Judges for each competition are selected from a "master list" of possible judges. One does not have to be a SND member to be a judge. A person may nominate himself if he or she wishes. Nominations should be sent to the Competition Committee Director who will keep the "master" list.

Judges are those individuals prominent and/or knowledgeable enough to sit in judgment of the competition. The Competition Committee will make the final selections based on need. Every effort is made to get a good cross-section of all possible judges for a given competition.

Twenty-six judges are used to decide winners from the two judgings that make up each year's competition. Judges are selected in a private Competition Committee meeting at SND's fall workshop.

Below are the World's Best category judges for the 25th Edition competition.

	Deborah Goeken has been managing editor of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver since September 1999. During that time, the News has received two Pulitzer Prizes for photography - one for coverage of the Columbine, Colo., school shootings and another for coverage of wildfires that swept the state. In 2003, the News won its eighth consecutive general-excellence award for large newspapers from the Colorado Press Association. Goeken joined the News in 1986 as a business reporter, and she has been business editor, city editor and assistant managing editor at the paper.
	Anna Ostlund has been a reporter, sub editor and news editor during 14 years at several Swedish newspapers. She has also been a communication consultant at a communication bureau, focusing on both internal and external communication at companies such as Ericsson. She's currently project manager at an advertising agency, working with marketing communication for SSAB Swedish Steel. Ostlund is president of SND Scandinavia.
	David Pratt began with Bodoni on a weekly newspaper in England at age 18 and worked his way to Walbaum at Canada's largest national daily, The Globe and Mail, where he leads the photo, design and graphics team. Over the past 30 years, he has worked as a writer, editor and designer on four continents and at a dozen different newspapers.
	Carlos Soria is president of INNOVATION International Media Consulting Group. He has a doctorate of communication and laws, and he is a professor of management, leadership and innovation at University of Navarre, Pamplona, Spain. He is former CEO of Europa Press News Agency, former CEO of Press and Editions (newspapers organization), former CEO of Rotopress (arts graphic industry) and former dean of the journalism school at the University of Navarre.
	Deborah Withey works as a print-design consultant, mentor and furniture designer. In June she begins as deputy managing editor for presentation at the Virginia Pilot. She is a redesign consultant for Knight Ridder Newspapers and former design director of the Detroit Free Press. Withey has won numerous honors for her illustrations, page designs and redesigns from SND, Print, New York Art Directors Club and American Illustration. In 2000, five newspapers Withey redesigned were chosen World's Best-Designed Newspaper?. Withey was SND president in 1995.

[back to top]