81 printing and publishing companies from 29 countries worldwide fulfilled the rigorous criteria for membership in 2012-2014 of the exclusive International Newspaper Color Quality Club established by WAN-IFRA, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. The awards for outstanding quality in colour newspaper production will be presented during the World Publishing Expo scheduled from 29 to 31 October in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Focus on international newspaper printing standards
A biennial event launched in 1994, the selection trials this year attracted 192 titles from publishers in 43 countries keen to gain much-coveted acceptance in this elite international circle of newspapers printed to the highest quality standards. The winners were selected during a three-month screening process based on print samples featuring prespecified test elements, with additional visual scrutiny by a panel of experts. According to a WAN-IFRA spokesman, the production plants of the successful applicants also proved their compliance with rigorous ISO norms and thus their ability to reproduce colour images and ads in a uniformly high quality and with the desired visual impact.

KBA users carry off over 40 per cent of the awards
35 awards - or 43 per cent of the total - went to newspaper publishers with KBA presses in Europe, North and Central America, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Alongside quality-focussed newspaper publishers with conventional offset presses, seven European users of compact KBA Cortina waterless presses were among the top rankings: Botniaprint, Centre d'Impression Edipresse, Druckerei Konstanz, Druckzentrum Nordsee, Freiburger Druck, Rheinisch-Bergische Druckerei and Rheinpfalz Verlag und Druckerei.

The award-winning KBA newspaper customers are:

• Al-Yaum Media House, Dammam, Saudi-Arabia (Al-Yaum Newspaper),
• Alma Manu, Rovaniemi, Finland (Lapin Kansa),
• Botniaprint, Kokkola, Finland (Keskipohjanmaa),
• Brune-Mettcker Druck- und Verlags-GmbH, Wilhelmshaven, Germany (Wilhelmshavener Zeitung),
• Büchler-Grafino Druckzentrum, Bern, Switzerland (Berner Zeitung),
• CIE Centre d'Impression Edipresse in Bussigny, Switzerland (Tribune de Genève),
• Coop Presse in Basel, Switzerland (Coopzeitung),
• Druck- und Verlagshaus Frankfurt am Main in Neu-Isenburg, Germany (Frankfurter Rundschau, Handelsblatt),
• Druckerei Konstanz in Konstanz, Germany (Konstanzer Anzeiger, Südkurier),
• Druckzentrum Nordsee in Bremerhaven, Germany (Nordsee-Zeitung, Sonntagsjournal der Nordsee-Zeitung),
• EditoGran in Guayaquil, Ecuador (El Telegrafo),
• Frankfurter Societäts-Druckerei in Mörfelden, Germany (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung),
• Märkische Verlags- und Druck-Gesellschaft in Potsdam, Germany (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung),
• Feza Gazetecilik in Istanbul, Ankara, Trabzon, Adana and Izmir, Turkey (Today's Zaman, Zaman, Zaman Cuma, Zaman Cumartesi, Zaman Pazar),
• Freiburger Druck in Freiburg, Germany (Badische Zeitung, Der Sonntag, Freiburger Wochenbericht),
• Heilbronner Stimme in Heilbronn, Germany (Heilbronner Stimme),
• Journal Communications in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel),
• KHL Printing in Singapore, (Asia Wall Street Journal),
• Mediacorp Press in Singapore (Today),
• Pressehaus Stuttgart Druck in Stuttgart, Germany (Stuttgarter Zeitung),
• Printing Partners Brussels in Groot Bijgaarden, Belgium (Het Nieuwsblad, l'avenir),
• Printing Partners Paal-Beringen, Paal-Beringen, Belgium (Het Belang van Limburg, Gazet van Antwerpen),
• Rheinisch-Bergische Druckerei in Düsseldorf, Germany (Rheinische Post),
• Rheinpfalz Verlag und Druckerei in Ludwigshafen, Germany (Die Rheinpfalz),
• Singapore Press Holdings in Singapore (The Straits Times, Berita Harian, Lianhe Zaobao),
• Tamedia in Zurich, Switzerland (Tages Anzeiger),
• The Globe and Mail, Vaughan Print Plant in Toronto, Canada (The Globe and Mail, Metro Edition),
• The Printers (Mysore) in Bangalore, India (Deccan Herald, Prajavani),
• Ungeheuer + Ulmer in Ludwigsburg, Germany (Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung),
• United Printing & Publishing in Shahama, Abu Dhabi, UAE, (7 Days, The National, Al Ittihad, Financial Times),
• V-TAB in Västerås, Sweden (VLT),
• Verlag E. Holterdorf in Oelde, Germany(Die Glocke),
• Wegener Nieuwsdruk Gelderland (WNG) in Apeldoorn, Netherlands (de Peperbus),
• Wegener Nieuwsdruk Twente (WNT) in Enschede, Netherlands (De Twentsche Courant Tubantia, Huis aan Hius Enschede),
• West Australian Newspaper in Perth, Australia (The West Australian, Seven Days).

KBA congratulates its customers and all the other winners on this outstanding achievement.