The National Newspaper Awards were established in 1949 by the Toronto Press Club with the financial and moral support of the late C. George McCullagh. Since 1989, the awards have been governed by a Board of Governors representing both daily newspapers and the public. The awards are administered by the not-for-profit Canadian Daily Newspaper Awards Programme Administration Corporation.

The NNAs are housed at the Canadian Newspaper Association, 890 Yonge St., Suite 200, Toronto, ON. M4W 3P4. Tel: 416-923-3567, ext 228; Fax: 416-923-7206; EMAIL: nna@cna-acj.ca.

The National Newspaper Awards are funded through an annual fund-raising program (to which almost 65% of Canadian newspapers contribute), entry fees, newspaper corporate donations to assist in the awards gala, and ticket sales to the gala.

Categories
There are 22 categories: Multimedia Feature; Breaking News; Investigations; Presentation; Sports; Business; Politics; Long Feature Writing; Short Feature Writing; Columns; Editorial Writing; Arts and Entertainment; Editorial Cartooning; Special Project; News Feature Photography; Spot News Photography; Sports Photography; Feature Photography; International Reporting; Explanatory Journalism; and Local Reporting (for newspapers under 30,000 circulation).

Entry Fee
Entry fee is $40 per entry, plus GST. Entry fee for those with newspapers under 30,000 circulation is $25, plus GST.

Judging
Judging is done by prominent people selected from across the country. Most have had extensive media experience. There are three judges in each category and they arrive at a consensus decision after examining the entries over a seven-week period.