International News Media Association, on Wednesday, announced 290 finalists for the 2021 Global Media Awards competition.

INMA is a global community of market-leading news media with more than 16,000 members at 850 media companies in over 70 countries.

The finalists were shortlisted with themes such as “pandemic community outreach, brand-building, subscriptions, and data innovation”.

The 2021 competition garnered 644 entries from 212 news brands in 37 countries. The finalists hail from Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America, INMA said in a statement.

Some of the finalists include TIME, New York Times, USA Today, Times of India, Independent Media, The Evening Standard and The Independent, London, amongst others.

Leading the finalist list were entries from India (47), United States (36), Austria and Norway (22 each), Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden (with 19 finalists each). Kenya and South Africa also has some entries while Nigeria has none.

“First place winners, regional winners, and the global ‘Best In Show’ will be unveiled June 3 in a virtual announcement.

“This year’s INMA Global Media Awards include 20 categories focused on excellence in news brands, media platforms, subscriptions, business development, and data and insights. The competition judges similar brands with groups for national news brands, regional news brands, and — for the first time — groups,” the statement partly read.