Zero Hora of Brazil and Express & Echo of the United Kingdom were presented with World Young Reader Newspapers of the Year awards today in the annual competition organized by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

The awards, which honours innovative newspapers with the best projects to attract young readers, were presented at the 8th World Young Reader Conference in Prague, Czech Republic. Awards were also presented in six categories: branding, public service, press freedom, editorial, newspapers in education and in "making the news";.

Winners of the prizes had much in common, said Aralynn McMane, Director of Young Reader Development for WAN-IFRA.

"These papers tended to do something that was a life stage 'first' for young people. This is a key strategy for young reader development, to be there for the first time a young person does something, or there family does something,"; she said.

"They also tend to be everywhere, on all platforms, and they engage in causes,"; she said. "And they do it with an authentic voice. You can't fake that, there is nothing worse than an old person trying to talk like a young person.";

The Brazilian regional newspaper Zero Hora was honoured for its wide-ranging "Total Youth Think"; strategy that has resulted in remarkable success in attracting young people. The newspaper reaches 78 percent of all 20- to 29-year olds in its market, and 71 percent of all 15- to 19-year olds.

"Express & Echo, a small daily (22 000 circulation), was honoured for its role in helping young people save the environment. Its 'Green Team Project' encourages youngsters to develop practical environmental conservation projects while developing a relationship with the newspaper.

A summary of the projects can be found here.

Other top awards, supported by the global newsprint supplier Norske Skog, went to:

  Journal des Enfants of France, in the Press Freedom category, for its "Free my Daddy!"; special supplement that focused on the testimonials of children of jailed journalists.

  Svobodnyi kurs of Russia, in the Newspapers in Education category, for the adventure educational game "Strategy A," an innovative multi-platform use of newspaper content to learn about finance.

  Dagblad de Limburger/Limburgs Dagblad of The Netherlands, in the Brand category, for its election of the "Coolest Teacher in Limburg"; project, which created links to students, to the community and to teachers in a fresh, fun manner.

  Malayala Manorama of India, in the Public Service category, for its "Serve As a Volunteer For Energy (SAVE)"; contest that was an environmentally friendly reader participation opportunity that helped reduce household budgets and improve the environment.

  Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung of Germany, in the Editorial category, for its Blue magazine that was created from content generated by the Oscommunity social network, and which attracted new advertising.

  La Repubblica of Italy, in the Making the News category, for its relaunched Repubblica@scuola student reporter project that used all platforms and featured regular contact with real journalists to assure lessons about professional newsgathering.

The World Young Reader Conference continues through Tuesday. Summaries of conference presentations can be found here.

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organisation of the world's newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. The organisation was created by the merger of the World Association of Newspapers and IFRA, the research and service organisation for the news publishing industry.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, WAN-IFRA, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: larry.kilman@wan-ifra.org.