Takes first place in ‘General Excellence’
The Methow Valley News collected 38 “Better Newspaper Contest 2021” awards for advertising, writing, photography, design, special publications and website content, the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association (WNPA) announced recently.
The News took first place in the “General Excellence” category for newspapers in its circulation group, based on its submission of three issues published during the contest period. Last year, the News took third place in “General Excellence” among the state’s similar-sized weekly papers, and won a total of 36 awards.
Other 2021 highlights included a sweep of first, second and third places in the news headline writing competition by Editor Don Nelson; and a sweep of the top three awards in the color pictorial photography category by columnist Ashley Lodato. Solveig Torvik took first place in the topical columns category, which include entries from all of the state’s weeklies.
The “Better Newspaper Contest,” which drew more than 1,000 individual category entries from weekly and small daily newspapers in Washington state, covered material published from April 2020 through March 2021. Awards are presented in four groups according to their circulation. The Methow Valley News is in group 2 (circulation of 2,400 to 3,399). Judging was by members of the Kentucky Press Association.
WNPA is a newspaper trade organization that represents about 100 community newspapers in Washington state.
The Methow Valley News winners are listed below (awards are for group 2 newspapers unless otherwise specified):
• Ryan Edwards, 1st place, advertising design, single advertiser smaller than one-half page (groups 1 and 2).
• Ryan Edwards, 1st place, advertising design, single advertiser one-half page or larger (groups 1 and 2).
• Ryan Edwards, 3rd place, advertising design, single advertiser one-half page or larger (groups 1 and 2).
• Ryan Edwards, 1st place, advertising design, color ad smaller than one-half page (groups 1 and 2).
• Ryan Edwards, 3rd place, advertising design, use of clip art (groups 1 and 2).
• MVN staff, 3rd place, lifestyle/culture special sections, Methow Home 2021 (groups 1 and 2).
• MVN staff, 3rd place, special section covers, Health & Wellness 2020-21 (groups 1 through 4).
• Ann McCreary, 1st place, long news stories, “Cougar comes calling in Twisp neighborhood.”
• Marcy Stamper, 2nd place, breaking news stories, “Twisp River fire destroys home” (groups 1 and 2).
• Marcy Stamper, 2nd place, health or medical stories, “Health in the COVID era.”
• Ann McCreary, 2nd place, environmental stories, “Water bank would lock up Columbia Basin.”
• Marcy Stamper, 1st place, business news stories, “Restaurants’ recovery lacks key ingredients.”
• Marcy Stamper, 3rd place, education stories, “Superintendent rips state’s vaccination plans.”
• Marcy Stamper, 3rd place, government stories, “County’s health officials are targets of threats.”
• Ashley Lodato, 2nd place, social issues stories, “Anonymous but not alone.”
• Marcy Stamper, 3rd place, sports news stories, “Forest Service closes areas to snowmobiles.”
• Don Nelson, 1st place, headlines, “Halloween 2020 is a mere ghost of itself.”
• Don Nelson, 2nd place, headlines, “Dirty words.”
• Don Nelson, 3rd place, headlines, “Restaurants’ recovery lacks key ingredients.”
• Marcy Stamper, 3rd place, short feature stories, “Playing for time.”
• Don Nelson, 3rd place, animal feature stories, “OkanDogs steps up for a different kind of rescue.”
• Ashley Lodato, 3rd place, history feature stories, “Home at last.”
• Don Nelson, 3rd place, long personality profiles, “Ranger Rick hangs up the hat.”
• Don Nelson, 3rd place, editorials, “Feliz Covidad.”
• MVN staff, 3rd place, editorial/opinion pages (groups 1 through 4).
• Don Nelson, 2nd place, general interest columns, “No Bad Days” (groups 1 and 2).
• Solveig Torvik, 1st place, topical columns, “Hello?” (groups 1 through 4).
• Natalie Johnson, 3rd place, newspaper websites (groups 1 through 4).
• Natalie Johnson and Steve Mitchell, 2nd place, online photo essays, “A lot of hot air” (groups 1 through 4).
• Natalie Johnson and Steve Mitchell, 3rd place, photo essays (in print), “A lot of hot air” (groups 1 and 2).
• Marcy Stamper: 3rd place, long news stories, “Rendezvous fire caused by burning debris” (groups 1 and 2).
• Marcy Stamper, 2nd place, breaking news photos, “Twisp fire destroys home” (groups 1 and 2).
• Ashley Lodato, 2nd place, feature photos, “Done for the day.”
• Ashley Lodato, 1st place, pictorial photos, “First light.”
• Ashley Lodato, 2nd place, pictorial photos, “Early risers.”
• Ashley Lodato, 3rd place, pictorial photos, “Prime seating.”
• Don Nelson, 3rd place, sports and action photos, “Paddle boarders in river” (groups 1 and 2).
