The Age was last night named the best major paper in the Pacific region, scooping the prestigious PANPA Award on the industry’s night of nights in Sydney.

In a good night for Fairfax The Australian Financial Review and Newcastle Herald were named best papers going out 5-7 days per week with a circulation below 90,000, and the pair also picked up mobile site of the year in the metro and regional categories respectively.

The editor of rural daily The Land picked up the Hegarty Prize recognising the management potential in young execs, while national trade marketing director Chelsea Wymer picked up the marketer of the year gong for her work in relaunching the metro papers as compacts.

Digital news destination of the year was News SA’s advertiser.com.au.

Newspaper Works CEO Mark Hollands said: “The awards are a chance for the newspaper industry to celebrate our great work in the face of adversity, given the difficult economic climate and period of transition we currently operate in.