Newspapers Win Honors At Montana Convention
The Northern Plains Independent and Community News received a series of awards, including 10 firstplace plaques, during this year’s Montana Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. The selections were announced on Saturday, June 22, during the organization’s annual convention, held this year in Kalispell.
The Northern Plains Independent, based in Wolf Point, competed in Division II for newspapers with circulations between 1,251 and 2,000, while the Community News, based in Culbertson, participated in Division I which includes newspapers with circulations up to 1,250.
Publisher Darla Downs was awarded two individual first-place honors. Her awards included first for best marketing campaign for Division II and best sponsor page for Division II. The marketing campaign was for a series of suicide prevention ads for the Fort Peck Tribes Native Connections program. The sponsor page award was for the newspapers’ quarterly patriotic ads.
Downs also teamed with Jessica Smith for first place in Division I for best sponsor page, which featured information and photos for Culbertson’s homecoming week.
Downs and editor Bill Vander Weele earned first place for best niche publication for the 100th Wolf Point Wild Horse Stampede program.
Vander Weele received four individual first-place honors in Division II. The awards included best column writing for a piece saluting the Stampede, best editorial regarding the importance of open meetings in Montana, best breaking news photo of a house fire in Wolf Point and best feature photo of preschool children singing during a graduation ceremony.
First-place honors for the staff included best newspaper special section for Division II for their first responder publication and best website for Division I.
Other awards in Division II for Vander Weele included second place for best political coverage, second place for best sports photo, third place for best sports feature story and third place for best portrait photo.
Downs and Vander Weele took second place for best continuing news coverage and third place for best investigate journalism in Division II.
Other honors for Downs in Division II included second place for best color ad to sell or promote merchandise, third place for best black and white ad to sell or promote merchandise and third place for best color ad to sell or promote merchandise.
In Division II, the staff also earned second place for best use of local photography in an ad, third place for best black and white ad to sell or promote services and third place for best niche publication for their quarterly Modern Agriculture magazine.
In Division I, the staff took third place for best page layout and design, third place for best breaking news photo for a photo Vander Weele took of a traffic stop following the vehicle’s failure to stop at the port of entry and third place for best sports story.
