Texas Press Association
Division 2 Dailies Less Than 8,000
Division 3 Semiweeklies 4,000 or More
Division 4 Semiweeklies Less Than 4,000
Division 1 Dailies 8,000 to 150,000
General Excellence
1. Odessa American. Good enterprise stories on Today front. Strong photography, good color use. Black & whites do not get consistent reproduction. Easy to read design. Perhaps overdoing the “promos” on page 1 of May 3 issue. Pretty tight news space. Is “Success Stories” an ad supplement? Not labeled as such. Lot of effort on special reports. Six-column inside-page headlines are way too big!
2. Midland Reporter-Telegram. Clean, attractive layout Good lifestyle cover. Good mix of local, national, world news. Solid oil section. Several very good local stories in these two issues. Good enterprise stories in sports.
3. Galveston Daily News. Good election issue. Good design on open pages and inside too! Several strong headlines. Great color reproduction. Lots of effort put into Horizons—great color, several good stories.t;/p>
4. Brazosport Facts, Clute. Clean design, easy to read. Solid reporting and editing. Brazos People page nicely done. Good photos for fronts, gets weaker inside. Good, well-rounded news selection.
Column Writing
1. Galveston Daily News. Kathy Thomas, subject One Day at a Time. Well-written. Has added quality of reporting to back up writing.
2. Rosenberg Herald-Coaster. Bob Haenal, subject Single Ladies. Fun to read. Subject Nightmare. Excellent column. Touches heart of all parents.
3. Galveston Daily News. Heber Taylor, subject: Deer Hunt. Funny, enjoyable.
4. Brazosport Facts, Clute. Buddy Scott, subject: Self Criticism. Interesting. Important topic. Subject Alcoholic’s Lesson: Powerful column. Insightful tale of human relations.
Editorial
1. Galveston Daily News. Subject: Bond Issue. It’s tough to maintain a reader’s interest in a bond issue—one of the dullest topics around—but this editorial does it. Clear, cogent and comprehensive editorial on an important local subject.
2. Longview News Journal. Subject Coats for Kids. Warm-hearted editorial got something done. That is an achievement in a disinterested world.
3. Sherman Democrat. Subject: Maestro. Concise, effective tribute to community leader.
4. Plainview Daily Herald. Subject Minority Voting. Logical examination of sore loser’s actions.
Feature Story
1. Midland Reporter-Telegram. Subject: Helping Nature Along. Well-written article. Provides information while telling an interesting story. Subject: Facing Pain. By far the best article submitted in this category. Tells important story in thoughtful, articulate way. Mr. Waggoner’s writing style keeps reader’s interest and gets reader emotionally involved—well done!
2. Brazosport Facts, Clute. Subject: Refuge From Storm. Told important story. Plight of women in our society comes home in article. Subject: Taste of Prison Life. Really enjoyed article. When I got finished reading it, I felt as though I had actually visited prison. Ms. Grahmann is an excellent writer.
3. Longview News-Journal Subject: Counting Blessings. One of best entries in category. This mother obviously loves her son and Ms. Laxson does an excellent job conveying message. Subject A Little Love. Restores one’s faith in mankind. Well-written story about courageous woman. Job well done.
4. Rosenberg Herald-Coaster. Subject: Clowning Around. Nice article with insights into clown’s life. Subject Bunny Love. Different than most entries about sick children. I liked the off-beat subject. Refreshing and well written.
Best Photo
1. Odessa American. John Faught, subject: Feature. Excellent feature photo of two kids throwing sand. The arch of the sand provides outstanding composition for photo. Nice display on page.
2. Midland Reporter-Telegram. Joe Williams, subject Sports. Outstanding moment for soccer photo. Nice to be able to see reaction on players’ faces. Excellent display on page and good color.
3. Laredo Morning Times. Jerry Lara. subject News. Emotional moment as a woman struggles with customs service officer. Photographer obviously paid attention and captured the moment.
4. Plano Star Courier. Doug Layton. Nice composition of subject where students are reacting to tragic death of fellow student. Nice lob!
Best Use of Photos
1. Plano Star Courier. Dramatic use of cover color, well shot and well presented. Nice picture page. Photos are of consistent quality.
2. Galveston Daily News. Nice portrait work in special issue—nice large format section covers used to good advantage. Also some nice black and white, but pictures are not so well showcased as color pics.
3. Odessa American. Nice use of color on covers. Inside is gray at best. Interesting use of little portraits in columns of quotes to accent color shots.
4. Midland Reporter-Telegram. Some decent color on covers, but there is little use of photos inside. Some section covers (especially Homes) show good design flair, showcasing photos with more style.
News Writing
1. Longview News-Journal. May 3: “For the Children.” Good story with important issues and solution. Should have had better play. Good election coverage. Jan. 9: Good flowing stories.
2. Odessa American. Nov. 4: Page one election stories a little choppy, good use of coordinating graphics. Why was story about seven-year incumbent vs. rookie challenger buried on page 6B? Aug.21: Coverage of chemical explosion has good stories, well written. Paper covered all angles, but “KABOOM” is tacky. Were there any injuries? Highlighting water supply problem was good move—it is an area people should know about. Chemical graph was great—mandatory for average reader to know what is what.
3. Midland Reporter-Telegram. May 12: “Pecos quadruple murder.” Good job with difficult story. Lead a little wordy—should be two sentences with a graph because so many important facts go up front. Aug. 21: Excellent coverage of chemical explosion—you got all angles. Quotes were overused in a couple of places. Water supply is perfect angle for a story in this situation.
4. Rosenberg Herald-Coaster. May 10: Stories well written, succinct. Oct. 14: Well written, good local coverage.
Advertising
1. Brazosport Facts, Clute. Creative ad layouts. Good selling ads—catch attention. Special Section: Angleton Centennial. Color choice not best. Too weak to carry blacks in photos. Overall very good. Creative layouts in both art and type.
2. Odessa American. Nov. 26: Ads show imagination. Good sig pages. Spacing between boxes make them easy to read. Feb. 8: Good use of color in Our Town section.
3. Texas City Sun. Good ad layouts. Could use more variety of type fonts. Summer Child-care—-very well done, good color. Progress ‘92—very good, also good use of color.
4. Plainview Daily Herald. Good auto section. Some ads are a little weak in layout/type/art. Outlook ‘92—type selection could make some ads easier to read.
Sports Coverage
1. Galveston Daily News. Nice graphics. Good baseball layout. Strong local coverage. Good overall packaging.
2. Odessa American. Good coverage and results of track meets. Track is tough make readable. You did a good job. Color on scoreboard page excellent touch. Good overall packaging.
3. Midland Reporter-Telegram. Some of best photos we saw. Strong art packaging. Scoreboard page needs to be more readable.
4. Brazosport Facts, Clute. Strong local content and writing. Obvious enterprise and hustle by staff. Good variety. Nice job.
Division 2 Dailies under 8,000
General Excellence
1. Pasadena Citizen Best in tough field. Good use of color. Good election section. I like your standing headers. One fault: I think you play your cartoons too big on opinion page. Good job to everyone. Excellent paper.
2. Waxahachie Daily Light. A close second. Excellent paper with lots of pluses. Great election coverage. Special section on president’s visit outstanding. “Answer Wise” feature interesting. Reporters write well.
3. McKinney Courier-Gazette. Great photo of school bus wreck. Fine work throughout paper. Letters show people really read your product. Staff’s hard work evident.
4. Vernon Daily Record. Lots of interesting stories throughout. Reporters write well. “Town Grief’ interesting, and I suspect, popular. I like “Kids Say” feature. Good voter guide.
Column Writing
1. Waxahachie Daily Light. Jim Morgan, subject Planting a Tree. Ability to recall past and allow a reader to know one’s subject is an art. After reading about Curtis, I could recall strong, unschooled but not uneducated people from my past. We learn much from them.
2. San Marcos Record. Diana Finlay, subject: Hey— It Happens. Death happens—we are better for having loved someone or something and grieved than never to have shared memories. Writing is healing too. Thanks for sharing.
3. Angleton Times. Subject: Life Lesson From Four-Year-Old. From out of the mouths of babes comes understanding of innocence. Welcome to the world of parenthood—even as a part-timer.
4. Gainesville Daily Register. Dianah Bullard, subject: Making of a Murder. Good point. Boiling it down would have made for easier reading, but it was well done in spite of the length.
Editorial
1. Pasadena Citizen. Subject: Public Deserves Openness. Tackling a ticklish local matter here. You merit high mark for your willingness to do so.
2. McKinney Courier-Gazette. Subject: Rumors. Calm attempt to bank the fires of local rumor. You spell out the situation in a way that should have helped diffuse the rumors.
3. Huntsville Item. Subject Judging Action. Strong stand on a manner of local politics. That’s not always easy to do;
4. Waxahachie Daily Light. Subject: EPA. Forthright stand in calling hand of powerful federal agency.
Feature Story
1. San Marcos Record. Subject: Krissy’s New Heart. Wonderful story, simply and powerfully told.
2. Waxahachie Daily Light. Subject Strange Angel. Powerful subject handled with style. My only criticism is that it loses focus about halfway through. Maybe should be tightened up a bit. Seems too long.
3. McKinney Courier-Gazette. Subject: Longtime Helper. Sensitively written. Story gives hackneyed troubled-economy story a human face; turns it into something more profound. Nice work.
4. Gainesville Register. Subject Shooting. Powerful topic. No nonsense. First person appropriate. Weakened a bit by cumbersome beginning—information that should have been worked in later on. Has editorial ending. Compelling reading.
Best Photo
1. Huntsville Item. Richard Nira, subject: News. Excellent emotional photo of car wreck. Intensity of rescue worker trying to save victim really makes photo jump out at you. Good display at three columns.
2. Mineral Wells Index. Suzie Stuzman, subject: Fireball. Photographer captured moment as small fireball explodes in student’s hand. Reaction on teacher’s face a nice touch.
3. Brenham Banner-Press. Lynette Black, subject: Fire. Good call to run four columns. Line of firefighters working to put out practice fire pulls eye across page. Nice composition.
4. Bay City Daily Tribune. Jennifer Reynolds, subject: Basketball. Good, emotional photo of guy playing basketball in pool. Horizon could have been straightened.
News Writing
1. Waxahachie Daily Light. Every news story in issue has strong lead giving reader reason to continue. Stories completely reported and not over-written. Organization excellent. Language fresh. Quotes appropriate and well placed. All news elements provided in each story. Writers presented them as controlled by events and people, not by news-story formula or fill-in-theblanks reporting list.
2. Brenham Banner-Press. Strong, solid news writing throughout. Strong leads should encourage readers to continue through stories. Stories balanced and complete. Good organization of content.
3. Pasadena Citizen. Interesting news content on front page. Crisp, lively writing enhances strong reporting.
4. Bay City Daily Tribune. Fresh approach to routine morning-after election stories.
Advertising
1. Waxahachie Daily Light. Nov. 1: Good array of political ads. February: “Profile” outstanding. It would have won on weight alone, but ad quality also was best in division.
2. Huntsville Item. Nov. 29: Liked “Brand Name Directory” in gift tab. Good idea. Excellent sales work. Staff deserves a raise. Oct. 22: Thought I’d seen them all, then lo and behold, the “Social Security Contest.” Nice business directory. Fine job on “Just Say No.”
3. Kilgore News Herald. May 3: Sort of weak in number and quality of ads. Nice Classified section. June 21: “Together” is nice piece of work. Good ad count. Well-conceived ads.
4. Pasadena Citizen. Nov. 6: Are full-page ads free or what? I’ve never seen so many! Nice job, staff! Dec. 4: Nice ads throughout. Good work.
Sports Coverage
l. Pasadena Citizen. Good, readable agate. Good bowling logo. Good packaging. Great job on local graphics. Good, solid job. A clear winner. Front pages look nice.
2. Taylor Daily Press. Local graphics good. Excellent local coverage, both news and analysis. Big photos and headlines help. Berkenbile apparently works his tail off in writing, photos. Cutline style sometimes confusing. Could use variety.
3. McKinney Courier-Gazette. Basketball package layout drops off after top of page. Good packaging and variety of coverage. Some photos are used too small, give a crammed look.
4. Athens Daily Review. Like packaging of standings with story. Adds to readability. Packaging nice—agate has clean look. Cage roundup layout style may need work.
Division 3 Semiweeklies over 4,000
General Excellence
1. Williamson County Sun, Georgetown. Nov. 1: Good page one. Newsy, good layout, good headlines. Nice photo display. Especially good pix on “A Prescription.” Thx on inside used well—big enough to savor. Good editorial pages. Nice sports front. Clever headline: “Downtown goes zombie.” Excellent page one art in both editions. Use of star on jumps worked for me. Nice Oct. 28 community news page. A fun, informative, readable newspaper with an innovative staff that appreciates good pictures.
2. Garland News. Color does make a difference. However, “Lessons of Work” tint overdone. Too many tints on page. Good, newsy front pages. Editorial pages, page headers. Nov. 15 sports front layout confusing: page is bottom-heavy. Nice, newsy inside sports. TV, entertainment pages best I saw. Lifestyles page good, but blue tint overdone on column and “Neighbors.” Best total news organization.
3. Round Rock Leader. Nov. 15 page one is newsy, well organized. Good election box, editorial page, page logos, organization. Good campaign ‘92 reports inside Nov. 5. Good pix on sports page. Nice heavy lead headline on “Champs.” Nice Home front page. Editorial page interesting, but poll too large. What happened to last graph on Texas Shoot-out? Marvelous pix of girl pitcher on Oct.26 sports. Layout quality tapers off inside.
4. Bastrop Advertiser. Recommend breaking cutlines over two columns into legs. Headlines too small on inside pages. Nice editorial page. Good mix of letters. Area news well-covered. Sky boxes pretty big: seems waste of page one real estate, Oct. 8. Newsy front pages. “Downtown & Around” interesting, probably very popular. Aggressive sports coverage, including hunting and fishing.
Column Writing
1. Uvalde Leader-News. Craig Garnert, Subject Gift of Memory. Super job. Of several Mother’s Day columns, this was outstanding. As well put as could have been done, and a very personal subject. Solid style. Subject: Touchdown Hero. Excellent. Felt we were right there, from the start to the goal line. Nice touch.
2. Garland News. Steve Knagg, Subject King Blake. Super column. Nice reading, well written, enjoyable. Subject Friends. Good story-telling. This guy can write. Funny, easy to read and just long enough.
3. Round Rock Leader. Will Hampton, Subject Family Secret. Well done column on painful subject.- You captured pain and hopelessness well. Good work. Subject: Adopted Son. Good read, well written. Rows. Took us from beginning to end with little waste. Good job.
4. Williamson County Sun, Georgetown. Clark Thurmond, subject: Silence. Interesting. Good writer. Subject not one many people would think about. Nice job. Subject: Sailing. Funny! Sailed all the way through . Great close.
Editorial
1. El Campo Leader-News, subject: Hospital’s Fate. Good analysis of common problem in smaller communities. Subject: Sales Tax Vote. Well-argued case for supporting tax.
2. Garland News, subject: Open Government. Twist on politics of smaller town, Subject: Honest, Open Discussion. Your paper is consistent in pushing for doing public business openly. Good job.
3. Round Rock Leader, subject: Don’t Throw in the Towel. Original approaching on topic. Good takeoff from student’s letter. Subject: Lottery Launched. Well written, well-argued.
4. Graham Leader. Subject: the right to be informed. Shows how secrecy corrodes public trust.
Feature Story
1. Garland News, subject: Dedicated to Education. Excellent feature on dedicated teacher provides complete picture of challenges, objectives, dreams. Graphics, strong head helped. Subject B: Search for soda jerk at Nostalgia Craft Mall. Headline and pictures excellent.
2. Williamson County Sun, Georgetown, subject Teen Court. Good job of focusing on value of exposing high school students to justice system. Good photo. Subject: Medicine Man. Stark photos, strong head strengthened excellent feature on Georgetown physician. Rivets readers to each well-constructed sentence.
3. Beeville Bee-Picayune, subject: Penny the Pooch. Photos, cutlines work well. Feature follows well, has feeling. Subject: Who You Gonna Call? Graphics tie in well with holiday subject matter.
4. Hood County News, Granbury, subject: Man’s Hobby. Photos, excellent head enhance feature on wood carver. Concise sentences detail immigrant’s early challenges recent successes. Subject: On Surface. Unusual feature on children who have experienced deaths of loved ones. Well written. Excellent quotes from children and therapists. Photos and head worked well with feature.
Best Photo
1. Cedar Creek Pilot, Gun Barrel City. Chip Souza, subject: Basketball Action. Photographer captured peak action with good cropping and quality details.
2. Williamson County Sun, Georgetown. Daniel Byram, subject: First Responders. Photo has excellent composition and emotional appeal. The picture could use a bit more contrast but is still very good.
3. Round Rock Leader. Mark Prochnow, subject Fire Drill. Any photographer can stand on the ground and shoot at firefighter framed in clouds. Nice job here on picking an angle that most readers never see.
4. Uvalde Leader-News. Mark MeClendon, subject Righting airplace. Good composition. Nice approach to the good old weather picture.
Best Use of Photos
1. Williamson County Sun, Georgetown. Good variety and news value. Composition is top of the line.
2. Hood County News, Granbury. Good quality of staff-produced photos. Wide news value. Composition good. Good creativity in election coverage. Band section is excellent.
3. Round Rock Leader. Very good news value, good clear composition and reproduction.
4. Wise County Messenger, Decatur. Composition, quality and diversity above average.
News Writing
1. Uvalde Leader-News. Well-written stories. Writing showed variety of subjects handled well. Good variety of leads—not dull; all were newsy.
2. Moore County News, Dumas. Tough call between first and second. Leads and stories are to the point. Well-focused writing.
3. Williamson County Sun, Georgetown. Solid third place. Stories not spectacular, but consistently good, well focused.
4. Bastrop Advertiser. Leads generally to the point. Stories well focused.
Advertising
1. Center Light & Champion. Excellent “Pride 92!” Nice job all the way—ad count, quality of layout, copywriting, enterprise, etc. Congratulations on a magnificent “keeper” section.
2. Williamson County Sun, Georgetown. Nice work on political ads. Classified section needs a classification chart-by-number system. Visions Section—very nice work. Good use of white space. Most ads clean, well done.
3. Round Rock Leader. Lots of nice, clean ads. Good typography and reproduction. Classified columns might work better on 8 or 9 column format. Gift Guide—good ad count.
4. Polk County Enterprise. Livingston. Good football section. Nice ad count, however ad stacks are inconsistent.
Sports Coverage
1. Williamson County Sun, Georgetown. Good photos and good use of them. Best coverage of cross country I’ve seen. I like packaging of standings with stories. Your pages have a good action look.
2. Garland News. Front pages look good. Excellent photo reproduction. Good variety of coverage on local angles. Schedules are awfully hard to read. Need better presentation there.
3. Panola Watchman, Carthage. Good photos and variety of coverage. Nice packaging of standings and series records with stories.
4. Beeville Bee-Picayune. Good action photos and reproduction. Team photos have sameness about them. Try some different angles if possible.
Division 4 Semiweeklies under 4,000
General Excellence
1. Texas Success, Rockwall Lively layout. Excellent choice and display of art and photos. I like your editorial format: subject, pro, con, your position. A clean, readable paper, including a fresh writing approach.
2. Commerce Journal. Tough choice between you and first-place winner. Clean layout, sharp heads, good editorial page. Deborah Davies’ writing is especially impressive. Good coverage. Good use of photos, but photos could have been larger. Lively editorials. Your photo on page one, Dec. 9, was excellent. First place newspaper just did some things a little better: photos and graphics, for example. You would be first in most contests.
3. Clear Lake City Citizen. Excellent, lively writing. Pauline Duryea is impressive in style as well as volume of production. Lively make up, but a little loose. Some good photos; others are uneven in quality. You need to work on color quality. Strong editorial and lifestyle pages.
4. Canyon News. Aggressive news coverage. Good writing. Strong heads. “County First” too small. Strong editorial page. Make up cluttered; could be cleaner.
Column Writing
1. Commerce Journal. Subject: Meat Group Lesson. Delightful look at typical family situation. I loved humor, resignation, conclusion. Fun reading from beginning to end.
2. Jacksboro Gazette/Jack County Herald. Subject: Magnificent Obsession. Robin Keith paints wonderful picture of first days of school. I could almost feel I was there. Highlights importance of teachers and education to society.
3. Brownfield News. Subject: Los Angeles Beating. Strong lead brings reader into column. Good choice of descriptive words. Thoughtful conclusions.
4. Andrews County News, Andrews. Subject Forrest Scott at State Track Meet. Intriguing story. Heartwarming, nostalgic tribute. Roberts’ column sure to be read.
Editorial
1. Texas Success, Rockwall. Subject: Why Punish Counties? Great readability. Includes case for, case against, and your position. Helps draw reader to editorial pages. Good lead. Your position is clear. You convinced readers to take action.
2. Liberty Vindicator. Subject: Tax Payers Pay for Trips. Good writing. Flows well. Points made and backed up with facts. Nice use of quotes.
3. Alvin Sun. Subject: $800,000. Good point, well made. Editorial provides leadership. Writing is tight.
4. Breckenridge American. Subject: Board Guidelines. Too long. Several graphs repetitive. Edit half of this Out for tighter editorial. Good writing. Work on your editing.
Feature Story
1. Clear Lake City Citizen. Subject: Life Through Art. Good story, good subject, good use of metaphors. Interesting piece, angle.
2. Andrews County News, Andrews. Subject: Survivor. Well-written story filled with anecdotes and quotes.
3. Lamb County Leader-News, Littlefield. Subject: Williams Signs. Factual, informative. Lead could have been, “Jill signed her college plans one day and won three gold medals the next.”
4. Breckenridge American. Subject Knives. Good feature. Probably could have used more quotes or anecdotes about Eastwood.
Best Photo
1. Perryton Herald. Subject: not listed. Funny picture. Shows what they felt. Good reproduction.
2. Lampasas Dispatch Record. Subject not listed. Good action shot. Excellent moment. Good flash. If you could see faces, photo would be better.
3. Bowie News. Subject not listed. Good photo shows activity. Printing quality good.
4. Texas Success, Rockwall. Subject: not listed. Good picture. Shows a lot of activity, but better if you could see faces.
Best Use of Photos
1. Lampasas Dispatch Record. Excellent. Great cropping, use, quality. Good identification of photos.
2 Lamb County Leader News. Great photos. Identification good. Quantity and quality good.
3. Clear Lake City Citizen. Good action shots. Great job on cropping. Really appreciate identification of each individual in photos and so will your readers.
4. Texas Success, Rockwall. Photos good. Some lack identification. Take time to I.D. people in photos.
News Writing
1. Canyon News. Snappy leads with stories that read well with plenty of good quotes. Good variety of stories, but let’s not invite people to events.
2. Texas Success, Rockwall. A tough choice. Good coverage both on front and inside pages.
3. Andrews County News, Andrews. Some good lA material. Timely stories with strong art. News on inside sometimes weak.
4. Commerce Journal Some good news stories but not overly strong. Put sports on sports pages.
Advertising
1. Clear Lake City Citizen. Many ads show creative layouts. Good gift guide.
2. Alvin Sun. Xmas gift ideas—good use of color, mostly good layouts. Auto show section very good. Good layouts.
3. Texas Success, Rockwall. Good Harris Realtors color page ad. Good grad tab, but some ads weak. Good newcomer guide—some ads very good, some weak.
4. Breckenridge American. Good for most part. Some weak ads. Great school shopper guide. Some weak ads.
Sports Coverage
1. Texas Success, Rockwall. Strong local content Well packaged. Good design. Good use of graphics, art. Writing above par. Nice football section. Put together well.
2. Lampasas Dispatch Record. Packaged well. Strong photo support. Nice design.
3. Canyon News. Strong local content. Good description/information. Type size too small.
4. Marlin Democrat. Nice-looking page.
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