NEWS garners five awards at WNPA ceremony
The NEWS staff walked away with five awards from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association (WNPA) awards ceremony Oct. 7 held at the Holiday Inn in Everett this year. The awards recognized the work of community newspapers in Washington April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011.
NEWS Staff Reporter Jeremiah O’Hagan and former NEWS reporter Adam Steward won second place for investigative reporting for “Stand up against heroin: A community united” (Oct. 12, 2010).
The piece delved into a Camano Island teen’s return from an inpatient treatment center from heroin addiction, back home to countless other addicts, familiar patterns, known connections and other related triggers.
It also covered community meetings organized to help solve the growing heroin problem in our community especially prevalent among 15- to 17-years-old girls, according to Stanwood Police Chief Ty Trenary.
A judge commented, “Excellent story uses a personal approach to draw attention to a very serious and potentially deadly problem confronting teens today.”
NEWS supplement, Weddings 2011 (Feb 22, 2011), won third place for topical/non-tourism special sections, designed in cooperation by the advertising and news department teams.
“Thirty years later: The eruption of Mount Saint Helens remembered” (May 18, 2010) by O’Hagan, won second place for best general feature story – long. Filmmaker Michael Lienau of Camano Island was caught on the mountain during the second explosion and lived to make a documentary about it. The story took readers back to May 18, 1980, and highlighted the second eruption that occurred seven days later, when Lienau was lost on the mountain for three days.
“Just a great job of writing and telling a story, with good now-and-then photos to go with it,” commented a judge.
Beth Harrison, graphic artist, took first place for best feature page design, Food & Leisure theme page “Why journal? Capture the essence of travel” (Jan 25, 2011).
The front-page design for our Dec. 28, 2010 edition by Harrison and Editor Kelly Ruhoff won second place, which gave a run down of the top 10 stories for the year.
“Good writing and range of stories. Circular photos are different, but not bad. Good use of art,” wrote a judge.
The WNPA is an advocate for community newspapers, freedom of the press and open government. The association is dedicated to helping members advance editorial excellence, financial viability, professional development, and a high standard of publication quality and community leadership.
