An independent weekly newspaper will battle it out with a number of national titles to win an award for the best newspaper app.

The Rotherham Advertiser’s birth, marriages and deaths iPhone app was launched last June and has now been shortlisted in the 2011 Newspaper Awards, which recognise excellence in news media production.

It will fight against leading names in the industry to win the Newspaper App of the Year title, including the Guardian, Financial Times, The Times, The Sunday Times and Denmark’s Berlingske Media Business.

The winners of 20 categories across the regional, national and international press will be announced at a ceremony on 24 May in London.

Other regional titles to feature in the shortlist include the Cambridge News which is up for a number of awards, including Newspaper Design of the Year and Coldset Colour Supplement of the Year – facing competition from national newspapers for both.

And Eastern Daily Press will compete against six national titles for the Weekend Newspaper of the Year award.

Both regional dailies have been nominated for the Regional Newspaper of the Year Award along with Bournemouth’s Daily Echo, the Dorset Echo, Cork’s Evening Echo, The Irish News and the Shropshire Star.

The papers competing for the Weekly Newspaper of the Year are Cambridge News & Crier Now, the Cornish Guardian, The Cumberland News, Hampshire Chronicle, St Neots News & Crier and the Weston, Worle & Somerset Mercury.

Awards director Gary Cullum said: “The 2011 Newspaper Award judges spent two days scrutinising well over 1,000 newspapers. Overall the standard was exceptional and just goes to prove that the quality of newspapers still sparkles despite a challenging economic environment.”

The shortlist includes:

Regional Newspaper of the Year
Cambridge News
Daily Echo, Bournemouth
Dorset Echo
Eastern Daily Press
Evening Echo, Cork
The Irish News
Shropshire Star

Weekend Newspaper of the Year – sponsored by OneVision
Eastern Daily Press
FT Weekend
The Guardian
The Mail on Sunday
The Observer
The Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Times

Environmental Initiative of the Year – sponsored by UPM
Archant – Sustainability strategy
Evening Chronicle – Go Green
Express & Echo, Exeter – Green Team
The Forester – ‘Hands off our Forest’ campaign
Metro – Directional Reader recycling initiative
Newsprinters Environmental Group
Trinity Mirror – Carbon Trust Standard

Weekly Newspaper of the Year – sponsored by Ferag, WRH Marketing
Cambridge News & Crier Now
Cornish Guardian
The Cumberland News
Hampshire Chronicle
St Neots News & Crier
Weston, Worle & Somerset Mercury

Regional Supplement/Magazine of the Year – sponsored by Precision Colour Printing
Cambridge Business (Cambridge Newspapers)
The Derbyshire Magazine (Derby Telegraph)
Norfolk (Eastern Daily Press)
Nottinghamshire Today (Nottingham Post)
Shropshire Magazine (Shropshire Newspapers)
Tynedale Life (Hexham Courant)

Coldset Colour Supplement of the Year – sponsored by Sun Chemical
Homes Now (Cambridge News)
House & Home (FT Weekend)
Life (The Sunday Telegraph)
Travel (The Sunday Times)
Weekend (Irish Independent)
Weekend Review (Irish Independent)

Newspaper Design of the Year – sponsored by Press Ahead
Cambridge News
The Guardian
I (from The Independent)
The Independent
Irish Examiner
The New Sunday Herald
The Sunday Times

Best Use of New Media – sponsored by Digital Technology International
Belfast Telegraph
The Guardian
Hackney Citizen
The Pink ‘Un
The Sunday Times

Digital News Service of the Year – sponsored by PCS
belfasttelegraph.co.uk
caledonianmercury.com
guardian.co.uk
Guardian Local
independent.co.uk
london-se1.co.uk
thesundaytimes.co.uk

Newspaper App of the Year – sponsored by PageSuite
Berlingske Media Business (iPad)
Financial Times (iPad)
The Guardian (iPhone)
Rotherham Advertiser Births, Deaths, Marriages (iPhone)
The Sunday Times (iPad)
The Times (iPad)

Newspaper Printer of the Year – sponsored by Agfa
Guardian Print Centre (The Guardian, The Observer)
Irish Independent Citywest (Evening Herald, Irish Independent, Sunday Independent)
Newsprinters, Broxbourne (News of the World, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph)
Newsprinters, Eurocentral (The Sunday Times, The Times, Edinburgh Evening News)
Newsprinters, Knowsley (Financial Times, TLS, The Sun)
Webprint Concepts (Evening Echo – Cork, Irish Examiner, Sunday Business Post)