Monday, November 26, 2012

Inland Press Association announces winners of annual contest; winners among small papers are listed

Hannah Furfaro of the Ames Tribune in Iowa was the big winner in the Inland Press Association's annual newspaper contest among newspapers with circulations of 10,000 to 25,000. She won first place for investigative and explanatory reporting.

Fufaro's winning investigative stories explored "the connection between Iowa State University and AgriSol Energy’s plans to build large-scale farms in Tanzania," the Tribune reports. She won first place for explanatory reporting for "stories about the Iowa Board of Regents’ tuition set-aside program, a practice recently abandoned that set aside a certain percentage of tuition received to fund financial aid programs." Presentation Editor Andy Rohrback was co-winner of that award, for his graphics and illustrations.

In the investigative category, the second-place winner in the circulation class was Lou Mattei of the Rio Grande Sun in Espanola, N.M. There was no winner among papers with circulations of less than  10,000. The news writing contests were judged by the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky.

In explanatory reporting, the winner among small newspapers was Tim Leeds of the Havre Daily News in Montana. Second went to Lorene Parshall of the Gaylord Herald Times in Michigan and third to Jeffrey Jackson of the Owatonna People's Press in Minnesota.

The People's Press won third place for editorial excellence among small papers, a category won by the Daily Star Journal of Warrensburg, Mo., for its "on-target and well-written commentaries on issues," which are concise and backed up with supporting evidence. Second place went to the Half Moon Bay Review of California.

Among newspapers with circulations of 10,000 to 25,000, the editorial-excellence winner was The Gazette of Janesville, Wis., for its "strongly local focus on issues directly affecting the newspaper's constituency." Second and third place, respectively, went to the Ames Tribune of Iowa and the Wyoming Tribune Eagle of Cheyenne. The category was judged by the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas.

The contest includes several other categories. For more, click here.

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