Havre Daily earns top award at newspaper convention

Havre Daily News staff

Havre Daily News brought back the top award from the Montana Newspaper Association annual convention in Glendive over the weekend as well as a list of first-place through third-place awards in its division.

Havre Daily received the Sam Gilluly Award for the Best Montana Daily at the 2022 Better Newspaper Contest awards Sunday at the convention.

The award, named for long-time highly respected journalist Sam Gilluly, recognizes "the very best daily newspaper in Montana" for its work in the previous year. It is presented based on a point system for a division general excellence award and a scaled point system for placing in each category in the division.

Havre Daily is in Division 4, weekly and daily newspapers with circulation of 4,501 or more.

Gilluly, born in Billings in 1908, earned his journalism degree from Montana State College in Missoula, now University of Montana, in 1930. He started his career with the Great Falls Tribune, then served as editor of the Glasgow Courier for 28 years, followed by stints as publications editor of the Montana Chamber of Commerce and director of the Montana Historical Society. He then returned to journalism, serving as the executive director of the Montana Press Association until 1979.

Gilluly died in 1984.

Smaller weekly newspapers are eligible for The Thomas Dimsdale Award for the Best Montana Weekly Newspaper, won this year by the Boulder Monitor.

Havre Daily earned points for the Gilluly Award by also receiving the General Excellence award for Division 4, the top divisional award, in addition to its awards in various categories.

Patrick Johnston earned two Division 4 first-place awards including in Best News Story for his coverage of the first powwow held at the Great Northern Fair in July 2021, as well as taking third place in that category, and first place in Best Feature Story for his piece about people coming together to help with the Amtrak derailment near Joplin that killed three people and injured dozens more. He and also taking third place in that category.

He got second place in both the Best Breaking News Coverage and Best Investigative Journalism.

Kason Clark took first place in Best Sports Story for his reporting on the Havre High School Blue Pony girls basketball team winning another Class A state championship and in Best Sports Feature Story for his profile of Havre High athlete Josh Warp.

George Ferguson took first place in Best Sports Page Layout and Design for the Blue Pony girls basketball state championship story, and Best Headline for "KNIGHT TIME" about the North Star Knights winning the District 9C girls basketball tournament.

He also won first place in Best Sports and Outdoors Column Writing for "Even we sports writers won't forget this past weekend," his column about local high school and college championships and state placings in wrestling and basketball. He also took second and third place, closing out that category.

Ferguson also took first in Best Sponsor Page for his design on the Bear Paw Roundup page, as well as second place in that category and second in Best Sports Story and second and third place behind Clark in Best Sports Story and Best Sports Feature Story, closing out those categories for Havre Daily News.

Pam Burke won first place in the division in the Mark Henkel Outdoors Writing category for her story about the citizens advisory committee formed by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. She also took first in column writing for her "The question is: What can we learn about this" piece about the seasons - the summer that lasts forever, and how winter hits surprises her every year, "real winter." She also took second place in the category.

Tim Leeds took first place in Best Editorial for an editorial about Rural Fire District 1 and the city of Havre's push to get the district to enforce fire codes.

Colin Thompson won the Division 4 first-place award in Best Breaking News Photo for coverage of a fire and a firefighter administering CPR to a dog rescued from the fire, and in Best Feature Photo for coverage of the inaugural Bear Paw Classic stock dog trial. He also took second place in that category and in Best General News Photo as well as taking second and third in Best Sports Photo.

Jeanne Buffington took first place in Best Ad to Sell or Promote Merchandise, Black and White, and Best Ad to Promote Services, Color, and third place in Best Sponsor Page, closing out that category in Division 4 for Havre Daily News.