Herald/Review staff takes 9 first-place awards in contest

PHOENIX — The Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review received 14 awards, including nine first-place honors, in the Arizona Newspaper Association’s 2008 Better Newspaper Contest.

The awards were announced during a banquet on Saturday night at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in downtown Phoenix.

The Herald/Review received its honors in the under 25,000 circulation category. Similar size newspapers in the category included the Yuma Daily Sun, Lake Havasu Today’s News-Herald, The Casa Grande Dispatch and others.

The editorial staff received five first-place honors in the categories of reporting in newswriting excellence, departmental news and copywriting excellence, page design excellence, best use of photography and newspaper online site/Web page.

The newspapers received second-place honors in general excellence and community service/journalistic achievement. The general excellence honor is calculated from honors won in the ANA’s Excellence in Advertising Contest earlier this year and the Better Newspapers Contest.

Seven individual honors also were given to Herald/Review editorial staff members.

Sports Editor Matt Hickman received two first-place awards, one in the best team, sport or sports beat coverage category, and one for his column “Al-Qaida saved football” in the best column, feature or criticism category.

Reporter Dana Cole received a first-place in the best news story category for her story “Couple saw red flags during move.”

Herald/Review City Editor Ted Morris also received a third-place honor in that category for his story “Border critic gets buzzed by F-16s.”

Photographer Suzanne Cronn received a first-place honor in the best feature photo layout category for her entry titled “Journey to Iraq.” Cronn and senior reporter Bill Hess traveled to Iraq in December and January to cover what American soldiers are doing there, including those from Fort Huachuca. Hess also was honored for his work in Iraq, receiving a second-place honor for best sustained coverage or series.

Reporter Jonathon Shacat also received a second-place award in the best lifestyle feature story category for his article “Water in the desert.”