Texas Press Association

Texas Press Association

Division 1 Large Dailies

General Excellence

San Antonio Express News – The paper’s coverage of the flooding was impressive and comprehensive. The photos were dramatic and the stories provided tremendous depth. Missing, however, from the front page was any sort of human interest element – only officials are quoted out front. The Del Rio follow-up story was excellent, and the survey on the council was well researched. The story on Garcia was interesting. Why wait until the jump page to say when he died? And why run a picture of an Express-News columnist with the 1A story? Layouts are crisp and easy to navigate. Good sports page. This paper receives the first-place award because it was the only entry – too bad. Undoubtedly, it would have faired well against all others.

Division 2 Dailies 7,000 to 99,999

General Excellence

1. The Beaumont Enterprise — Good looking, handsome newspaper. “Broken Heart of the City” was excellent, outstanding as single report, as was your front-page feature on mosquitoes.

2. Odessa American — Especially liked “Coffee and Friends” photo, story and layout. Sports section makes good use of color. Front-pages are attractive, not too cluttered. Generally, an attractive newspaper. “Tax Time Cometh” graphics were outstanding. Good use of graphics.

3. The Galveston County Daily News — Interesting concept of summarizing editorials at top. Suggestion: Correction note is laudable, but doesn’t have to take up valuable front-page space. Generally good use of graphics and display of photos.

4. Midland Reporter-Telegram — “Rattlesnake Roundup” features was excellent, with great photography. Pictures generally were top-notch. “Art for Art’s Sake was another excellent feature.

News Writing

1. The Beaumont Enterprise – Tommy Bean owes a debt of gratitude to the tenacious and thorough reporting of Adam Welsh. Very nice work! Cathy Frye’s work also is superior. The Enterprise is a fine newspaper!

2. Rosenberg Herald-Coaster – Richard Zagrzecki presents a compelling argument for inmate Salazar and then shows his range with the tornado coverage.

3. The Galveston County Daily News — Marty Schladen obviously is a good reporter. His work on both stories proves that, but the Patrick Welsh yarn is excellent! More detail of what was in Welsh’s desk in lead would make it stronger.

4. Laredo Morning Times — Nice work and good detail from John Sevigny and Eddie Zavala. Would note that nobody is “murdered” until someone is convicted.

Column Writing

1. Denton Record Chronicle – “A complete contempt for the law” Brave column. Well told. “Sticks and stones” Another strong column that merits a stupid, nasty individual and has organization.

2. Rosenberg Herald-Coaster – “Grand jury testimony” Valid point, well-presented. “The good Samaritan” Well—written revelation of hospital’s insensitivity.

3. The Facts, Clute – “Here’s proof: Your vote counts” Well done column, especially appreciated in Tennessee. “10 years later, one good deed sparks another” Touching, very personal, moving account.

4. Rosenberg Herald-Coaster – “Noises in the family van” Personal account that hits home. “When lightning strikes” Most church-going parents can empathize with this piece.

Editorial

1. The Beaumont Enterprise – “Oprah has right to belittle beef” I really liked this well-written, coherent argument. “Japer hate crime must be repudiated” Bold and stirring. Congratulations on a convincing position taken which could make a real difference.

2. The Facts, Clute – “A Simple solution” Top-notch writing. This is why you’re in the newspaper business. Making points like these. “Pressuring the voters?” More good writing and another strong position. Terrific leads in both.

3. The Paris News – “Powderly’s election woes” Loved your lead. Coherent argument. Good questions. Like your to-the-point writing. “What then?” Very good, compelling point. Raises questions all should be asking. Local readers are better informed courtesy of your well-stated opinion.

4. The Galveston County Daily News – “There’s hope in the fight against erosion” Great layout. Great position. Really good-looking page so we can overlook “dubject” and “Projects …. has …”

Feature Story

1. Odessa American – “Working through the night” Very interesting subject. Good variety of people interviewed. Well-written. Grabs attention.

2. Midland Reporter-Telegram – “Art is only skin deep” Very interesting and entertaining! I wish the subjects interviewed had said more about why they wanted to have tattoos or piercings, but not reporter’s fault. Good layout and photography. “8-year-old come to aid” Good inspirational story of courage and friendship. I like it. Opening story with song lyrics a bit cute for front page, but effective. Good layout and photo.

3. McKinney Courier Gazette – “The stuff that dreams are made of” Good feature subject, but story is a little long. Some grammatical errors (“site” should be “sight”) in second column, eighth paragraph. Good use of photos. “Green finds new frontier appealing” Good profile of subject. A misused word (“premier” for an official – not premiere, which is a debut) Other than that, very interesting and well done.

4. The Beaumont Enterprise – “This place is a zoo” Good subject, very interesting. However, layout is too spread out over too many pages. Other than that, very interesting and disturbing. “The end of their world” Interesting subjects, but too many jumps. I got lost. Perhaps a series over 1-3 days would divide it up better. Well-written, though.

Sports Coverage

1. The Galveston County Daily News – Solid job on La Marque’s loss, writing, photos and layout. You pulled out all the stops with resources and space.

2. The Beaumont Enterprise – Solid outdoors page. Great idea on Lamar pullout section. Complete sports section.

3. Odessa American – Solid high school coverage. A good sense of what’s important in your community.

4. Midland Reporter-Telegram – Avoid color in boxes. Layout on 12/20 issue: Use cutline on each photo and Sunday sections need more local features on inside page. Good overall coverage of what was in sections.

Advertising

1. The Paris News – “Kimberly Clark” Nothing special any 1st year ad salesman could do this. “Chamber” Very nicely done. Could have really used color. Maybe a few less words but overall a nice job. “Campbells” Let’s face it guys, this ad is superb and I could not give a #1 to another entry than this. Absolutely an excellent job. This ad is prince! Great work! It was due to this ad alone that got you the #1 spot.

2. The Beaumont Enterprise – “Grill Ad” Love it! Makes me want to call 10-10 whatever to reserve my table. Exciting and inviting. Great work! “Old Town” Great ad. Could only be improved with nice soft background color. “Alfonso’s” Beautiful job. Great composition and use of color.

3. The Galvetson County Daily News – For all ads since they were the same – Very nice use of white space. Clean, informative, easy to read and quickly get the message. Great job!

4. Odessa American – “Credit union” This ad carried the group. Great composition. Excellent typography, great use of art and color. “Dr. Slider” A canned ad. Nice but canned. “The Vault” I liked the ad. It stood out on the page. May have only used color on lips to increase its appeal. The color on border take away from your art. Be careful not to overuse color on all ads.

Photography

1. The Facts – “Bush rallies Republican Faithful” Exceptional political photo, though I doubt it will be the governor’s favorite; “Sue’s story” Outstanding writing and photo chronology. A prize winner. “Stormy Siege” Dramatic rescue picture.

2. Laredo Morning Times – “Peyote ritual” Beautiful photo. A prize-winner, if submitted by itself. “Neighborhood support” Unusual funeral shot, showing photographer’s initiative. “I want my Mommy.” Sensitive feature shot.

3. The Paris News – “Paris fire chief” Dramatic action shot. “Robert Pearson” Very cute shot. “Cooper pitcher David Colvin” Prize-winner! Great shot! Probably best submitted in this category.

4. The Beaumont Enterprise – “Sharon Thomas and Ammy Bomar” Shows sensitive enterprise by photographer. “Johnny Robinson” Unusual cemetery shot. “Rusty back bumper” Excellent, unusual view of truck.

Page Design

1. McKinney Courier Gazette – Great page one. Teletubbies feature looks good. Inside pictures and layout good too.

2. Odessa American – Another great looking newspaper. There were many in this category. Photos are exceptionally great on every page.

3.The Galveston Daily News – A great looking newspaper. Picture content super, especially sports. Quality could be a little better. Many good entries in this group.

4. Midland Reporter-Telegram — Nice paper. Great feature on front and sports.

Division 3 Less Than 7,000

General Excellence

1. Jacksonville Daily Progress — Overall, a very strong paper. Writing is vibrant and concise. Layout is sharp. Sports coverage and lifestyle sections are top notch. The paper does a good job of digging beneath the surface and getting to the heart of issues. The “Class Chaos Watch” was particularly interesting. A good mix of hard-hitting and lighter stories. The paper needs to work on providing context in some instances (“Bingham freed on reduced bond”) but overall is very solid.

2. New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung — A tremendous effort in very difficult times. The coverage of the flooding was heroic and well-presented, covering the storm beneath the storm and conveying the human toll. Very commendable. The paper's daily coverage is also very strong. The artwork and layout falters in the Jan. 13 issue, as does some of the writing, which can get somewhat stilted. Otherwise, one of the best papers in the category.

3. Texas City Sun — A great-looking newspaper. Layouts are crisp and well-balanced. Photos are given proper play. News coverage is strong, but writers should be encouraged to take more chances. Storm coverage was very solid, but lacked a human element high in the stories. The local sports page was excellent in the fall when local sports were occurring. Overall, very clean, solid and easy to use. The Texas City Sun tells readers what they need to know.

4. Waxahachie Daily Light — The Daily Light is able to put an extraordinary amount of local news on the front page. The paper appears to reflect what's happening in the community by good hustle and hard work. The writing suffers at times, apparently from the daily scramble to fills the news hole (several reporters had multiple bylines). Overall, the quality of the news product is excellent. Photos, while well shot, suffer from lack of play. Many run too small to be dramatic. The news-packed front page seems frenetic. There is no focal point. Nice, good-reading sports and lifestyles stories on Sunday and a very good read on Friday's donor story.

News Writing

1. Jacksonville Daily Progress — “Victims of circumstance." An excellent example of small newspaper digging for the story and putting an event at local hospital into bigger perspective. Although there are a lot of unnamed sources, the account of Bill Ray McDaniel's life and death is well researched and presented. The use of Texas Public Information Act told the bigger picture of violence in the state hospital that the police and officials obviously did not want to fully acknowledge. The photos and presentation could have been stronger (why no head shot of McDaniel?), but well-written and researched story.

2. Alice Echo-News — Water story is captivating read. Can you find out some estimate about the number of people without water? What does the health department say? Photos and presentation could have been stronger. Where are the people? In the juvenile crime story, watch meaningless sentences and phrases, e.g., "a trend that is becoming all too common.” Aren't all trends [common] by definition? Could you write about reports from the juveniles themselves after they participated in Operation Outreach?

3. New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung — Good layout and presentation of news with excellent pull-out quotes. I only wish the stories were as clear. Watch the cliches, e.g. “cried foul,” and the legal jargon, “quash.” Just say “thrown out.”

4. Bay City Daily Tribune — A good effort to offer extensive coverage of major events with multiple stories and photos. In the illegal alien crash, however, the story is told entirely from the viewpoint of the police and EMS. What does the INS say? What does this incident say about the number of aliens crowding in vehicles to come to America? Will they be deported? Could anyone talk with the 50 injured persons? In storm stories, there again are not any real people voices. Why not have one reporter do an overview and the other personalize the story?

Column Writing

1. The Pampa News – “Life is transitory” Great insight on something that everyone can understand. “A special friendship ends” Touching story. The reader is there with the boy. I found your delivery and insightfulness on both columns to stick out in the crowd.

2. New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung – “Officials forgot real issue behind outbreak” I like the way you called a spade a spade. Stay after those folks in the “ivory tower.” “Boys will be boys” Excellent insight, It leads the reader to the logic conclusion.

3. Mineral Wells Index – “It just won’t fit” I like your delivery. It brings the reader right along for the hunt. “Outdoors along the Brazos” I never could catch fish.

4. The Terrell Tribune – “Time finally comes to introduce cotton” I had a relative like that once. It’s good because a lot of readers can identify with what you are saying. “Big gap shows between two generations” Sounds like a column I wrote recently. Really odd. I think your might be my mirror image.

Editorial

1. Sweetwater Reporter – “Jean Jones died doing what she wanted to do” A powerful, well-written and meaningful editorial. Thank you for letting me read it. “City taking care of water needs” To the point, even though the editorial is long. It would have been more powerful with less facts and stronger statements. In other words. Less and to the point is more powerful.

2. Waxachie Daily Light – “Railroaded” Great but too long. “Apology in order” An outstanding and well-written editorial. It would have been much better if it were shorter and to the point.

3. Athens Daily Review – “Review tired of being slammed around” An outstanding piece but also self serving. Could you have found another persons(s) who had experienced the same as you? Never the less it is great. “Act now on U.S. 175” Important. Well done. Again I think you lost something because of the length.

4. The Terrell Tribune – “Court right to back UIL” Very well-written. Too long! “Council wise to plan” Good subject. Good advice. What was the effect of the editorial? In other words, what happened?

Feature Story

1. Alice Echo-News — Nicole Perez “Some miss old school tradition.” A nice, strong, story about a lost tradition. You did about as well as you could with the idea. “Palito Blanco boy an inspiration.” You told one a story which is far different than many other entries. There were flaws, but an above-average job for this division. Read “Writing for Story” by Jon Franklin for more advice. You’ll be a better writer for it.

2. Jacksonville Daily Progress — Vanessa Curry “No longer a bridge apart.” A nice piece. Very strong in this division. Nice use of quotes. Elise Mullenix “Pitch for the future.” Nice use of storytelling technique to handle a routine story.

3. The Hereford Brand — Dianna F. Dandridge “De la Cruz mums pass on tradition.” Nice story and presentation. Writer did a good job of using quotes. “Searching in the Land of Oz.” Good lead. Writer produced a good feature that explained the Oz-mobile. Would have liked to hear more from students.

4. Terrell Tribune — Gayle Baker “Coaching the game.” Nice lead. Author did a good job of reporting the story, but I would have liked to have seen action/interplay between the players. That was missing. May I suggest Jon Franklin’s “Writing for Story”? Alison Walker “Terrell residents thankful.” Nice idea for feature. Writing was competent.

Sports Coverage

1. Texas City Sun — Good. Great presentation.

2. Ennis Daily News — You are a few steps away from a great sports section. Use imagination.

3. Waxahachie Daily Light — You are on the verge of a great sports layout and presentation. Even without color it is very readable and inviting.

4. Bay City Daily Tribune — Give it air and spread your color around.

Advertising

1. The Hereford Brand — Telephone ad well done. Grain ad makes every reader take a look. Electric co-op ad looks great. You guys compose ads the way it ought to be done.

2. Texas City Sun — Lotta stuff in Susan’s ad, but I like it. Good use of color/pix. Urgent Care ad well done for space purchased. Very noticable. Mainland Bank ad all around great.

3. Terrell Tribune — Too much stuff in the Happy Ad. Classified ad promotion is clever. Your web site ad is excellent. Everybody read it.

4. Mineral Wells Index — Like the white space in roofing ad. Very noticable. Copy doesn’t sell anything. Pizza ad has selling copy. Easy to read. Nothing to especially draw reader.

Photography

1. Texas City Sun — Dwight C. Andrews “Torrential tempest” very nice. “Tot clings to life” great shot. Both shots are really good and complement each other. Bravo.

2. The Hereford Brand — Mauri Montgomery “A loving contrast” awesome shot. Color repro is excellent. Black & white dot pattern is distracting, though. “A grimace, a prayer and a regret” too much computer manipulation but a good shot nevertheless. “Blur of defeat”— bravo.

3. Bay City Daily Tribune — Jimmie Bellah “Endangered species” morbid, but I like it. “Matagorda County tradition” cutline is messed up and incomplete. “Ring of water” — I love this photo. Well done. If I could choose, one photo as best, this would be at the top of the list.

4. Jacksonville Daily Progress — Vanessa Curry “Let the fun begin,” no comment. Uncredited “A little hay from out friends” — this whole page is nice, but the chosen photo is superb. Bravo. Chris Fletcher “Engulfed in flames,” great composition.

Page Design

1. Texas City Sun – Pages are fairly clean and readable, and for the most part have a decent flow to them. I understand what you were going for in your mast, but it looks out of register. Overall your typography is clean and you’re fairly consistent. Please, as a general design rule, try not to go wider than about 18 picas for body copy. It’s hard on the reader. Sports: Football ’98 box color on color is generally not a good idea, especially if it doesn’t line up. You’re fortunate that you have pretty good reproduction. Also if you must use color try to use color for color’s sake. I see you’re trying to match the headline color with the photos but in this case it actually takes away from the photo.

2. New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung – Overall the readability of your paper is good. Body copy is a bit loose. You are very consistent with your use of typography. I got a feel that you understood your community were affected by the flood would have helped also. The “state of emergency” logo/sig kind of gets lost in the photo. When using color type or whit over a photo with average reproduction you might want to use two pt. Deep shadow in black. What is photo in the logo. I hope you used it in a larger size on some other day. Very good info given with the package (copying, who to call, schools, etc.) It’s all very easy to read and locate on the page. Your pages have a very comfortable flow.

3. Terrell Tribune – Your paper’s readability is average but right on the cusp of being good. Slight, subtle changes will make the difference. Consistency in the personality of your pages from section to section, spacing a bit more (like the runaround with the box at the upper right-hand corner on the front page.) Skyboxes: You have 2 sports headers and forecast header but not header for the local woman - little things that make a difference. Sports front note: the gray roster boxes are very poorly done. Fine a symmetrical way of presenting the rosters and be consistent. Also, they are to inform the readers. What do sports fans want to know about basketball players? Their height. You should have put those in your boxes, not just in your story. There is no excuse for running the Terrell Tigers box wider than the others. Take the time. Find a solution that makes sense and lead the reader through a logical progression. The feature page felt nice. My only problem was the width of the columns. They’re hard to stick with. A good rule is to go no wider than about 18 picas for body copy. The reader has too far to go back to the next line. I like the typographic treatment with headline. Not necessarily the color, but the headline itself and the emphasis on the keywords while keeping it readable. Nice secondary photo. It almost would rather have it as main art on the page. It’s much more interesting than the portrait. Is there any reason you cut off the first paragraph of the walker column with her picture? Any functional reason? We should design by content and with function. Place it at the top or crop it and wrap type around it. Please don’t cut into the story/column.

4. The Mineral Wells Index — Overall the paper is fairly readable but you’re inconsistent in your use of typography. Some pages (the front for example) are clean and type usage makes sense. Other (features) have too many different type styles. Pick a few good font families and learn to use them well on a consistent basis. Sometimes the pages seem stalled. Try to continue to be creative when seeking desing solutions. Take chances, don’t just fill the space. Pick a photo hierarchy. You need dominant art on the front and sports. The photos seem about the same size and compete with one another. Also, try to get your photographer to shoot more creatively. Look for different angles, lenses, etc. not just point and click shots. The three photos on the front were essentially all from the front, smile at the camera and shoot. Take chances. One not: interesting placement for the index. Is that where it always is, or is that where it ended up on that particular day? It seems you’re creating a design problem for yourself if you continually have to build around a oddly place index box. If that isn’t its regular spot, then you need to pick a spot and use it consistently so your readers don’t have to search all over the page everyday just to find the index.

Division 4 Semiweeklies 4,001 or More

General Excellence

1. The Irving News — Nice graphics and layout. Scene section is strong. Good enterprise on gangs. Nice front boxes. Good use of pull-out quotes and photos. Some stories still read with a lot of bureaucratic jargon, but overall a good job.

2. The Highlander — Good clean layout and presentation of news with helpful information and deck heads. I don’t like ads on front page, however. Good enterprise effort in getting background of child molester’s work history at Cottonwood Shores.

3. Williamson County Sun — Clean appearance and writing. Good photos. Locator map, graphics. Nice presentation of calendar and meeting schedules, community bulletins, runabout. Country life is good read also.

4. Round Rock Leader — On opinion page, strong presentation in pro and con of single-member districts. “Duly noted” is interesting read. Nice appearance with graphics, halftones, good photos. Good teaser. Questions leads should be avoided, especially if you have a relatively weak answer in the next sentence.

Newswriting

1. Richardson News — Twinstar – Good perspectives from employees, community leaders, industry, tax rolls, etc. Apartments – Again good balance of sources. Good detail on conditions, predicaments of residents.

2. The Graham Leader — There are competently reported and written stories. Authors use a variety of sources and flush stories out well.

3. The Irving News — Very good use of quotes to illustrate stories, good balance of sources, perspectives.

4. Williamson County Sun — The stories demonstrate a good, resourceful use of sources, quotes, details. They draw from many perspectives, well-balanced. Lead on officers story needs a knife.

Column Writing

1. Williamson County Sun — Linda Latham Welch – Well-written and entertaining.

2. Uvalde Leader-News — Craig Garnett –Humorous, lighthearted look at farm life.

3. The Graham Leader — Lewis Simmons – A little unsure layout for column, but fits in width. Well-written.

4. The Highlander — Tia Rae Stone – Most anyone who lives outside a city can relate, at least to the fear of being “skunked.” Good down-home personal reflections. Well-written.

Editorial

1. Beeville Bee-Picayune — Jeff Latcham – “Sex, lies and videotape” The same thing that hundreds of others have said, but well done. Direct to the point. No misunderstanding the moral. “There they go again” Gee, Jeff, why beat around the bush so? Great editorial. Great lead, conclusion. Have you ever thought of going on the road to teach editorial writing?

2. Cedar Creek Pilot — Michael V. Hannigan – “I do because it’s my job” Good piece, but not greatly stirring because, after all, your folks all still have your jobs (or did when this was written). But you tell it so nicely that you’re forgiven. “It’s time for him to resign” Personal angle turns the standard Clinton piece into a winner. Nice touch.

3. Hood County News — Roger Enlow - “Wake up call” Fine lead gets attention You could have come to the point, waking up to what can be done, sooner. Good sentence structure. Brief and to the point. “Transfer casts doubt dark shadow on GHS sports” “It seems as if” is superfluous and weakens the lead. “Perhaps” in last graph also weakens as does “maybe.”

4. The Highlander — Richard Stone. “Diligent stewards” Halfway through, we got to the point of what needs to be done. Readers have to wade through a lot to get there. Good, hard-hitting, direct comment on a local problem. “A tribute to 58,000” Well-written! I would have preferred seeing the first reference to the wall earlier. The “if you are” part is well-written. As a matter of fact, well-written throughout. Non-controversial but persuasive.

Features

1. Hood County News — Shirley Petroshus – “Motorcycle grandma” Good story. Unique, great display. “Desperate dilemma” Lots to be said of this dilemma. Good work, display.

2. Grand Prairie News — Shelly Moon – “No generation gap” A winning effort! “Touched by Jasmine” Great story!

3. Williamson County Sun — Tracy Karol “Couple adopts Chinese baby” Great display, photos. Good story. Tom Fowler “The Class of ’61” Very interesting. Unique.

4. Uvalde Leader-News — Jae Jones – “Bird keeps heading back to local family” Very good. Sara Solis – “Crossing guard” Good story.

Sports Coverage

1. The Irving News — Good use of color. Liked the regular column by sports editor Ron Durham. Clean layout. Good points of entry (breakouts, quotes). Excellent photos.

2. The Garland News — Clean design. Nice color. Complete section. Solid writing. Might want to take a feature approach to some game stories because of dated material.

3 Hood County News — Good to see a regular column by sports editor Norm Peterson. Complete coverage of all sports. Liked color photos on back page.

4. Wise County Messenger — Staffed lots of games. Try to take more of a feature approach to game stories because of dated material. Good features inside.

Advertising

1. Hood County News — Nobody else was even close. Internet ad is great - color, type, art and copy. Your customer should have been pleased. New frontier is nice use of art/color. Otherwise pretty average. Care concepts – somebody was really thinking! Nice all around.

2. Moore County News-Press — I thought all 3 ads were well done. Right amount of copy. Nice use of art. Well thought out. They all look a little alike.

3. The Irving News — All very professional. Liked everything about your ads.

4. Uvalde Leader-News — Y’all do good work. Harts ad well done for that much copy. Good use of color. Liked the Regency ad. Draws readers in and composition elements make sense. Right amount of copy for the space. Lots of thinking put into MG Building ads.

Photography

1. Williamson County Sun — Taylor Jones “Different Point of View” Taylor, you are definitely in the right business. You have a great eye for compelling photos. “Cool under pressure” A near Rockwall! How much more can I brag on your abilities. “State champs!” Loved it! The best show of emotions in any sport photo. My hat is off to you. If you ever thought of moving to Tennessee ...

2. Richardson News — Mark M. Hancock – “Puppy Love” I love it! Great timing on this shot. “Down, not out” Great human emotions photo. “Football” This bone jarring action photos is what pulled you to a number 2 finish against some very stiff competition.

3. Cedar Creek Pilot — Alysa Corn – “Halloween happenings” Great pic! Purrfect for Halloween. “Dangerous beauty” Beautiful winterland photography. D.J. Peters – “Basketball” Sorry guys and girls. This one kept you from finishing higher.

4. The Graham Leader — Lewis Simmons – “In like a lion” Beautiful. Artistic. “Governor visits” Sorry this one brought your entries down and I am a Bush fan! “High and Dry” Great shots. The pick of the bunch. If the over photo is a real shot, hats off to you guys. This color is amazing.

Page Design

1. Hood County News — I usually don’t like photo pages, but yours on lifestyle is excellent. Layout is good and clean and well thought out. A please to look at.

2. The Irving News — Well designed and planned. Page 1 lead head “city council” too small. How about a thin line over “gang” article. Living scene page works well.

3. The Garland News — Page 1 heads are weak. Great photos and good clean layout.

4. Grand Prairie News — Body type could be larder. Good, interesting photos.

Division 5 Semiweeklies 4,000 or Less

General Excellence

1. The Angleton Times — Great, clear pictures. Great layout. Keep up the good work.

2. The Rockwall Texas Success — Page layout is sometimes too busy.

3. Bowie News — Why not border process pictures? Layout needs fine tuning. One pica space should separate copy from headlines from photos.

4. Lampasas Dispatch Record — Why not border front-page photos? Headlines are too bland. Be creative. Overall, we liked the clean appearance.

News Writing

1. Lampasas Dispatch Record — Two good reporters in the Dispatch Record. Work together to scrutinize copy and your work will only improve. I saw clear writing, especially in the lawsuit piece. Every other suit story in this category tripped over legal jargon and didn't explain what was going on in plain English. I saw a sense of reporting authority. A couple of suggestions. I found nuggets of detail or quotes that could have been touched on somewhere in the first three to five graphs. For example, the post-jump quote in the lawsuit piece about "smoke-filled back rooms." Pull it higher ... it's the best part of the official denial. Kudos to Carnley for good verbs. Again, remember story telling. The pictures show rubble. Give me rubble in words. How far did stuff fly? Was there anything dangling in trees? When Carnley gets to the newsroom, she should tell Lowe the craziest thing she saw. And that thing should get into the top of the story somewhere. Keep it up.

2. The Rockwall Texas Success — Standouts, certainly, in this category. Thurmond and Rejcek showed me either amazing discipline or the tough editors behind them. Both stories had context — the ingredient lacking in other entries. The writing was succinct and active. I read easily. Let's bump it up a notch for next year. In the heroin story, I wanted high school kids' voices. These are their peers in jail. In the juvenile/budget story, make sure the numbers don't bog us down too much. I like how they're toward the back — there for the reader who is still plowing through after the jump. Again, this paper's entries showed standards for storytelling usually seen in larger circulations. Good work.

3. The Wimberley View — Both of these stories are event-based and both have the delicate task of wrapping up packages of information. What I wanted to see in the leads, or second or third graphs, were teasers to little golden nuggets that are sprinkled through the stories. For example, we wait until the jump-area on election story to find out that the Democrats and Republicans both attribute some of the trouncing to Gov. Bush's victory. Perhaps, instead of the Humpty Dumpty image in the lead, you might have reached for another analogy that would have fed into the Bush material. Just touch on it lightly — a sentence or two about the governor's race affecting the county races, then back to your voter turnout and results. In the arson story, one of your strong quotes from a family member/victim of the arsons may have worked as the second graph As your fire-by-fire breakdown shows, there was a lot of drama and emotion in the telling of the victims’ tales. I think both stories showed good pacing within the body of the story. Writing in both is clear — even as an outsider I never got lost by references or assumptions made by the writers. Watch for a few things to knock your copy up a notch: Don't take the punch out of your quotes in the set-up. Example in election story: At his victory celebration Tuesday night ... Powers attributed his victory to hard work.  “We spent a lot of time with opinion leaders throughout the country and we worked hard ... .” Watch for passive verbs. It looks like you're both solid, confident writers. Exchange copy and look at each other’s stories with fresh eyes.

4. Andrews County News, Andrews — A stand-out job in this category. Ingram looked for good details and wrote succinctly. A few suggestions: though the reporter knows his sources of information and may feel completely comfortable with certain portions of the story, there were a few places in the text where I wanted more attribution. The most glaring was in the second graph of the Sept. 24 story. “His sentencing occurred without ... proper legal defense.” Says who? I felt like the paper was making a judgment call on a foreign country's legal system. I wanted to know how these cases are legally supposed to be handled in Mexico. Otherwise, I want this info attributed to someone. Again, more attribution needed in column 5, graph 4 of the same story. I'm assuming this info is from Salmon's friend. I should not have to assume.

Column Writing

1. The Wimberley View — Linda Allen, “Got to remember those Christmases.” This one isn’t as good as the other, because the point isn't as clear. Maybe the loss of some words in the jump cost some meaning, but I got confused. Still, your prose is so lush that it was a lovely experience. “If God is pure light” — You do such a good job with the writing I can almost overlook your excessive length. If you have tightened it up some, it would be perfect.

2. Andrews County News, Andrews — Don Ingram, “Lines and type (short cut).” A great story, well told. It holds interest to the end. Next time, crop unneeded part of the photo enough to avoid the jump. “Lines and type (heaven)” — Wonderful personality sketch. It left me asking whether this is a real person your readers would know. I suspect it is.

3. The Ellis County Chronicle, Red Oak — William Rueben, “Danced across street.” Nice story, well told, with a moral. Your organization is admirable. By the way, the word is “bumbershoot.” “Bag of Beans” — Enjoyable piece of satire, again with a moral. Very readable.

4. Andrews County News, Andrews — Randall Roberts, “Drifting Sands.” Wonderful tribute, full of personal details that describe a unique individual. Of course, it was written for readers all of whom know Mr. Roberts, but it might have been nice to mention his name for the rest of us. “Here and there” — This is far more your typical column of commentary, with little to distinguish it from many. Nice touch with the scorpions, though.

Editorial

1. The Perryton Herald — “Council makes right move” Good position on important issue (truck washing facility). Well said, but avoid passive voice, as in second sentence. “County makes good decision” — Another strong local opinion.

2. The Wimberley View — “Pass the beans.” Love your writing. Well said. I figured out WISD is Wimberley school district. What's UIL? Maybe some of your readers need to know, too. “WISD officials” — Rambling and long. Took eight or nine graphs to figure out where you were going. Good points, but tighten up.

3. The Angleton Times — “Child molesters” Clear that you're passionate here. What can be done locally? “Government leaves local media in cold” — You go, guy. Importance of community newspapering well said.

4. Lampasas Dispatch Record — “Inevitable tax increases” Familiar theme, but well said. Pointed out the difficulties of “having it all.” “Seed money for economic development” — I think you’re “pro” but an early punch would have helped.

Feature Story

1. Lamesa Press Reporter — Jeffrey Patterson “Roping and Riding” Appropriate title. Great feature. Unique. Lynn Beck “Renaissance Woman” Very enjoyable read. Great presentation.

2. The Childress Index — Mike Ehrle “Remembering Childress during World War II” Layout had some problems. Story is not under headline. Fourth column is awkwardly located away from third column. Overall, great story and pictures. “Museum provides journey” Much work went into story. Very informative, covered well. I would rather not have photos break stories. Instead, make picture an odd size and wrap copy around it.

3. The Bowie News — Barbara Beckwith “Cowgirl Hilde” Great graphics. Very appropriate fonts. “End of the trail” Good feature.

4. Lampasas Dispatch Record — Lisa Carnley “History in the remaking” Picture of cooking biscuits was fine, but where are the 8th graders? More faces needed. “The rest of the story” Good details, good lead. Picture of lady breaks up the story.

Sports Coverage

1. The Rockwall Texas Success – No question the absolute best in coverage and presentation. Excellent writing. Make your lines at text line up and decide on uniform spacing of some elements. (jumplines for instance) and it’d look even better.

2. Lampasas Dispatch-Record – Writing makes up for other deficiencies great! Didn’t like headlines that didn’t completely cover the text, also text flow shouldn’t be broken by pictures or other elements. Photography looks good; production problem?

3. Breckenridge American – Coverage, writing are good. Some improvements to page design would improve overall appearance.

4. The Angleton Times – I know it’s hard to resist using so many good photos, but a little restraint will aid in overall appearance, giving the paper a more organized look; more inviting to readers. Good coverage! Very close for fourth.

Advertising

1. The Clifton Record — Ad #1: Bank. C’mon guys, is this for real? If it is and I am sure it is, I really liked this ad. Very clever and good use of color over your photo. Ad #2: Our town. Excellent layout. Great use of color. The sepia look on photo is perfect. Makes you want to make reservations now. Ad #3: Freedom. When I saw this ad, I stood from my chair and snapped a salute. So well done it brings a tear of pride to my eyes. No kidding, this is a great job.

2. The Rockwall Texas Success — Ad #1: Regency. Nice layout, not overcrowded, easy to read. Possibly could have done without gray screen background. The dealership needs a more dominant logo. Ad #2: Flying realtor. Very good. Color listings are very important in selling through newspaper. Great composition. Good use of color. Ad #3: Coldwell Banker. This is the way all realty ads should look. Catchy heading with good artwork. Nice sized photos of properties. Super job.

3. Lampasas Dispatch Record — Ad #1: Benny Boyd. Very clever heading. Good use of white space. Benny could use a more eyecatching logo. Ad #2: Impressions. Very timely heading mentioning El Nino. Cute and clever. Easy to read. Ad #3: Pool. Very nice job. Well laid out in chronological order of construction. The only thing this needs is full color if that is possible.

4. The Perryton Herald — Ad#1: Political ad. Great photos, good copy, eyecatching ad. I'll bet this guy got some votes. Ad#2: Bank. Nice ad, reads well, good heading. Nice art to grab attention. Good work. Ad #3: Bank. Tremendous idea. Should have generated a lot of conversation in a small town. I really liked this one.

Photography

1. Lamesa Press Reporter — Russel Skiles “Dangerous duty” One of, if not the best photo in the category. It almost feels scary. The contrast of the firefighters against the background and the sign show the dangers of fighting a fire. Very good. Jeffrey Patterson “Holding on for dear life” Another great shot. The action seems to jump off the page. Frenetic and perfectly framed. Jeffrey Patterson “Incoming” Not up to par with the other two photos, but also very good.

2. The Clifton Record — W. Leon Smith “Football season” Great action. It almost looks like the quarterback is a surfer and the defensemen are a cresting wave. One of the better sports photos in the category. Carol Moulton “Cattle drive” Another good shot. The sea of horns almost poke through the newsprint. Carol Moulton “Don’t mess with ’em” The expressions on the men’s faces are great. Good color and a nice composition.

3. Andrews County News, Andrews — Gary Gatlin “Low ceiling” Humorous, but difficult to make out. Poor reproduction hurts the photo. “Mr. Robinson’s neighborhood” Great action. The football hanging out in the air and the defenseman diving show great movement. Very good picture. “Andrews fan” A very striking shot. The sign, set in a sea of people, captures the moment and the controversy surrounding the team and the game.

4. Gonzales Inquirer — Charles Wood, Murray Montgomery, Jonah Dycus or Jim Cunningham “Record flood hits” Extremely dramatic photo shows both the terror of a flood and the drama of the rescue. Unfortunately, there is no cutline to explain who is in the photo or what is happening. “Cool solution” funny and cute. “Little cowboys” Good, but not as innovative as the other two shots.

Page Design

1. The Rockwall Texas Success — (No comment.)

2. Breckenridge American — (No comment.)

3. Lampasas Dispatch Record — A very readable newspaper. Well presented.

4. Andrews County News — (No comment.)