newspapers  awards  mailing and distribution 
The Age Print Centre at Tullamarine, managed by The Age newspaper, has won the world’s most prestigious award for printing quality, with The Age newspaper awarded entry into the International Newspaper Colour Quality Club for for the second successive time. The Age Print Centre, which prints the Age and the Australian Financial Review (Victorian copies), is now the only newspaper in Australia to meet the high standards required for the award, which is decided by an international jury.

Newspapers participating in the program undergo a rigorous evaluation and must meet the highest international benchmarks for colour reproduction on newsprint.

Don Churchill, managing director of The Age and Fairfax Victoria, says, “The Age is delighted to be recognised internationally for achieving outstanding results for our readers and advertisers. It is also a great honour and tribute to our printing staff at Tullamarine”.

Brian Ashton, director group operations, Fairfax, says, “Printing quality is of vital importance to our advertisers and readers and I am delighted that The Age continues to set such high standards”.

The International Newspaper Colour Quality Award is an initiative sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), IFRA, an international association for newspaper and media publishing, and the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers Association (PANPA).

More than 181 newspapers from 38 countries entered the competition, in which they print and submit products and newspapers from production runs.

Of the 50 winners in 2004, only 21 (including The Age Print Centre) retained its place in this year’s competition.