COLUMBIA, MO—Judging results have been processed and winners of the National Newspaper Association 2015 Better Newspaper Editorial Contest and Better Newspaper Advertising Contest have been posted online at www.nnaweb.org.
Winners will be recognized at the award breakfast to be held Saturday, Oct. 3, during NNA’s 129th Annual Convention & Trade Show at the St. Charles Convention Center in St. Charles, MO. Visit NNA’s events webpage to register online for the convention or to purchase breakfast tickets:www.nnaweb.org/convention.
There were 1,413 entries in the Better Newspaper Editorial Contest and 282 entries in the Better Newspaper Advertising Contest for a total of 1,695 entries. A total of 521 awards were won by 149 member newspapers in 33 states.
California had the most combined BNEC/BNAC wins with 73, followed by Texas with 59 and Wyoming with 58.
Lists of winners by categories and newspaper are available on the Contests webpage at www.nnaweb.org/better-newspaper-contest. Winners will be recognized in a special contest PDF available online following the annual convention. Places won in General Excellence categories will be announced at the awards breakfast.
Judging was performed primarily by active community newspaper editors and publishers, as well as retired university journalism professors and retired or former newspaper professionals.
Established in 1885, NNA is the voice of America’s community newspapers and is the one of the largest newspaper associations in the country.
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Congratulations to the following winning Minnesota Newspapers!
2015 Better Newspaper Editorial Contest General Excellence Winner:
The newspaper listed below has won an award (1st, 2nd, 3rd or Honorable Mention) in the General Excellence divisions. Places won and judges’ comments will be announced at NNA’s Annual Convention & Trade Show, Oct. 1-3, 2015.
Litchfield Independent Review, Litchfield, Minnesota
Eden Valley-Watkins Voice, Eden Valley, Minnesota
Second Place, Best Sports Photo, Non-daily Division, circ. less than 3,000. Entry Title: Greg Lux matching catch. Credit(s): Laurie Schultz. Judges’ Comments: “This is a super action photo.”
Frazee-Vergas Forum, Frazee, Minnesota
First Place, Best Humorous Column, Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. less than 3,000. Entry Title: A box-store comedy. Credit(s): Barbie Porter. Judges’ Comments: “I could visualize the conversations! Seriously funny.”
Second Place, Best Environmental Story, Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. less than 9,000. Entry Title: Late night tour makes resident ask, is Town Lake safe for swimmers? Credit(s): Barbie Porter. Judges’ Comments: “Impressive research made this story stand out. Very timely topic of obvious interest to members of the community.”
Third Place, Best Feature Photo, Non-daily Division, circ. less than 3,000. Entry Title: End of a season. Credit(s): Gale Kaas. Judges’ Comments: “Beautiful photo. Reader can almost feel the color creeping off of the page and into the room. Good eye and execution.”
Hutchinson Leader, Hutchinson, Minnesota
First Place, Best Performing Arts Story, Daily & Non-daily Division. Entry Title: How do you spell fun? BINGO! Credit(s): Kay Johnson. Judges’ Comments: “This is an excellent article. The writer tells the story of the production in an interesting way with lots of quotes. She made me want to see this play.”
Third Place, Best Feature Photo, Non-daily Division, circ. 3,000-5,999. Entry Title: Fun in the mud. Credit(s): Doug Hanneman. Judges’ Comments: “I just like it. Summer days, what fun. I can imagine what the next shot would have looked like.”
Third Place, Best Headline Writing, Daily & Non-daily Division. Entry Title: Best Headline Writing – Hutchinson Leader. Judges’ Comments: “Headline variety is attractive, drawing attention to each story. Overall package is effective.”
Third Place, Best Weekend Edition, Daily & Non-daily Division. Entry Title: Hutchinson Leader.
Honorable Mention, Best Business Story, Non-daily Division, circ. less than 6,000. Entry Title: Propane prices burning consumers. Credit(s): Terry Davis. Judges’ Comments: “This is a good story with an effective combination of local, state and national sources. The shortage was national news. This reporter did a good job to localize the story.”
Honorable Mention, Best Editorial, Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. 3,000-5,999. Entry Title: County must stop kicking the can. Credit(s): Doug Hanneman. Judges’ Comments: “A solid, well-reasoned call to action.”
Honorable Mention, Best Editorial Page(s), Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. less than 6,000. Entry Title: Hutchinson Leader. Credit(s): Doug Hanneman. Judges’ Comments: “Wide variety of sources; good content; good-looking pages.”
Honorable Mention, Best Local News Coverage, Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. 3,000-5,999. Entry Title: Best Local News Coverage – Hutchinson Leader. Judges’ Comments: “Excellent variety in coverage of the local community.”
Litchfield Independent Review, Litchfield, Minnesota
First Place, Best Business Story, Non-daily Division, circ. less than 6,000. Entry Title: Fraud outbreak hits local cardholders. Credit(s): Jenny Berg. Judges’ Comments: “This reporter did a great job gathering up sources and information and distilling it into a piece that has local impact and flavor on a national issue. The reporter was impressive in connecting with people affected by the credit card scam and what banks did to help these people.”
First Place, Best Serious Column, Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. less than 3,000. Entry Title: Anti-bullying bill acts like a bully. Credit(s): Andrew Broman. Judges’ Comments: “Excellent column combining personal experience with research and thought.”
Second Place, Best Editorial Page(s), Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. less than 6,000. Entry Title: Independent Review Best Editorial Page Submission. Credit(s): Andrew Broman. Judges’ Comments: “Nice mix of items and positions. Good-looking, clean layout.”
Second Place, Best Feature Photo, Non-daily Division, circ. less than 3,000. Entry Title: Samurai sword. Credit(s): Jenny Berg. Judges’ Comments: “Unique and eye-catching photograph. Expression on subject’s face makes for a wonderful composition overall. Excellent photo. Photographer should be very proud of this entry.”
Second Place, Best Localized National Story, Daily & Non-daily Division. Entry Title: Law enforcement embraces body cameras. Credit(s): Andrew Broman. Judges’ Comments: “This was a great idea for a story, and it was generally well executed. I did have some trouble with awkward wording in a few places. One example: No taser is required, as the man finally stops and drops to his knees. On the suspect, Massingham discovers a DVD, suspenders and various other items believed to be shoplifted from Walmart. I would re-write that to be more direct. ‘The man finally stops and drops to his knees without Massingham needing to deploy his taser. The officer discovers a DVD, suspenders and other items believed to have been shoplifted.’ No need to advertise Wal-Mart; ‘various’ is extraneous. We make speak that way, but it doesn’t work well in print.”
Second Place, Excellence in Typography, Daily & Non-daily Division. Entry Title: Independent Review Excellence in Typography. Judges’ Comments: “Very close second”
Third Place, Best Health Story, Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. less than 6,000. Entry Title: The gift of ‘a beautiful death’. Credit(s): Jenny Berg. Judges’ Comments: “This story was a great presentation of an obviously difficult topic of discussion. The emotion was strong in the story. Good read.”
Third Place, Best Local News Coverage, Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. less than 3,000. Entry Title: Independent Review Best Local Coverage. Credit(s): Independent Review Staff. Judges’ Comments: “Very in-depth news coverage; interesting and well-researched articles. This newspaper is filled with a wealth of information that would please any reader, as well as the issues they should know about.”
Third Place, Best Sports Story, Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. less than 9,000. Entry Title: Stuck in the rough. Credit(s): Louie Opatz. Judges’ Comments: “While this is not a story of a dramatic comeback on the back nine to win a tournament, it is a sports story, a sports business story. It is well written and has strong research and documentation. Although state championships or dramatic victories are naturals for exciting sports stories, it is refreshing to see the energy and diligence required for a quality story devoted to presenting a story of significance to the community beyond the warm, fuzzy feeling of a championship. Some good research done for this story, resulting in data and information most readers likely did not know.”
Honorable Mention, Best Feature Photo, Non-daily Division, circ. less than 3,000. Entry Title: Welcome home. Credit(s): Jenny Berg. Judges’ Comments: “Endearing photograph. Camera from photographer on right side adds to package and composition.”
The Northern Light Region, Baudette, Minnesota
Honorable Mention, Best Single Ad Idea, Color, Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. less than 10,000. Entry Title: “No L” Baudette Municipal Liquors. Credit(s): Mike Hovde. Judges’ Comments: “Clever!!”
The Paynesville Press, Paynesville, Minnesota
Honorable Mention, Best Agricultural Story, Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. less than 6,000. Entry Title: BONANZA VALLEY: Irrigation vital to ag economy. Credit(s): Michael Jacobson. Judges’ Comments: “The role and importance of irrigation are clearly newsworthy and of interest to readers. The story is well written, reads easily, and has solid quotes. Some quality research done for this story, and the result is a story loaded with interesting information. Good work.”
Pine Journal, Cloquet, Minnesota
First Place, Best Humorous Column, Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. 3,000-7,999. Entry Title: In Our Own Backyard. Credit(s): Wendy Johnson. Judges’ Comments: “Clever”
The Times – Blooming Prairie, Blooming Prairie, Minnesota
Second Place, Best Business Feature Story, Non-daily Division, circ. less than 6,000. Entry Title: Best Business Feature Story. Credit(s): Rick Bussler. Judges’ Comments: “Interesting story with multiple angles for development. Good flow to effectively communicate to readers.”
Second Place, Best Headline Writing, Daily & Non-daily Division. Entry Title: Best Headline. Credit(s): Staff. Judges’ Comments: “Nice, well-rounded use of headline-writing techniques throughout publication. Good mix of typefaces for variety.”
Third Place, Best Use of Photographs, Daily & Non-daily Division. Entry Title: Best use of photos. Credit(s): Staff.
Honorable Mention, Best Photo Essay, Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. less than 3,000. Entry Title: Best photo essay. Credit(s): Rick Bussler. Judges’ Comments: “Nice choice of photos.”
**Updated July 21, 2015:**
2015 NNA Newspaper and Education Contest Winners
The Echo Press, Alexandria, MN Second Place, Traditional NIE Stories and Curriculum – Partnerships – Non-daily newspapers 5,000 circulation or more. Entry Title: NIE Student Generated Newspaper. Credit(s): Tara Bitzan. Judges’ Comments: “Partnership with local school and businesses appears strong and is good for everyone! Student-produced newspaper gets everyone involved in the classroom and on the newspaper staff. Well-organized. Excellent outcome with a newsy special issue and healthy ad count.”