Judges in the Newspaper Association of South Africa's annual Frewin, McCall and Joel Mervis competition were highly impressed with the level of innovation evident in this year's competition.

The awards, which have been in existence for a collective 120 years, recognise newspaper excellence in advertising, printing and production, layout and typography as well as the balance between the use of pictures and graphics.

Clive Loxton, the convenor of judges, said, "Considering this was a year of economic recession, it is amazing how little effect this had on the visual aspects of your craft. One would have expected more caution."

The panel of judges was comprised of Loxton, creative faculty head of the AAA School of Advertising; Logan Naidu, learnerships and apprenticeships specialist at Mappp-seta; Marilyn du Toit, lecturer in graphic design at the AAA School of Advertising; and Linda Rademan, lecturer in art direction at the AAA School of Advertising.

Finalists in the Frewin award category, which recognises urban daily newspapers with a circulation above 50,000, are, in no particular order:

• Beeld
• Cape Times.
• Daily News
• Die Burger

Finalists in the McCall award category, which honours urban daily newspapers with a circulation of 50,000 or less, are, in no particular order:

• Die Volksblad
• Pretoria News
• The Witness

The Joel Mervis award category was described by the judges as the section that not only had the most notable innovation, but the toughest contenders all vying for top honours. Finalists in this category, which recognises urban weekly newspapers irrespective of their circulation, are:

• City Press
• Mail & Guardian
• Naweek Beeld

The winners will be announced at the Mondi Shanduka Awards ceremony at Soccer City in Johannesburg on 5 May.