Daily News picks up 42 awards from North Dakota Newspaper Association
The Wahpeton Daily News picked up an incredible 42 awards on Friday in the North Dakota Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest.
Led by General Manager Diana Hermes (right) and Publisher Tara Klostreich (left), the newspaper won first place in overall design, 33 awards featuring the businesses who advertise in the newspaper and advertisements promoting events, community leaders and sports.
The newspaper won first place for overall design excellence and second place overall in the General Excellence category.
The Daily News is active seven days a week online and on Facebook and judges took notice, honoring wahpetondailynews.com with first place for “Best Website.” Judges said “The Wahpeton Daily News’ website is very appealing, easy to navigate, and overall, well laid out. A clean website. I appreciate the navigation bar on the top of the screen. I appreciate how the community news is easy to find and view for local events. The advertisements are well placed and not too overwhelming. Overall, a great website and nicely done.”
The Daily News was also honored for posting breaking news to the website and social media to alert the public on their safety.
The newspaper won in categories of photographer, sports writing, featuring writing and for special sections.
“We are honored to receive awards in many categories, a testament to our team’s commitment and dedication to keep our communities informed. I am impressed with our staff and these awards showcase the outstanding impact they are making every day.,” Klostreich said. “I am thrilled to recognize General Manager Diana Hermes, who earned an impressive 28 individual awards in advertising and editorial awards, a remarkable achievement that showcases her passion for local journalism and inspires us all to strive for excellence. “
The judges agreed.
Comments about advertisements put together by Hermes and Klostreich said, “Clean and to the point,” and “great use of color ... we like the use of a testimonial in the ad.” Another page, judges said, “Well-designed page that makes good use of a black and white color palette. Lots of white space while also offering useful information.”
The American Legion baseball team had baseball cards and local businesses sponsored the page. For that first-place, judges said, “A page any reader would stop on, whether they’re a baseball fan or not. Nice use of texture and images to highlight team members.”
That was a page designed by Candace Engstrom, who also picked up several first place awards for Southern Valley Living.
Judges said of Southern Valley Living, “It does everything a special section should: Beautiful layout and telling the type of stories not usually covered.”
Sales Representative Ashleigh Jorschumb was recognized and earned awards for her work with sales and advertising.
John Anderson won first place for story of the year, a feature on Harvey Andel. The judges simply said, “A clear winner. Well written.” Anderson also won an award for online coverage for breaking news.
Anderson took second place for breaking news for covering a Thanksgiving morning shooting. Judges said, “Thank you for providing the information related to the deadline and the fact that law enforcement and the courts were closed. Public safety is paramount.”
Former sports reporter David Topolewski won third place for best sports story for his “Champions again” story on the Legion Post 20 winning their second straight state title.
When going over six editions of the newspaper, two judges had these comments about the Daily News:
“Front page has nice use of color and is very clean. The inside of the paper uses photos really well with the stories, very clean and easy to read. Very nicely laid out!”
The other judge said, “Nice, clean layouts. Good photos. Nice layouts on specialty pages/sections. A good mix of advertising. A lot of local and submitted local content. Overall some very solid newspapers.”
In addition to the awards presentations, the annual newspaper conference is a time to learn from our colleagues across North Dakota. This year, we were inspired by Wahpeton native Steve Listopad, who delivered a keynote speech commemorating the 10th anniversary of the John Wall New Voices Act and its profound impact.
