News and Leader honored by HSPA Foundation

Despite the foul weekend weather, it was a good one for the combined staff of the Ferdinand News and Spencer County Leader. The two newspapers were honored during the Hoosier State Press Association Foundation’s Better Newspaper Contest with a combined total of 19 awards, including a third place finish for the Blue Ribbon and third place for General Excellence in the non-daily category.

The Hoosier State Press Association, founded in 1933, is a trade association representing 165 daily and weekly paid-circulation newspapers in Indiana.

“Judges base this highest accolade [the Blue Ribbon] of the HSPA Foundation Better Newspaper Contest on an overall evaluation of the editorial quality of the newspaper,” explained HSPA Executive Director Steve Key. “Judges look for the newspaper best serving its readers with all variables considered. They examine breadth and depth of coverage, quality of reporting and copy editing, news judgment and content balance, general appearance, imaginative approach to problem news areas, originality, reader interest and overall professionalism. The Blue Ribbon Award honors one daily and one non-daily newspaper, regardless of circulation size.”

“The winner this year in the non-daily category [Brown County Democrat] is part of a large conglomerate of newspaper with resources far greater than ours,” said co-publisher Kathy Tretter. “As one of the smaller newspapers in the state we truly were very honored just to be nominated, never thinking we would be. Then to receive the third place for General Excellence among all community newspapers was icing on the cake.”

This year’s contest was judged by members of the Mississippi Press Association. The judges explained why they chose the Ferdinand News as a finalist in the Blue Ribbon category: “We felt that just by reading your papers we understood the sense of community that runs deep within your organization. Y’all are a model for community journalism. We would love to see an updated design coupled with that gift. We all agreed that if we lived in your community, we couldn’t wait to receive the paper each week.”

The General Excellence award is based on a point system in all the other awards categories combined.

The Ferdinand News and Spencer County Leader both compete in Division 1 (there are six divisions based on circulation).

Leader managing editor Cheryl Y. Hurst received a third place for Best News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure for her article, “Another piece of Dale history taken in blaze” about the fire that consumed three historic buildings. “The reporter took it beyond a simple fire story,” commented the judges.

She also took second place for “Miracles do happen” in the Best Ongoing News Coverage category.

Co-publisher and editor Kathy Tretter received a first in Best General Commentary for an editorial about former editor J. Roy Haake upon his death.

She also received a 2nd place in Best Business/Economic News Coverage for “Dalls honored among other elite Hoosier families with Sesquicentennial Award.

Reporter Lisa Hoppenjans netted a first in that same category for “Building a healthy hive.” Judges said they “Love this story ….the writer really delved into things and brought the story home.”The Ferdinand News swept the Best Profile Feature category. Reporter Bonnie Hackmann was honored with first place for “A Strong Will to Love” for her article about Lucia Wood, a WW II survivor.

Hoppenjans earned second and third place honors for “Ali’s Triumph” and “Twenty-seven shades of grey (respectively.”Photographer Eric Tretter received two firsts, two seconds and two thirds He received a first for “Clownfish” and third for “Plunge” in the Best Feature category; second for “Defeat”  in Best Sports Feature Photo; and first for “Bee kids” and second for “Fair”  — all in the Ferdinand News. He also received a third for “Balloons” in the Best General News category for a photo published in the Leader.

Writer Dean Bolin netted a first for his special edition on the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial Golden Anniversary edition.

And the combined staff netted a second for Best Newspaper Design in the Leader and a second in Best Special Section for “Salute to Area Firefighters”.

Other area newspaper receiving awards prove first-rate journalism is alive and well in southern Indiana.

In Non-Daily Division 2, the Spencer County Journal-Democrat received a second in Best Ongoing News Coverage, a first for Short Feature.

The Perry County News was honored with seconds in Best Editorial Writing and Best In-Depth Feature, and a first for Best Editorial Page.

In Daily, Division 4, The Dubois County Herald brought home honors for Best Ongoing News Coverage (Candy Neal-Local Marine killed in Afghanistan), a second for Best Short Feature (Martha Rasche-“After war in Poland, love blooms in U.S.”), a first for Best Profile Feature (Jason Recker-“Our No. 1 Fan”), second and third in Best Sports News or Feature (Brendan Perkins-“Gobert mettle trickles down” and Joe Janinski-“Chalk wars, birdie faces typify quirky cat spirit”), second, Best Sports Feature Photo (staff-“Victory pile”), a sweep for Best Multiple Picture Group (1st and 3rd, Dave Weatherwax-“Stepping forward” and “Healing powers”) and Rachel Mummy-“Quad Squad”).

The Pike County Press Dispatch and Evansville Courier and Press also took home a significant number of awards.