The Havre Daily News came home with seven first-place awards and 11 other honors at the annual Montana Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest Saturday night.
Havre Daily News Publisher/Advertising Director Stacy Mantle said she was very pleased with the staff's performance in 2011.
"I couldn't be prouder of what our team has accomplished this last year, and what the future has in store for us."
The contest was judged by journalists from the Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Press Association.
John Barrows, executive director of the Montana association, said all of the newspapers in the Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia association are far larger than most Montana newspapers. They said they were impressed with the quality of the writing and reporting.
The first-place awards went to:
- Reporter Zach White won in the best justice system report for his year-long look into allegations that Ashlie Nystrom, wife of recently resigned Police Chief Jerry Nystrom, was involved in a fracas at PJ's Restaurant and Casino.
"This is great watchdog journalism, " said the judge. "Nobody is in a hurry to move on the investigation of an assault call involving the wife of a recently retired police chief. The newspaper is keeping it front and center until action is taken. "
On the first anniversary of the incident, the Nystroms were charged. They will appear in City Court later this month to answer the charges.
- Design editor Caleb Hutchins won in the best graphics category for a collection of graphics for various stories.
"Graphic helps to illustrate the story without begin complicated, " the judge said. "Simple measurement and graphics add up to nice work. "
Hutchins won a third-place award in that category as well.
- Hutchins also won for best headline writing for a collection of headlines. "Heads lively, informative. Puns that work, " wrote the judge. "They drew me into the stories — what a good headline should do! "
- Photojournalist Nikki Carlson won in best sports photo for a picture of a girl at the Great Northern Fair.
"Great job catching an unusually spontaneous moment, " the judge wrote.
- Managing editor John Kelleher won in best editorials division for a series of commentaries.
- The advertising staff won for the best advertising series category for Bear Paw Ski Bowl.
"Great headlines; great art keep the momentum going through the series," the judges wrote.
- The advertising staff also won first place in the best multi-sponsored ad category. The ad explained the various forms of cancer.
"Content, layout and awesome idea to individually sponsor each cancer," the judge wrote.
Other awards included:
- Havredailynews.com, the newspaper's website, finished second in the best website category.
"The website is very inviting to the reader, " the judge wrote. "The carousel is a great tool for readers. The site is also very easy to navigate. "
- Former Publisher Martin Cody won an honorable mention in the best editorial category.
- White won an honorable mention for a short feature story he wrote on a duck without a bill. He also was cited with a third-place award for his work on a piece about the chemical contamination caused by gold mining in the small communities of Zortman and Landusky. And he got a third-place award in the business-economics category for his reportage on the controversy over Essential Air Service to Havre. White won second place in the best web project category for a project that accompanied his print piece on the gold mining crisis in Zortman and Lundusky.
- Sports editor George Ferguson won third-place in the best sports column feature. He also won a second-place award in the best sports page category.
- Carlson won an award in the lifestyle category for photos of the Rocky Boy Pow-Wow. She also won second place for a photo essay, and third place in the sports photo category.
- Reporter Tim Leeds won an honorable mention award in best government issues reporting looking back at 2011 and looking ahead at 2012.
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