Herald wins top 2 awards at North Dakota newspaper event held in Williston
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By Jacob Brooks
Williston Herald
The Williston Herald picked up the top two awards in its division, and dozens of newspaper professionals from around the state descended on Williston this weekend for the 126th Annual Convention of the North Dakota Newspaper Association held at the Airport International Inn.
The Herald won both the 2011 Sweepstakes and General Excellence awards in the small daily newspaper category, nudging out second-place finisher Jamestown Sun.
Herald Publisher Mitzi Moe smiled broadly as she accepted the awards and posed for photos with Herald staff members following the presentation. It was the first time since 2006 that the Herald had won both top awards.
The Dickinson Press finished third and The Daily News in Wahpeton received honorable mention. In the large daily category, Grand Forks Herald won General Excellence, while The Forum of Fargo won the Sweepstakes.
The General Excellence award is based on a consensus of out-of-state judges, who poured over thousands of entries from North Dakota newspapers, including weeklies with less than 1,000 circulation to the biggest paper in the state, The Forum out of Fargo.
The Sweepstakes award is based on combined points of individual awards in editorial and advertising categories.
Three Williston Herald staff members combined to win five individual advertising categories: Marcy Huber won best apparel ad; Wanda Olaf placed first in outdoors/sports ad and financial ad; and Carla Huravitch placed first in single ad and small space ad. The Herald advertising staff also placed in several other categories, which attributed to the point total for the Sweepstakes award.
In the editorial categories, the Herald’s newsroom staffers won eight categories: Levin T. Black won in both the reporting series and business news reporting categories; Katie Pizza placed first in feature reporting; Nick Smith won feature reporting series; and Lynne Napton and Jacob Brooks teamed up to win the spot news category.
The Herald newsroom also won for best editorial page, best website and best headline, “Skin it to win it,” which appeared on a story about a tattoo contest.
Several other Herald stories and photos placed or received honorable mention.
The convention, held in Williston for the first time since 2002, was a three-day event and wrapped up Saturday.
Besides award ceremonies for the top newspaper content of 2011, the event included seminars, a bus tour of oil country and an annual meeting of the NDNA Board, which elected new annual officers. Kathleen Leinen, of the News-Monitor in Hankinson, became the new NDNA president, replacing Williston’s own Wanda Olaf, who had been in the position for the past year.