Texas Press Association
Division 6 Weeklies 1,500 to 3,500
Division 7 Weeklies Less Than 1,500
Division 5 Weeklies more than 3,500
General Excellence
lst - Duncanville Suburban. Excellent all the way around. Photos, color, writing, everything stands out above a huge crowd.
2nd - Marble Falls Highlander. Solid reporting and coverage - competing against big suburbans.
3rd - Park Cities People, Dallas. Excellent except for editorial page which is weak.
4th - Azle News Advertiser. Good paper, but you need color photos to compete with other suburbans.
Column Writing
1st - Oak Cliff Tribune, Dallas. John Matthews. A. Very unusual type of column -none other like it found. High readership we suspect. B. A subject that affects us all sooner or later. This should help us face it.
2nd - Jackson County Herald Tribune, Edna. Marshall Day. A. The Boss has done a nice job. Combines column writing with editorials. B. A good subject and one that we must all face.
3rd - Fredericksburg Standard Radio/Post. Art Kowert. A. Nice display, easy to read and fills the column. B. Recycling must be faced by all.
4th - Shiner Gazette. Tex Rogers. A. A birthday for all of us and the comment made on the one special day. B. Great ideal A letter to the President We should all write one.
Editorials
1st - Azle News Advertiser. A. Boy. I wish my editor had the nerve to write a piece like that! Good solid writing effort illustrating a problem all small town weeklies have, nice job. B. Good job! No newspaper should be afraid to chastise and criticize its readers if the situation warrants it, and this case clearly warrants it. As with above, a sharp, crisp and concise piece with a lot of truth and a lot of guts.
2nd - Woodville Woodsman. A. Wow! If this isn’t the best and most heart rending piece of this kind I’ve ever read, then it certainly ranks very, very high on the list. Solid, fact-filled writing that also packs an incredible emotional wallop. Perhaps I am slightly prejudiced by my personal feelings on this topic - some judges might call this bloodthirsty, but it carries the appropriate tone such a message requires. A four-star effort. B. Strong writing, but a tad overlong. Nice comparison/contrast with medical care. A rather somber piece, but fitting considering the subject matter. Nice work.
3rd - Cameron Herald. A. A very funny piece which tells the reader exactly what happened while at the same time exposes some of the inane proceedings that all city council reporters have to live through. Frankly, I’m pleased to see someone with the gumption to print apiece like this. Excellent work. B. Not every editorial has to deal with “dark” or ‘heavy” topics. Here you present a piece which on the surface reads as a well written piece of fluff, but which in reality speaks volumes about important issues worthy of our attention, Nice job.
4th - Fort Stockton Pioneer. A. Well done! Jumps right to the heart of the matter without wasting everyone’s time - then takes a strong stand on that matter. Too many editorials waste so much time setting up their scenario they never get around to choosing sides - you’ve avoided that pitfall admirably. B. Comments made above are applicable here, as well - good, solid effort all the way around. Good job!!!
Feature Story
1st - Lockhart Post-Register. A. You’re fortunate to have such a good photographer and writer in one person. Wonderful feature with good pictures. B. Loved the pictures. Excellent topic - well done.
2nd - Fort Stockton Pioneer. A. Good story with follow-up. Could have used picture on page 1. B. Interesting.
3rd - Park Cities People, Dallas. A. Paper is fortunate to have at least two excellent feature writers! Nice story and picture. B. Very good -took what could be a boring topic and made it interesting, clever.
4th – Canton Herald. A. Nice story (hint. “Styrofoam” is a trademark name; be careful of use). B. Wonderful, touching story with good pictures.
Best Photo
1st - DeSoto News. Maples. Excellent color, composition expressions.
2nd - Woodvllle Woodsman. No name. Very, Very good. Hope you do more of this.
3rd - Pleasanton Express. No name. Excellent sports shot - wish you’d have made it a column larger.
4th - Park Cities News, Dallas. Peter H. Waters. Good photo, but poorly cropped. Better presentation would have placed higher.
Best Use of Photos
1st - Park Cities News, Dallas. July 11- Nice color, low content. Inside photo page lacks excitement. Pan shot of kids in color should be back page dominant. Jan. 17 - Call for peace -wins first, but inside almost hurt you. The best sports in division by far.
2nd - Park Cities People, Dallas. July 11 - Good use of photos. Sports will drop you to second. Nothing exciting with 80% of photo pages - drop some in next year’s. Aug. 8-Posed is out - too much in your paper. There is a good selection. Four in focus pictures, but get the posed out. (Sports B-).
3rd - Fredericksburg Standard/Radio Post. March 27 - All photographers did a great job in this issue. Sports - feature its all here - good weekly composition. Dec. 25-Never liked the big mug shots in sports section. Everything else is exceptional though. You do what most weeklies never try - get spot news in the paper. Good job.
4th - Cameron Herald. March 17 - Solid front page, but ditch rose picture. Good photo page like the cow. Probably too many photos. Cut four (at least)! Oct. 17 - Better than average sports. Both front pages are solid. Nice bird shot - could have cropped better.
Sports Coverage
1st - Park Cities News, Dallas. A. Excellent coverage of area high schools plus colleges. Good coverage of spring sports. B. Good coverage of football season. Good writing.
2nd - Park Cities People, Dallas. A. Good writing. B. Excellent coverage of lots of sports.
3rd - Azle News Advertiser. A. Excellent coverage of all sports. Interesting style of writing. B. Troy does an excellent job.
4th - Fredericksburg Standard/Radio Post. A. All of sports stories have same type lead -why not vary? Good writing except for overall appearance. (Sounding the same). B. Nice coverage of all sports.
Advertising
1st - Park Cities People, Dallas. A. Very neat, creative and easy to read, both news and ads! Good job! B. Very clear, precise ads. Good staff work!
2nd - Pleasanton Express. A. Very neat, easy to read, good use of art and color. Keep your advertising body! B. Very creative in all aspects. Job very wall done!
3rd - Marble Falls Highlander. A. Good creativity on ads, would do something to break your classifieds. B. This issue looks better on your classifieds. Everything is very neat and eye catching. Good work!
4th - Jackson County Herald/Tribune, Edna. A. Very original and creative. B. Good use of art, could improve on layout some. But overall a very good paper.
News Writing
1st - Fredericksburg Standard/Radio Post. A. Nice layout. Many well-written local stories. B. Outstanding weekly newspaper.
2nd - Azle News Advertiser. A. Well-written news items. Good layout. B. Excellent sports coverage. Covers lots of subjects.
3rd - Rockdale Reporter, A. Well front page stories. Outstanding weekly newspaper. B. Excellent editorial page.
4th - Navasota Examiner. A. Good, well-written news. Excellent community coverage of interest to all citizens. B. Covers news items of interest to all readers. I like the approach to news. No run-of-the-mill writing.
Division 6 Weeklies 1,500 to 3,500
General Excellence
1st - Canadian Record. Excellent utilization of the tabloid format. May be the wave of the future. Clean, good looking newspaper.
2nd - Tulia Herald. Excellent newspaper, good layout. Large and full page ads add to overall excellence. (I’m also a publisher and have bills topsy).
3rd - Burnet Bulletin. Two eye-catching editions of your newspaper. Very readable with eye appeal.
4th - Hondo Anvil Herald. One hundred and five, still looking good. Like to see the columns and editorials under local bylines.
Column Writing
1st - Diboll Free Press. Ernie Murray. A. Everyone can relate to the subject of this column and will read it just to check. B. Same for this column - all of us know about weather.
2nd - Iowa Park Leader. Bob Hamilton. A. Nice display and a subject for everyone at that time. B. Another good subject, agree or disagree. We suspect readers will turn to page four when they get The Leader.
3rd - Coppell Citizens Advocate. Jean Murph. A. Everyone was affected the same way. B. The page two regular location and the brevity will get readers.
4th - Lynn County News, Tahoka. Dalton Wood. A. Nice display, good location, will be read regularly. B. Lots of names - readers will relate to all of them.
Editorial
1st - Port Aransas South Jetty. A. Nice work - strong opening graph, followed by a winning effort to explain the situation and make suggestions as to a solution. This is what an editorial is supposed to be. B. Another strong effort on a topic we should all be more concerned about. Informal yet informative... I think the folks at USA Today call this “reader friendly”. I call it good writing.
2nd - Tulia Herald. A. Nice job of illustrating a point, culminating in announcing a special series of articles. Effective means of doing two jobs at once. Incidentally, I really like the use of a different type face for the editorial. Makes it stand out, creates a sense of importance. B. Excellent!! You’ve pointed out a problem and have attempted to do something to solve that problem. Tremendous use of examples adds weight to your argument A very impressive piece of work.
3rd - Wood County Democrat, Quitman. A. Quite possibly the shortest editorial I’ve ever seen - and all the stronger because of that (only suggestion has to do with layout and design- use boldface in shaded box, as it is easier to read). I wish all editorialists (myself included) could be as short and to the point. Well done!! B. A trifle long, but well done. Nice to see a paper that allows “Guest Editorials” - well-researched, well-thought-out, well-written. Hire this writer!
4th - Nixon News-Star. A. Strong, well-written piece- although the use of such slang as “bitchin’ rights” weakens the effort. Such usage has the overall effect of giving the piece an amateur, “college press” feel to it that many readers may not appreciate. But this is a small complaint; overall, a strong effort. B. Again, a very strong writing effort. However, by placing the editorial in a 1-column format, you relegate it to second-class status. The editorial should be the most important item on the page - here it is not.
Feature Story
1st - LaMarque Times. A. Very nice is all I can say as I dry my tears, smile and say “Go Get Theni, Banister!” Lets play ball. B. Well written and laid out.
2nd - Tulia Herald. A. “Goose Bumps Deluxe”. A beautifully written story about such a tragedy. B. Nice, but too lengthy.
3rd - Mineola Monitor. A. Too detailed on the couple’s history. B. Very nice - an attraction for both genders of all ages.
4th - Pittsburg Gazette. A well written, nothing outstanding. R A breath of fresh air in news. Very light and with a touch of humor. Need more writing skills like this story. However, take it a little easier on the “ducky” words.
Best Photo
1st - LaMarque Times. Scott McCabe. Terrific idea and composition. This would place in a larger division. Excellent photography.
2nd - Grand Saline Sun. Nice composition on spot news, but cutline line is too long. Break into 2 legs.
3rd - Westlake Picayune, Austin. Sylvia Brown. Great idea, well composed.
Best Use of Photos
1st - Grand Saline Sun. A. Editorial photo almost deserved top prize by itself. Good job. B. Very good! Quality, composition and layout, among top in the state.
2nd - Elgin Courier. A. Good usage and layout. Very good second section. B. Excellent photo! Brilliant usage! Lots of life’s real people shown. A joy to look through.
3rd - Frisco Enterprise. A. Front photos excellent, with good quality and layout throughout. B. You have an excellent photographer! Pictures capture emotions and character as well as
everyday life. Very good layout on inside. A joy to look through! Local people should be proud of the job you do.
4th - Smithville Times. A. Good quality, usage and layout. B. Very good choice of pictures. Double truck tells story of its own.
News Writing
1st - Port Aransas South Jetty. A. Good detailed stories. Some of the best I’ve seen. B. No critique - good stuff in Port Aransas.
2nd - The Suburban Tribune, Dallas. A. Good stories, but weak leads. Don’t forget the 5Ws and H. The De-annexation stories are detailed, but to the point. Great story on the chainsaw arrest. B. An excellent mix of features, news and even some old-fashioned investigative reporting. The Lipscomb story is top-notch.
3rd - LaMarque Times. A. Good baseball-hometown-kid-makes-it-big story. Solid LMISD story. All well written. B. Great lead for firefighter story. Getty story well written. Nice mix of news and news/feature stories.
4th - Coppell Citizens Advocate. A. CSE- long lead, but a good story. All stories are well written. B. No negative comments on stories. I would suggest that you only space once between sentences to get rid of the gaps. Overall, you have a good little paper. Stories in both are concise and to-the-point.
Advertising
1st - Westlake Picayune, Austin. Creative ads for most part- some lack call to action. Good job on design of ads.
2nd - Castro County News, Dimmitt. Good design, use of type and variety of ads. Good use of headlines. Nice clean ads.
3rd - Schulenburg Sticker. Overall very neat with variety of ads. Could use more creative headlines.
4th - Pottsboro Press. Great looking paper. Your ads show creativity and strong layout skills and white space. The 101 Things... section was a great idea I plan to steal.
Sports Coverage
1st - LaMarque Times. A. Make leads shorter, crisper - that will make them more readable. B Football tab is super - an impressive debut after 44 years. Keep up good work!
2nd - Burnet Bulletin. A. Creative design -photos and stories, too. B. Graphics are fit-class. They help make attractive pages.
3rd-Vanzandt News, Wills Point. A. Try to improve design to help appearance of pages, B. Neat football section - impressive effort.
4th - Tulia Herald. A. Good reaction photo of bench - that should be dominant photo on page 10. Impressive special section. B. Creative angle to game story – photos need some work.
Division 7 Weeklies less than 1,500
General Excellence
1st - Celina Record. Nice front pages. Good local news coverage. Production gets an A+ (nice, clean ad work). A different font would set off cutlines better. Pm hurt by lack of editorial in Dec. 5 issue; it should be a regular feature.
2nd - Dublin Citizen. I was glad, after seeing the larger than normal body type on the front page, to see it was continued through the paper. Good special advertising section. Excellent front pages on both issues, although bottom photo on March 14 isn’t wide enough (was a problem cropped out?). While I prefer an editorial “we”, Wright makes a good point. I got the impression she took an earlier stance in opposition, but has given the other side’s argument some second thoughts.
3rd - White Oak Independent. Great Flag!!! Good sports page. Watch for gray areas on front pages. Quote boxes, etc. would make a good front page a great front page. I feel the lack of an editorial page on a regular (weekly) basis can seriously undermine a paper’s place in the community. This is your paper’s primary fault. News to take a stand if only to keep the public thinking.
4th - Malakoff News. Nice front pages, but quote boxes can help areas that tend to be grayer Example - top story - June 20; Band director -March 28. Good local coverage. Decent art. What’s your opinion/stance ... where’s your editorial?
Column Writing
1st - Abernathy Review. Scott Luce. The editorial tinge of both columns is thought-provoking. 2nd - Miami Chief. Valda Traughber. A. The names are bound to get enormous readership. B. Everyone can relate to freedom.
3rd - Bogata News. Nanalee Nichols. A. Another subject probably appealing to everyone.
4th - Lake Cities Sun, Lake Dallas. Gregg Woods. Timing of the column should have attracted
Editorials
lst - Dublin Citizen. A. Nice, friendly, well-written piece. It’s obvious the writer (and, by extension, the publication) feel strongly about praising a job well done. Short, sweet, and to the point.... I like that! B. Solid article concerning a matter we’ve all had to deal with —creating confusion among voters seems to have become a pre-requisite for bond elections!! The question raised may indeed be overly simplistic, but also very, very necessary. Writer has done a good job of chastising the right people without seeming nasty about it~ which is often a danger. Good work.
2nd - The Eagle Press, Fritch. A. Very emotional, patriotic, moving piece. Conveys exactly the message intended and nothing mere, which is sometimes easier said than done. Good work. B. A funny — and honest—method of dealing with a problem all newspapers face at one time or another. Again, well done.
3rd - Celina Record. A. Strong, well-written piece — obviously the writer speaks for a number of parents, is probably a parent himself. Strong “fighting words” especially in final graph. Not enough writers do this. Nice to read someone who isn’t afraid of crunching a few toes. B. A bit long, but again very strong. I like your style.
4th - Garrison in the News. A. Strong sentiments weakly expressed. Writer rambles in a few places, and the headline doesn’t tell us anything about the column. And what, pray tell, is “scrappy doe?” B. This piece has a nice, friendly feel to it - almost too friendly. Considering the fact that the subject of this piece is a murdered policeman, wouldn’t it have been slightly more appropriate to express some necessary outrage over such a senseless act? This reads as if he’s simply retired and moved out of town.
Features
1st - White Oak Independent. A. Excellent story— moving! Good pictures. B. Features deserve a byline.
2nd - Ingleside Index. A. Excellent story and pictures. Good use of layout, etc. B. Another good feature. I like the idea of “People etc.” 3rd-Freer Press. A. Excellent story. Could have used stronger lead, but okay. Good writing. B. Too long, needed picture with page 1.
4th - Deport Times. A. Wonderful subject! Good picture. B. Good story. Layout could have been better.
Best Photo
1st - Wimberley View. Well done - big and brash and well composed.
2nd - Dublin Citizen, Karen Wright. Nice big pictures - should have cropped better in foreground. Good spot news coverage.
3rd - Miami Chief, This could have been higher if cropped better and run on page 1.
4th - Garrison In the News. J. Barton. This photo is the best in the paper - and it’s an ad -run this kind of stuff on page 1.
Best Use of Photos
1st - Dublin Citizen. Great spot news coverage, big picture on page 1. Crop some pictures more tightly. Good inside coverage also. You’re doing your readers a real service - better than many bigger papers.
2nd - Celina Record. Great page 1 photo of choir. A little weak on inside photos. Crop more
been on page 1 - great photo.
3rd - Wimberley View
4th - Lake Cities Sun, Lake Dallas
News Writing
1st - Corrigan Times. March21 - Good writing - stories are written in an easy-to-read style, short and to the point. Good coverage of area news and events. Good job of involving community members. A lot of “people” stories. Good. May 9 - Special report informs readers of a local danger – it is written well to inform - only recommendation is to write more leads in active voice rather than using “is” or “were.” Overall, some excellent writing.
2nd - Lake Cities Sun, Lake Dallas. July24 - Good stories about interesting events - nice style. Good job of featuring surrounding cities. Overall good, well-written stories. Sept. 4 - You make an effort to be creative with style. Good, well-written, informative stories.
3rd - Miami Chief. July 18 - Good coverage of how the news affects the residents. “Analysis and commentary” excellent explanation for residents. Also good feature of citizens. Oct. 3 -“Tax nightmare” is good coverage of an important issue - you handled it well. Good use of active voice in leads. Overall good writing.
4th - White Oak Independent. March 14 – Good story about controversial topic (“Bible adopted”). Good features on school classes. June27 - Stories are very well written, easy to read. Good, almost excellent, coverage of community issues. Well done.
Advertising
1st - Abernathy Review. Great looking papers. Wide variety of retailers provide broad base for both special editions to your paper. Really impressed with the ABC School Section. “Block” ads and safety tips are presented in anew layout that appears attractive, imaginative and easy to sell. “Hoops” section was great looking too… seemed everyone wanted to be a part. Good job on both papers. I’m impressed. Keep up the great work!!
2nd - White Oak Independent. How big is this town? Great looking papers, especially the “Exes” issue. I liked the ad that invited ‘74 and ‘77 grads to “Our House” after the game!! Nice clean ads with good use of type and art. Nice clean layout and press work add to the total image and package. Good job.
3rd – Wimberley View Nice looking paper. Ads are varied and represent a wide cross section of retailers. Classified section (including business section) is great. Tell me your secret. Clean neat layout and press work combine for a great looking product. Keep up the good work.
4th - Petersburg Post. Nice little paper. Ads are very clean and neat. Layout is excellent Wide variety of advertisers for small town. Enjoyed “Chief Puddlemaker” ads. Layout and press work is excellent. Makes for a nice clean page. Keep’ up the good work. I’m impressed.
Sports Coverage
1st - Abernathy Review. A. Stories warrant bigger headlines. Photos decant, but could stand improvement. B. Some outstanding coverage, especially sidebars and human-interest stories. Cover attractive with nice composition in girls photo. Other photos (action ones) need to be sharper. Overall nice job.
2nd - Celina Record. A. All-district package looks sharp, especially with use of photos. B. Excellent local and area coverage. Game stories well written with good use of quotes and reaction from coaches. Nice.
3rd - Malakoff News. A. Solid game coverage and photo. Just not much space left after running schedules. B. Outstanding pages - stories and photos well-done overall. Menu and standings give quickie looks for readers.
4th - Dublin Citizen. A. Some solid coverage and packaging. B. Good reporting on Grady West story. Top three heads need to be larger - just jump more story. Good job overall - this is a hustling one man staff.
|