Saturday, September 24, 2016

S.D., N.C, N.M, Iowa and N.Y. papers win top prizes from National Newspaper Association

Iowa's Sioux City Journal, The Pilot of Southern Pines, N.C., New Mexico's Taos News, the N'West Iowa Review of Sheldon and the Mid-Hudson Times of Newburgh, N.Y., won the general-excellence awards in their circulation categories of the Better Newspaper Contest of the National Newspaper Association. (Click image for larger version)
The Journal won the prize in the daily division. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle of Cheyenne placed second, The Union of Grass Valley, Calif., third and the Antelope Valley Press of Palmdale, Calif., fourth.

The Pilot, a thrice-weekly, won among weeklies of 10,000 or more circulation. The Idaho Mountain Express of Ketchum was second, The Washington Missourian third and the Livingston Parish News of Louisiana fourth.

The Taos News won among weeklies with circulations of 6,000 to 9,999. The Jackson Hole News & Guide of Wyoming was second, and The Ellsworth American of Bar Harbor, Maine, was third.

The Review (which uses all caps for its name, a style we don't follow) won the 3,000-5,999 category. The Buffalo Bulletin of Wyoming was second, the Hutchinson Leader of Kansas was third and the Fountain Hills Times of Arizona fourth.

Among the smallest papers, following the Mid-Hudson Times were the Glenrock Independent of Wyoming, the West Point News of Nebraska and The Ark of Tiburon, Calif.

The contest is open to members of NNA, an organization for community newspapers. "This is an extremely competitive contest," said Dennis DeRossett, executive director of the Illinois Press Association, which acts as headquarters for NNA. It also includes an advertising competition.

The winners for best local news coverage were the Litchfield Independent Review of Minnesota, circulation under 3,000; the N'West Iowa Review, 3,000-5,999; and the Idaho Mountain Express, 6,000 or more.

Winners for best investigative story or in-depth series were The Press-Republican, a daily of Plattsburgh, N.Y., for coverage of a prison break; the New Times, a large weekly in San Luis Obispo, Calif., for a package on lingering health problems of workers at a plant; and the Yamhill Valley News-Register of McMinnville, Ore., a medium-sized weekly, for a series on a drought; and The Hennessey Clipper, a small Oklahoma weekly, for stories about a school board's efforts to get state investigative records about a coach.

The Tribune Eagle and the Buffalo Bulletin won for best editorial pages in large and small circulation categories, respectively. The Echo Press of Alexandria, Minn., was judged to have the best website.

For an Excel spreadsheet of the editorial contest winners, by category, click here. For a list by newspaper, go here. For a PDF of a newspaper with the winners and many examples of their work, click here.

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