Call for Entries!

Explanations to individual pages only if necessary and as a note within the pdf. It can be helpful, for example, to translate the title and the introduction into English so that the jury recognises the topic. The Google Translator is very helpful here.

How to create double pages

Double pages must be created as such. This is done either during the production of the pdf or in the Photoshop software. With Photoshop, left and right pages are assembled into a double page. It is not possible to create real double pages in the Adobe Acrobat software!

This is how the creation of a double-page spread looks in Photoshop. Load the pdf into Photoshop and merge the left and right pages into a single document.

How to participate in online categories

We would like to treat all projects equally and present all submissions to the jury in the same style. Therefore, please follow the rules listed here as closely as possible. Please use the upload centre for submission: upload.newspaperaward.org

1.

Create a vertical format document in DIN A 4 format for each project.

2.

Specify the category.

3.

Name of the newspaper.

4.

Email of the contact person

5.

Description of the project in English.

6.

Give a link that works! Shorten long strings with www.tinyurl.com. Check the link in the finished pdf!

7.

Paywall: Give us access data for six accesses. Put the access data directly to the link. Valid until 31 January. If you need names and emails of the jury members, write an email to nkuepper@newspaperaward.org

8.

A screenshot must show the start page of the project. Also include screenshots of inside pages.

Do you have questions about the submission? Email to nkuepper@newspaperaward.org

How to participate with cross-media projects

Cross-media projects are submitted in the online categories! Send the newspaper pages as Pdf. Name the pdfs according to the category.

Give each pdf document the name of the category and the name of the newspaper.

Please write the name of the newspaper correctly, for example: Der_Tagesspiegel, Stuttgarter_Zeitung.

A separate Pdf document must be created for each project.

Only Pdf documents are allowed. Word documents can be saved as Pdf.

Upload submissions in the Upload Centre

Upload entries in the 20 categories and two complete newspapers as a pdf in the Upload Centre.

1.

Use the Upload Center: Upload Center

2.

Create an account and enter the required information.

3.

If you have an account from the previous year, you can register again. We can also send you a new password.

4.

Do not send your submissions as individual pdf files, but put all submissions together in a single folder and zip the files. Then upload. Up to 600 MB can be done in one upload. If you have more data, just do a second upload. Film files can also be uploaded in this way.

Corrections to submissions

Files that have been uploaded can no longer be changed. If you want to add something, you can make another upload. If necessary, you can also completely re-upload the data. We will then delete the old files.

Participation fees

– The fee is charged per newspaper title. Example: Die Welt, Welt am Sonntag, Welt am Sonntag kompakt are three newspaper titles, thus three entry fees.
– A maximum of 4 entries can be made in each print category and also in each print sub-category. That is more than 150 submissions with a single fee.

Early-Bird: Deadline Wednesday 31.10. Charge 290 Euro

Regular: Deadline Wednesday 15.11. Charge 370 Euro

Late: Deadline Wednesday 30.11. Charge 450 Euro

– Deadline: Arrival of the submission at the Upload Center.

– Student works pay half the regular charge.

Request invoice

– In order to be able to write an invoice, we need the exact company address. If in doubt, ask your accountant for the correct address.

– If you register in the upload centre, you will also enter an invoice address there. We will then send the invoice automatically.

– It is also possible to request an invoice by e-mail: nkuepper@newspaperaward.org.

– After you have requested an invoice, you will receive it by e-mail, usually within 24 hours. The amount must be received by 31 December.

– If the entry fee is not paid, the participating newspaper will be disqualified.

– If you have any questions, please contact us: nkuepper@newspaperaward.org

Main awards: European Newspaper of the Year

In order to be able to decide on the main awards, the jury needs two complete newspapers from specific days of issue as pdf files. The main awards are judged on concept and design. The interaction between print and online also plays an increasingly important role. Information on print circulation and online user figures are therefore also important. This information is provided during the registration process in the Upload Centre.

The European Newspaper Award has always distinguished between local newspaper, regional newspaper, nationwide newspaper and weekly newspaper, because these newspaper categories have different contents and resources that should be taken into account. For example, there are local newspapers that have very few editors and layouters but still make an outstanding product.

Here are a few examples of main award winners from previous years:

Local newspaper

24th Competition, European Newspaper of the Year, Local Newspaper Category: Las Provincias, Spain.
Las Provincias is published in Valencia in tabloid format and has a circulation of about 8,000 copies. The newspaper has 51 editors, 5 photographers and 5 layouters. The newspaper is also very successful on the internet.

22nd Competition, European Newspaper of the Year, Local Newspaper Category: Contacto, Luxembourg
The local weekly newspaper Contacto is produced for Portuguese-speaking citizens in Luxembourg. It has a circulation of 21,000 copies and is produced in tabloid format. The newspaper has five editors, two layouters and seven correpondents. Some of the journalists and designers also work for media in Portugal and for international newspapers.

Regional newspaper

25th Competition, European Newspaper of the Year, Regional Newspaper Category: Der Tagesspiegel, Germany

25th Competition, European Newspaper of the Year, Nationwide Newspaper Category: NRC, Netherlands

Nationwide Newspaper

23rd competition, European Newspaper of the Year, category national newspaper: De Tijd, Belgium
De Tijd is issued in the Berlin format with a circulation of 55,000 copies. Their web site counts ca 200,000 users per day (unique visitors per day). They employ 95 journalists, five
layout designers, three infographic specialists and three photo editors.

22nd competition, European Newspaper of the Year, category national newspaper: de Volkskrant, Netherlands
De Volkskrant is a nationwide newspaper published in Amsterdam. It is printed in tabloid format and has a circulation of about 400,000 copies. The newspaper employs 65 journalists, 4 photographers and 12 layouters.

Weekly newspaper

24th competition, European Newspaper of the Year, weekly newspaper category: NZZ am Sonntag, Switzerland.
The NZZ am Sonntag is published in Swiss format and has a circulation of about 102,000 copies. The newspaper employs 57 journalists and six layouters. It also employs an art director for the newspaper and one for the magazine, as well as an infographic artist.

Weekly newspaper

23rd competition, European Newspaper of the Year, weekly newspaper category: Expresso, Portugal
Expresso is a newspaper in the Berlin format with a circulation of ca 90,000 copies Their staff consists of 80 editors, five photographers and ten layout editors.

Judges’s Special Recognition

The jury awards special prizes for particularly outstanding projects in individual categories: Judges‘ Special Recognition. This award stands between the main prizes and the Awards of Excellence. Here are a few examples.

Crossmedia: de Volkskrant

The newspaper was awarded a Judges‘ Special Recognition for a cross-media project.

Podcasts: Hamburger Abendblatt

The newspaper was awarded a Judges‘ Special Recognition for its creative diversity in podcasts.

Judges’ Special Recognition

21st Competition, Judges‘ Special Recognition for the Fuldaer Zeitung. This special award is slightly below the main award. In the case of the Fuldaer Zeitung, the decisive factor was the newspaper’s conversion to a strongly visual design. The Fuldaer Zeitung is published in Berlin format and has a circulation of about 37,000 copies. An art director was hired specifically to be able to implement the new concept.

In this category you can submit front pages, series of front pages as well as covers and cover stories. A maximum of four works are allowed.

It is possible to combine four front pages into a series, for example four Saturday front pages. This series then counts as one submission.

We prefer front pages and the corresponding cover story inside. However, it is not a problem to submit only front pages, as there are newspapers that do not have a long cover story inside.

In this category you can submit front pages, series of front pages as well as covers and cover stories. A maximum of four works are allowed.

It is possible to combine four front pages into a series, for example four Saturday front pages. This series then counts as one submission.

We prefer front pages and the corresponding cover story inside. However, it is not a problem to submit only front pages, as there are newspapers that do not have a long cover story inside.

In this category you can submit front pages, series of front pages as well as covers and cover stories. A maximum of four works are allowed.

It is possible to combine four front pages into a series, for example four Saturday front pages. This series then counts as one submission.

We prefer front pages and the corresponding cover story inside. However, it is not a problem to submit only front pages, as there are newspapers that do not have a long cover story inside.

In this category you can submit front pages, series of front pages as well as covers and cover stories. A maximum of four works are allowed.

It is possible to combine four front pages into a series, for example four Saturday front pages. This series then counts as one submission.

We prefer front pages and the corresponding cover story inside. However, it is not a problem to submit only front pages, as there are newspapers that do not have a long cover story inside.

In this category you can submit section covers, series of section covers and section covers with a story inside. A maximum of four works are allowed.

It is possible to combine four section title pages into a series, for example to show the variety of design possibilities. This series then counts as one submission.

We prefer section covers and the corresponding story inside. However, it is not a problem to submit only section covers, as there are newspapers that do not have a long cover story inside.

In this category you can submit section covers, series of section covers and section covers with a story inside. A maximum of four works are allowed.

It is possible to combine four section title pages into a series, for example to show the variety of design possibilities. This series then counts as one submission.

We prefer section covers and the corresponding story inside. However, it is not a problem to submit only section covers, as there are newspapers that do not have a long cover story inside.

In this category you can submit section covers, series of section covers and section covers with a story inside. A maximum of four works are allowed.

It is possible to combine four section title pages into a series, for example to show the variety of design possibilities. This series then counts as one submission.

We prefer section covers and the corresponding story inside. However, it is not a problem to submit only section covers, as there are newspapers that do not have a long cover story inside.

In this category you can submit section covers, series of section covers and section covers with a story inside. A maximum of four works are allowed.

It is possible to combine four section title pages into a series, for example to show the variety of design possibilities. This series then counts as one submission.

We prefer section covers and the corresponding story inside. However, it is not a problem to submit only section covers, as there are newspapers that do not have a long cover story inside.

Submit entries on the topic of refugees in this category in print. A maximum of four entries are allowed. Only print submissions are allowed. Online submissions only in the online categories.

Submit contributions on the topic of terror, war in this category in print. A maximum of four entries are allowed. Only print submissions are allowed. Online submissions only in the online categories.

Submit entries on the topic of natural disasters in this category in print. A maximum of four entries are allowed. Only print submissions are allowed. Online submissions only in the online categories.

Submit entries on the theme of environmental protection in this category in print. A maximum of four entries are allowed.

In this category, submit articles in print on the topic of elections. A maximum of four entries are allowed.

Submit entries in this category in print on the topic of prominent deceased persons. A maximum of four entries are allowed.

In this Print category, submit entries on the subject of the European Football Championship. A maximum of four entries are allowed. Here is an example of the European Women’s Football Championship. Only print submissions are allowed. Online submissions only in the online categories.

Submit entries on the subject of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in this Print category. There are no examples yet. Only print submissions are permitted. Online submissions only in the online categories.

Photographic series can be submitted in this category. A maximum of four entries are allowed.

Portraits can be submitted in this category. A maximum of four entries are allowed.

Pages with outstanding image editing can be submitted in this category. A maximum of four entries are allowed.

Pages with outstanding sequences can be submitted in this category. A maximum of four entries are allowed.

Pages with outstanding examples of atmosphere in pictures can be submitted in this category. A maximum of four entries are allowed.

Pages with outstanding examples of perspective can be submitted in this category. A maximum of four works are allowed.

Picture pages can be submitted in this category. A maximum of four entries are allowed.

Photo reportages can be submitted in this category. A maximum of four entries are allowed. Photo reportages tell a story mainly with pictures.

This category includes outstanding examples of visualisation of themes. A maximum of four entries are allowed.

This category is for examples of visual storytelling and alternative storytelling. Visual or alternative storytelling is a combination of text, infographics, photography and illustration that presents a topic in the best possible way for the reader. A maximum of four entries are allowed.

This category includes examples of full-page infographics. The infographic or a number of infographics are an essential part of the information. A maximum of four entries are allowed.

This category includes examples of small infographics. They are mostly small bars, columns or fever curves that present the essential figures of an article. A maximum of four entries are allowed.

This category includes examples of infographics with an emphasis on maps. A maximum of four works are allowed.

This category includes examples of illustration. This means drawings, watercolours or illustrations made by other technical means. Photographs do not belong in this category. A maximum of four entries are allowed.

This category includes outstanding weekend supplements. The day of the week on which they are published does not matter. What is essential is that they are an integral part of the newspaper and are published regularly. A maximum of four pieces are allowed. It is best to select the best front pages, cover stories, photo reports of a weekend supplement and submit them in this category.

This category includes outstanding supplements on special occasions. The end of the Second World War, the success of a regional football team, the commemoration of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp – there are many topics that can be covered in a special supplement.

This category includes outstanding magazine supplements. This refers to supplements that are printed on magazine paper and are published in the magazine layout. They can also be magazines that are offered on the newsstand in addition to the newspaper. Please do not submit magazines or parts of magazines, such as cover and cover stories or photo reports, in other categories. We want to deal with the magazines exclusively in this category.

This category includes outstanding special pages. They are usually single or double pages that do not fit in other categories. They are often outstandingly laid out. The jury reserves the right to move submissions to other categories if they can be better judged there.

This category is about new editorial series. A description of the project and some examples in pdf format are required.

Multimedia storytelling means that a topic is presented using various journalistic means. It is usually a combination of photography or film, infographics, animated infographics, illustration and text. One can submit four different projects.

Films are rated in this category. They are usually presented in the online channels of newspapers. You can submit four different projects.

In this category, the functionality, navigation and design of news websites are evaluated. Both screen and smartphone are evaluated. Four different projects can be submitted.

This category is about topics that are brought to the readers on different channels. It is mostly about print and online. Projects in other innovative cross-media playout channels can also be submitted here. However, podcast – print should be judged in the podcast category because there are jury members with podcast experience. Four different projects can be submitted.

This category is about infographics online. They can be animated by scrolling, for example, or run automatically. You can submit four different projects.

This category is about data that is processed on the web and made accessible to readers. The journalistic idea behind the respective project is also evaluated. The data can be self-collected or, for example, from publicly accessible sources. Four different projects can be submitted.

Podcasts are evaluated in this category. Criteria are, for example: innovative topic, professional production, enrichment with quotations and/or sound elements, length of the podcast appropriate to the topic. Podcast – Print can also be submitted here; no separate category will be set up for this. Four different projects can be submitted.

This new category is about the use of artificial intelligence in editorial projects. These can be projects in print, online or cross-media. The use of AI photography also belongs in this category.

Describe the respective project as in the online categories:
– At the top is an image of the project.
– Underneath is a description of the project.
– If it can be found online, please include a link.
– Name and email of a contact person.