Saturday, October 5, 2024
The awards were for stories, photos and special sections published between September 2009 and August 2010.
WNA received about 2,800 entries from more than 100 newspapers throughout Wisconsin. Entries were judged this year by journalists from Colorado.
"It's nice to see that the hard work and dedication our Journal Community Publishing Group employees put forth are recognized by the WNA," said General Manager and Northern Wisconsin Group Publisher Terry Lodewegen. "We have a great team and they will continue to work hard to provide a quality newspaper to our readers and advertisers."
County Post West
The County Post West won first-place for Most Improved Newspaper. Judges said, "The broadsheet format and clean design give the paper a more modern, reader-friendly publication. The publication also appears to be reaching out to regional readers more with datelines and designated sections for specific communities."
Sports Editor Greg Seubert won a first-place award for his photo of Waupaca Comets football players, "One on one," which ran in the Aug. 12, 2010, edition. "When laying out all the photos that photo just stood out," the judges said.
Seubert also took a second-place award for his sports pages. According to the judges, "Local coverage is excellent, goes deeper than just a typical sports story."
Seubert's article, "Comets to dominate," won a third-place award in the Sports News Story category.
County Post West Editor Robert Cloud won a second-place award in investigative journalism for his story on Waupaca's mayoral race, "Candidate has long court record." Judges described the article as a "good investigative piece showing the public who not to vote for without coming right out and telling them. This is one of the great purposes of the news."
Cloud also won a third-place award in Environmental Reporting for his three-part series on the nuclear power debate in Wisconsin.
The Picture Post received a third-place award for Best Niche Publication - Out of Paper. The team behind that publication are graphic designers Cody Popp and Craig Lundt, and ad representatives Becca Eckhardt, Matt Rice and Jeanne Testin.
County Post East
Tim Beimal won a first-place award in the category of General News Photo.
Cody Popp received a first-place award for graphics work he did on two County All Stars special sections and the Polar Bear Express.
"I have judged newspaper contests for over two decades, and I've never seen such wonderful, fun, and (pardon me) out of this world graphics," according to the judge. "It's obvious the graphic artist is very talented. The use of color, the selection of backgrounds all suggest talent and planning. ... It also illustrates that you don't have to be the largest newspaper to create something wonderful and exciting."
Full Throttle, which covers Wisconsin's auto racing scene, won a first-place award for Best Niche Publication - In Publication. The award named Editor Bert Lehman and graphic artist Jamie Baumann, noting that the publication had nice feature stories and a clean editorial layout.
County Post East Editor John Faucher won a second-place award for his sports photo, "He did it," and a third-place award in the Spot Photo category for his "Storm Rips New London." "
