Review honored again by Inland Press Association

For the second year in a row, the Half Moon Bay Review has been named among the best weeklies in the country.

The Illinois-based Inland Press Association honored the Review recently with a third-place award in its annual Nation’s Best Non-Daily Newspaper contest. The Review, which took the top prize in the contest last year, competed in the 5,000- to 10,000-reader category against some stiff competition.

First place went to the News-Register of McMinnville, Ore., which has 20 writers, editors and photographers to the Review’s four full-time and three part-time editorial employees. The Times of Tigard, Ore., finished second in the contest. There were 17 newspapers entered in the category.

“We’re happy to be recognized again this year by the Inland Press Association,” said Review Publisher Debra Godshall. “We checked out the competition and they are very good newspapers, too.”

Contest judges included Bill Roesgen, a newspaper consultant in Nebraska, Patricia Colander, of The Times of Northwest Indiana, and Medill School of Journalism professor David Nelson.

In a press release, the judges took particular notice of the Review’s typography and it’s “Wow!” headlines. The Review’s entry included a groundbreaking December report on a devastating legal judgment against the city of Half Moon Bay, one that threatens to push it into bankruptcy. The headline, in large red type that stretched across the length of the front page was simply the amount of the judgment: “$36,795,000”.