More than 600 awards were given away Thursday, January 24 at the 2013 Better Newspaper Contest Awards Banquet at the 146th Annual Minnesota Newspaper Association Convention. Taking home top honors for the evening was the Detroit Lakes Tribune, who took home the prestigious Mills Trophy, and the St. Cloud Times who took home the Vance Trophy. All winners should be exceptionally proud as they were chosen from 3,591 entries submitted in the 2011-2012 Better Newspaper Contest.You can view a digital copy of the winners booklet or place and order for duplicate awards online.
Marshall Helmberger accepts a 2013 Friend of Minnesota Newspapers Award
MNA President Kevin Anderson presented Brent Schacherer and Doug Hanneman of the Hutchinson Leader with a special Friend of Minnesota Newspapers Award, honoring the newspaper’s first place win in the National Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. Also honored was Marshall Helmberger from the Timberjay Newspapers. The MNA board recognized Helmberger’s efforts to obtain public information from Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls regarding the St. Louis County School District’s school facilities project, working to ensure all Minnesotan have access to important information.
The Mills Trophy, awarded to the top weekly each year, was established in 1982 in honor of the late Charles Edward Mills who founded the Montevideo American-News. Four sons and three grandsons listed on the trophy have all been publishers of Minnesota newspapers and three, Russell, L.D. “Tip” and Everett S. Mills were the only brother combination ever to serve as presidents of the Minnesota Newspaper Association.
The Vance Trophy honors the Jim Vance family of Worthington. V.M. Vance was the first family member to get into newspapering when he worked on the Des Moines Register in the 1920s. V.M. bought the Worthington Daily Globe (then a weekly) in 1929. His sons, Bob and Jim, later continued the newspaper tradition.
Detroit Lakes Tribune wins the 2013 Mills Trophy
The weekly Detroit Lakes Tribune won the Mills Trophy with 20 awards, earning 86 points. Their winning entries included First Place in General Excellence for weeklies 2,501-5,000; seven additional first place awards; two-second place awards; and 10 third place awards.
The Echo Press of Alexandria took second place with 23 awards, earning 82 points. Their winning entries included First Place in the Herman Roe Editorial Writing Award competition by editor Al Edenloff; six additional first place awards; six second place awards; and 10 third place awards.
The Jackson County Pilot took third place with 13 awards, earning 74 points.
The St. Cloud Times won the Vance Trophy, winning 34 awards, earning 147 points. Their winning entries included 13 first place awards; nine second place awards, including General Excellence for dailies over 10,000; and 12 third place awards.
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead took second place with 23 awards, earning 121 points. Their winning entries included First Place in General Excellence for dailies over 10,000; nine additional first place awards; five second place awards; and eight third place awards.
The Duluth News Tribune took third place with 27 awards, earning 115 points.
St. Cloud Times wins the 2013 Vance Trophy
All Better Newspaper Contest winners are automatically eligible for the Mills and Vance trophies. Trophy winners are determined on the basis of points earned. Twenty points are awarded for a first place in General Excellence, 15 points for second place, and 10 points for third place.
For newspaper categories (awards given to a newspaper), 10 points are given for every first place, six points for second place, and two points for third place. For individual categories (awards given to an individual), five points are given for every first place, three points for second place and one point for third place.
General Excellence
First place General Excellence Winners in the 2011-2012 Better Newspaper Contest are:
Weeklies up to 1,500: Blaine-Spring Lake Park Life
Weeklies 1,501-2,500: Jackson County Pilot
Weeklies 2,501-5,000: Detroit Lakes Tribune
Weeklies over 5,000: Southwest Journal, Minneapolis
Dailies under 10,000: Faribault Daily News
Dailies 10,000 and over: The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead
Other Awards
Doug Hanneman accepts a 2013 Friend of Minnesota Newspapers Award
The Herman Roe Editorial Writing Award went to Al Edenloff of the Echo Press, Alexandria. Winning second place was Doug Hanneman of the Hutchinson Leader and third place was Nate Bowe of the Detroit Lakes Tribune.
Brian Basham from the Detroit Lakes Tribune took first place in the Press Photographer’s Portfolio competition for among all weeklies. Winning second place was Ryan Brinks of the Jackson County Pilot and third place went to Terry Bullock of the Hinckley News.
Dave Schwarz from the St. Cloud Times took first place in the Press Photographer’s Portfolio competition for among all dailies. Winning second place was David Samson of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and third place went to Clint Austin of the Duluth News Tribune.
First place winners of the Editorial Portfolio are The McLeod County Chronicle, Glencoe (all weeklies) and the Faribault Daily News (all dailies).
New Journalist of the Year honors went to Miles Trump of the Waseca County News (all weeklies) and Josh Moniz of The Journal, New Ulm.
The 2011-2012 Lynn Smith Community Leadership Award went to The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.