Detroit Lakes Tribune Publisher Dennis Winskowski accepts the Mills Trophy.
Hundreds of awards were handed out Thursday, January 23 at the 2014 Better Newspaper Contest Awards Banquet at the 147th 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 Forum of Fargo-Moorhead who took home the Vance Trophy. The MSU Reporter from Minnesota State University, Mankato took home the College General Excellence award.
All winners should be exceptionally proud as they were chosen from 4,105 entries submitted in the 2012-2013 Better Newspaper Contest.You can view a digital copy of the winners booklet or download a duplicate award order form.
Bill Marcil Jr., publisher of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and his team accept the Vance Trophy.
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 weekly Detroit Lakes Tribune won the Mills Trophy with 23 awards, totaling 110 points.
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.
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead won the Vance Trophy, winning 34 awards, totaling 190 points.
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
Brett Larson accepts the 2014 Herman Roe Editorial Writing Award.
First place General Excellence Winners in the 2012-2013 Better Newspaper Contest are:
Weeklies up to 1,500: Le Sueur News-Herald
Weeklies 1,501-2,500: Jackson County Pilot
Weeklies 2,501-5,000: Northfield News
Weeklies over 5,000: Southwest Journal, Minneapolis
Dailies under 10,000: Austin Daily Herald
Dailies 10,000 and over: The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead
Other Awards
The Herman Roe Editorial Writing Award went to Brett Larson of the Mille Lacs Messenger in Isle. Second place went to Doug Hanneman of the Hutchinson Leader, and third place to Chuck Frederick of the Duluth News Tribune.
Mathew Von Pinnon, editor of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead accepts the Lynn Smith Community Leadership Award.
Chad Richardson from the Hastings Star Gazette took first place in the Press Photographer’s Portfolio competition among all weeklies. Winning second place was Jakki Wehking of The Parkers Prairie Independent, third place went to Jenny Berg of the Litchfield Independent Review.
Dave Schwarz from the St. Cloud Times took first place in the Press Photographer’s Portfolio competition among all dailies. Winning second place was Kimm Anderson of the St. Cloud Times and third place went to David Samson of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.
First place winners of the Editorial Portfolio are The McLeod County Chronicle, Glencoe (all weeklies) and The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead (all dailies).
New Journalist of the Year honors went to Jenny Berg of the Litchfield Independent Review (all weeklies) and Jun Kai-Teoh of the St. Cloud Times (all dailies).
The 2012-2013 Lynn Smith Community Leadership Award went to The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.