Newspapers in Idaho, New Mexico, New York, South Dakota and Wyoming win NNA contest general-excellence awards

The North Scott Press of Eldridge, Iowa, won for best website
and was second in general excellence for medium-large weeklies.

The Sioux City Journal, the Idaho Mountain Express of Ketchum, The Highlands Current of Cold Spring, N.Y., The Taos News and the News Letter Journal of Newcastle, Wyo., are the general-excellence winners in the National Newspaper Association's annual Better Newspaper Contest.

The Sioux City Journal won the daily division. The Idaho paper won the division for weeklies with 10,000 or more print circulation. The Taos paper won the 6,000-to-9,999 category; the Cold Spring paper was tops in those 3,000-5,999; and the Newcastle paper won among those of less than 3,000.

Second-place winners in those respective categories were the Wyoming Tribune Eagle of Cheyenne, The Examiner of Beaumont, Texas; the North Scott Press of Eldridge, Iowa, the Hyattsville Life & Times of Maryland and the Antelope County News of Neligh, Nev.

Third-place winners were The Daily Times of Farmington, N.M.; The Pilot of Southern Pines, N.C.; the Blair Pilot-Tribune of Nebraska, the Lake Oswego Review of New York and the Glenrock Independent of Douglas, Wyo.

The general-excellence awards are a combination of editorial and advertising awards. Here are some of the editorial awards, for particular pieces of work:

Local-government reporting: The Yankton Daily Press and Dakotan won first and second place in the daily division; the Sioux City Journal won third. The division for non-dailies was won by the Walsh County Record of Grafton, N.D. The North Scott Press and the Jackson Hole News and Guide were second and third, respectively.

Among categories open to all papers, the Eldridge North Scott Press won for best website and best localized national story, the Antelope County News won the award for best use of social media for breaking news, The Highlands Current had the best front-page design, and the Taos News won for best civic and community service.