Sun Media staff and publications have netted five placings in the annual newspaper awards.

Publications from the Sun Media Ltd stable cleaned up in several categories, including Best All Round Independent Newspaper, associate category, at the 2014 Community Newspaper Awards in Wellington at the weekend.

Coast & Country reporter Elaine Fisher and Sun Media graphic designer Sarah Adamson.

Sun Media's specialist rural publication, Coast & Country, reigned in its category of the awards, winning Best All Round Independent Newspaper.

Judges said this farming and lifestyle title knows and serves its readership well.

'It is full of information and human interest stories. The design is clean and the headlines pragmatic.”

Coast & Country reporter Elaine Fisher is runner-up Best Senior Journalist.

Judges said Elaine showed good and full story telling of important issues.

'She knows her area well.”

Sun Media reporter Luke Balvert won runner-up Best Junior Sports Journalist.

'Luke covered a broad range of sports and did it well, with good interview, event coverage and profile pieces,” judges said.

The Weekend Sun is the winner of Best Advertising Feature in the over 20,000 circulation category, with judges commenting on its great layouts and good use of clear-cutting.

Sun Media photographer Tracy Hardy won Best Photographer in the over 20,000 circulation category for her front page photograph of children jumping into the water at Waimarino Adventure Park.

Judges said the choreography and timing worked well, with a great expression on the main subject.

'It was a clever photograph that didn't happen by chance but rather planned and executed as a result to great effect.”

Tracy was also runner up in the Best Photographer category. Her successes follow her win as Young Photographer in 2011 and finalist in 2012.

This year Sun photographer Bruce Barnard was runner-up Best Photographer over 20,000 circulation category.

The Bay's leading news website, SunLive, was a runner-up in the Newspaper Awards section for Best Website. It is the fourth year SunLive has placed in the top three, after winning the category in 2012.