Society for News Design honors best-designed newspapers in annual judging hosted by Newhouse School

Society for News Design honors best-designed newspapers in annual judging hosted by Newhouse SchoolFebruary 25, 2008SU News ServicesSUnews@syr.edu

In its 29th annual The Best of Newspaper Design™ Creative Competition, the Society for News Design (SND) has named four “World’s Best-Designed Newspapers™” and issued 1,162 other design awards for journalism published in 2007. The winners came from 14,818 entries submitted by 398 daily and nondaily newspapers from around the world. In a new category, two awards of excellence were given for coverage of global warming, to Publico in Madrid and Dagens Industri in Stockholm.

The competition, co-sponsored by SND and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, recognizes excellence in newspaper design, graphics and photography. Judges from around the globe met in two stages over two long weekends in February at the Newhouse School.

This year’s “World’s Best-Designed Newspapers™” are:

• Akzia in Moscow, biweekly, circulation 200,000
• Expresso in Paco de Arcos, Portugal, weekly, circulation 140,000
• Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in Frankfurt, Germany, weekly, circulation 320,000
• The Guardian in London, daily, circulation 355,750.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung and The Guardian were honored previously as “World’s Best-Designed Newspapers™.” Judges said they sought consistency as one key in evaluating the 343 entries in that category.

In the 18 other competition categories, judges awarded eight gold medals, 28 silver medals, four judges’ special recognitions and 1,122 awards of excellence.

“Judges selected only the very best entries to win medals,” says C. Marshall Matlock, competition and judging director for the Newhouse School and the competition committee director for SND. “It’s a busy time for the industry and an exciting year for design. It’s gratifying so many good designs were honored for 2007’s work. It speaks well for design and newsrooms from around the world, and continues to make the society’s competition the most prestigious in the world.”

The top award winners will be honored during the Society’s Annual Workshop and Exhibition in Las Vegas, Sept. 7-9. Winners and the judges’ comments will be showcased in the 29th Edition book, “The Best of Newspaper Design™,” available this fall.

The Society for News Design is an international professional organization with a mission to enhance communication around the world through excellence in visual journalism. The Society, founded in 1979, has more than 2,000 professional, educator and student members in 52 countries. To learn more, visit http://www.snd.org.