New York Times and Washington Post named World’s Best by SND

  • April 29, 2020
Society for News Design

WASHINGTON, DC – The Society for News Design has awarded The New York Times the designation of “World’s Best-Designed Newspaper™” in its 41st annual “Best of News Design™ Creative Competition”. Judges said, The Times is “fearless about using print to all its advantages — displaying original photography with impact, opening up space and creating sections to tell stories with serious intent but also, in appropriate measure, with serendipity and surprise. ”

The Washington Post won “World’s Best-Designed™ in Digital” in the SND “Best of Digital Design™” competition. “The newsroom’s approach to visual storytelling is not trapped inside the formats imposed upon our industry by huge platforms but stretches design boundaries and uses new technologies to tell compelling, important stories,” wrote the judges in the digital competition.

The “Best of News Design™ Creative Competition”, held earlier this year in St. Petersburg, is a juried competition recognizing journalistic excellence in storytelling, graphics, illustration, photography and news design. This year the competition awarded 13 gold medals, 61 silver medals, two judges’ special recognition, and 920 awards of excellence. The winners came from nearly 4,000 entries. Judges awarded Best in Show to The Washington Post for “The Mueller Report Illustrated”.

The “Best of Digital Design™” competition, held earlier this year in Washington, D.C., is a juried competition honoring visual and technical excellence in storytelling, graphics, social media and product design. The competition awarded 3 gold medals, 36 silver medals, 92 bronze medals, 392 awards of excellence to work from more than 75 publications. The winners came from 1,315 entries. Judges awarded Best in Show for Mobile Storytelling to “Self-driving cars: Who to save, who to sacrifice” from Radio-Canada.

The Society issued 1,539 design awards for journalism published in 2019. Coverage of the judging for both competitions is at www.snd.org

The judges for the “Best of News Design™ Creative Competition” were: J. Damon Cain, The Register-Herald; Vince Chiaramonte, The Buffalo News; Chiqui Esteban, The Washington Post; Christian Font, The Washington Post; Francesco Franchi, Repubblica; Matt Frehner, Globe and Mail; Nicole Fruge, San Francisco Chronicle; Becky Guthrie, National Post; Ryan Hildebrandt, Gannett; Tom Jolly, The New York Times; Emily Kimbro, Texas Monthly; Laurie Lawrence, American City Business Journals; Ian Lawson, Memphis Business Journal; Matt Mansfield,  MG Strategy + Design; Lily Mihalik, Politico; John Nichols, The Wall Street Journal; Josh Penrod, The Star Tribune; Mark Porter, The Guardian; Susana Sanchez-Young, Advance Local; Ryan Sparrow, Ball State University; Claudia Strong, Syracuse University; Matt Swaney, Prairie Mountain Media; Hannah Tak, National Geographic Magazine; Chin Wang, ESPN; Michael Whitley, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Jon Wile, American City Business Journals/

The judges for the The “Best of Digital Design™” competition were: Sohail al-Jamea, McClatchy; Libby Bawcombe, NPR; Jan Diehm, The Pudding;  Kennedy Elliott, National Geographic; Martin Frobisher, Tampa Bay Times; Scott Klein, ProPublica; Jeremy C.F. Lin, Bloomberg; Darren Long, South China Morning Post; Tiffany Middleton, ESPN; Shazna Nessa, The Wall Street Journal; Renate Rognan, NRK; Simon Scarr, Reuters; Umi Syam, The New York Times; Monica Ulmanu, The Washington Post.

The Society for News Design is an international professional organization with a mission to enhance communication around the world through excellence in visual journalism. The Society, founded in 1979, has more than 1,000 members in 36 countries.