A new award to recognise the most significant contribution to future newspaper success, is to be included at the 2007 Newspaper Awards.

For the first time, organisers will present a prize to the person or organisation responsible for a project or innovation that has improved newspaper sales and readership.

The award is open to all newspaper publishers, printers and industry suppliers in the UK and Ireland and, along with 16 other prizes, it will be handed out during a ceremony at the London Hilton on April 24.

Judges will consider a wide range of criteria including evidence of commercial success and sales and readership improvement, how the entry supports the printed newspaper and how it might influence the newspaper industry in general.

Entries for the competition, organised by the Production Journal, are now being accepted, and other categories include Regional Newspaper of the Year, Regional Weekly Newspaper of the Year, Newspaper Design of the Year and Best Electronic News Site of the Year.

This year’s winners included The Aldershot News, which won Regional Weekly Newspaper of the Year, and Westcountry Publications, which was named Environmental Newspaper Company of the Year.

For more details on how to enter, visit www.newspaperawards.co.uk.