The best regional and local newspapers in the industry could be in with a chance of winning a top award.

The 2012 Newspaper Awards are dedicated to news media production and with 19 categories in total designed are to showcase the best in printed and digital media.

Entries are now open and categories include the weekly and regional newspaper of the year, plus a new category for news photograph of the year.

Other major changes include the Regional Newspaper of the Year category being split into under 25,000 and over 25,000 circulation and the Weekend Newspaper of the Year category being split into National and Regional categories.

The changes have been made to allow smaller regional newspapers to compete with newspapers with significantly larger budgets.

There will also be a Corporate Environment Award and a Community Environment Award, recognising the difficulty of judging group-wide initiatives against much smaller local projects driven by local newspapers.

Gary Cullum, director of the Newspaper Awards, said: “There’s no denying how tough things are. Newspapers are not only having to face dire economic conditions but also have to look closely at how to make real money out of this brave new digital world.

“The 2012 Newspaper Awards will give everyone a chance to celebrate what our industry has to offer and to look forward to a brighter, more positive future.”

Closing date for entries is 10 February and the winners will be announced on 25 April at the Awards dinner held at the London Hilton.

Log onto www.newspaperawards.co.uk for more information and the full list of categories.