The Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review wins first place for general excellence, website

PHOENIX — The Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review won first place in the general excellence category for dailies with circulation under 25,000 in the Arizona Newspaper Association’s 2010 Better Newspapers Contest on Saturday in Phoenix.

Newspapers in this category include those in Casa Grande, Yuma, Kingman and Prescott.

The Herald/Review received six additional staff awards as well as six individual awards during the ceremony at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

“We’re all happy to receive this recognition from the ANA,” said Publisher Phil Vega. “The general excellence category is the one we are most pleased to have won. It takes a lot of work and dedication to put out a quality daily newspaper. As the individual awards show, there are plenty of people on the staff who help make that happen. Kudos to editor Steve Byerly and everyone on the staff for winning these awards.”

The individual awards include:

• Second place to Adam Curtis for best sustained coverage or series for “budget-cutting.”

• Third place to Bill Hess for best news feature story for “Immigrants’ health is 1st concern, ‘then we give … water and food.’ ”

• Third place to Matt Hickman for best sports column for “Gilbert Arenas is a comic genius.”

• Third place to Hickman for best headline for “ExtraClairicular.”

• Third place to Liz Manring for best team, sport or sports beat coverage for “Warren Ballpark.”

• Third place to Jonathon Shacat for enterprise reporting for “Mexicans treasure jobs from gold, silver mine; at what price?”

Staff awards include the following:

• First place, general excellence.

• First place, newspaper online site.

• Second place for departmental news and copywriting excellence.

• Second place for page design excellence.

• Second place for best use of photography.

• Second place for special section, newspaper supplement or magazine for “2010 Home & Garden.”

• Third place for editorial page excellence.