Texas Press Association
Division 2 Dailies Less Than 8,000
Division 3 Semiweeklies More than 4,000
Division 4 Semiweeklies 4,000 or Less
Division 1 Dailies 8,000 to 150,000
Feature Story
1st - Brazosport Facts Clute. A. Beautiful picture and nice story. B. Wonderful story, interesting.
2nd - Galveston News. A. Wonderful story and picture. B. Very moving, was among the top choices. Very interesting. Made the judging tough.
3rd - Beaumont Enterprise. A. Loved the headline and picture! Wonderfully written — Clever. B. Cute. I prefer features about real” people but this was well done.
4th - Midland Reporter-telegram. A. Nice job! Lots of good pictures — a plus! B. Very timely, well-written story.
Baytown Sun. A. Very good, made the judging tough. B. Well-written, interesting story.
General Excellence
1st - Midland Reporter-Telegram. It’s not easy to find something wrong with this newspaper. Great graphics - photos - headline leads and opinions. This is a real newspaper. Great editorial leadership - great staff. Mix of state, local and AP national news is good. Some writers need to shorten their copy a little. Too much extra.
2nd - Odessa American. Great paper. It has all the essentials to be number one. Picture, editorial, the strongest sports I’ve ever seen. One thing I’d change is more keys on the front page. Get the reader inside. Sections work well to get reader’s interest. Education section might be good idea.
3rd - Galveston News. This is one of the greatest papers. The mix of local and national coverage invites the reader to go page to page etc...(Killing Fields copy reads well). Great photos ,opinions and local writing. Headlines are effective. Use of more boxes on front page would help.
4th - Beaumont Enterprise. Good use of graphics and photos. Keys at bottom are good, but might be better on left column. Good job covering war. Editor’s comment was visible, but not intrusive. Advertising layout good. Boxes help break up copy from ads inside. Okay editorials, better than most. Writing gets kudos.
Column Writing
lst - Brazosport Facts, Clute - Rhonda Moran is a talented writer. Her Sept 18 column, though, is far superior to the March 13 one. She has written about the death of her husband in a moving manner. She has approached this difficult subject in such a way that the reader is inspired to live life regardless of what it brings.
2nd - Midland Reporter-Telegram - Ed Todd can take a slice of life and weave a fascinating story. Few could turn a goat story into compelling reading. Ed Todd has!
3rd - Paris News - Robert Slider gives Paris, Texas something of himself. He is talented for his 26 years. Robert Slider has taken his adoption and turned it into a heart-tugging column.
4th – Midland Reporter Telegram – Who else could turn a table conversation into a column with amoral? His readers are fortunate. Gary Ott takes an ordinary event and turns it into a lesson in human relations. His talent is evident.
Editorial
1st - Odessa American. A. This is an editorial which deals with a timely, controversial subject and it has strength. It’s will written and it explores the pros and cons extremely well. B. Timely and not afraid to take a stance on a vital community issue. The police department is a main cog in the wheel. Insistence that ah outsider can do some things which an insider cannot is a good point.
2nd - Plainview Herald. A. Well written, short and to the point. Your letter helps explain its impact. But the editorial itself showed the paper’s interest in keeping the public informed and protecting their interest. This is what the fourth Estate is all about. B. This is not as strong as the other editorial. It’s okay, but it lacks the enthusiasm I found in the other one. Still, these are two good editorials and were close to winning first.
3rd - Brownwood Bulletin. A. This is a timely issue with debate over rural health care, its ramifications, reality and what regional facilities will mean, explained well in the commentary. B. I like this positive editorial about where an area has come from in the wake of disaster. But I think the main drawback of this, which pulled the total entry down some, is that encouragement could have been more emphatic:
4th - Marshall News-Messenger. A. If this were a one editorial contest, this would win hands down. It’s clever, it pulls no punches, it calls a spade a spade and tells it like it is. It’s moving, and proves its point well. B This is just not nearly as strong and I wish you would have chosen a local topic. It’s short and to the point, but not nearly as good as the other.
Sports Coverage
lst – Odessa American. A. Put Shugert with his story and you’ve got an A+. B. It’s obvious sports is Important in Odessa. Good effort.
2nd - Beaumont Enterprise. A. Good writing. Good layout. B. This page would have been perfect with boxed story above the fold.
3rd - Sherman Democrat. A. Good coverage of three sports. B. Neat layout, sparks renders interest. Good overall section.
4th – Brazosport Facts, Clute. A. Three events, three writers, you’re lucky. Good cover art. B. Good layout, pictures need cropping. Sports leads can be snappier than this.
Advertising
1st - Brazosport Facts, Clute. Classifieds are difficult to read, air it out with either more space between ads or larger type. Super idea, kids and pets. Good variation of type, borders and art.
2nd - Odessa American. Super job. Fresh and clean. Classifieds section easy to read. Good use of white space, art and layout.
3rd - Plainview Herald. Good overall representation of advertisers. Good use of white space. Not much call to action or price and item ads. Not much color used in ads. Good ag section.
4th - Texas City Sun. Good general layout skills, need better use of white space. It appears that almost half the ads in this paper are produced for you. Good looking TC anniversary issue. The ads which appeared in this part of the paper were much more open and “airy” than rest of paper. Use more white space in layouts of retail ads. Photos in ads are good idea but need better quality photo so as not to take away from overall ad quality. Good representation from variety of retailers.
News Writing
lst - Plano Star Courier. Excellent story on tax hike -good explanation for readers. Great feature on high school students. Good to delve deeper than only covering meetings. You do an excellent job of going beneath the surface & covering important topics. You bring to light important issues for your residents & explain them well. Excellent work!
2nd - Beaumont Enterprise. Excellent stories. You express well what is happening in your city! Very readable stories. Great explanations! One recommendation — let your writers write more. Each staff story is very well written and explained incredibly well. Excellent work!
3rd - Odessa American. Nice stories. Interesting. Good features. Overall, very well written. Some really good writing. You cover the community well.
4th - Baytown Sun. Good attention to detail, news affects these people! That’s wonderful!
Best Photo
1st - Brazosport Facts, Clute. David Cartner. Rare combination of excellent composition, spot news coverage and human expression. Congratulations to photographer and to an editor who used it correctly. Tremendous. This won over a very good color photograph because of the composition and drama.
2nd - Midland Reporter-Telegram. Beverly Shilling. The story of the war on the home front in one photograph. Absolutely terrific. Well composed, cropped and used.
3rd - Marshall News-Messenger. Mark A. Dimmitt. Tremendous reaction by photographer. Good composition and spot news coverage. Difference between first, second and third was very little.
4th - Plano Star Courier. Doug Layton. Great photo, it was just competing against some excellent spot news coverage.
Best Use of Photos
1st - Midland Reporter-Telegram. Shilling dominates - March 24an excellent job. Front to back, the best use and best photos. Color-near perfect. Curt Wilcott, Sept 8 - what a one-two punch! Front page tells the story, captious not needed. Hang this up in the classroom. Great example of photo skills. Bad news —where’s the local sports coverage? It almost cost in ratings.
2nd – Odessa American. July 1 - Schoelhopf does well with the use of color. Pictures tell story and are vivid. Sports content is not the best April 14-Photos do the job. Way to go in? The color. Trade picture are very nice. What’s wrong with black and white coverage too?
3rd - Galveston News - Where’s inside black and white? Sports action -where’s the ball? Needs help inside. Feb. 10-Color –got to have it to make a good color picture. You’ve got it. Pat Bartram on the back. Rizzo gets a hand, too -good job on photo pages. Sports - got to have better coverage.
4th – Brazosport Facts, Clute March 24 - Nice color on front. Photo series on canal is good. Everything is solid. Sports could Improve. Aug. 25- Sports photo helps but relying on environmental portraits in profiles was a bad choice. Color looks good - little contrast - maybe closer.
Division 2 Dailies less than 8,000
Column Writing
1st - Waxahachie Daily Light. Jim Morgan. A. Should be whose not who’s. Didn’t need the footnote comment. You have an easy to read and earthy style which I appreciate. It’s the first I’ve read in this batch of entries. You made me know you’re human by your subject matter and that’s important to our readers. I was wanting some light reading (no pun intended) and you gave it to me. Thanks! B. Wow! You grabbed me and kept me. You’re a real writer, a real story teller, a real entertainer. You’ve got to be tops in this competition, but I’m still reading. Love your earthy, easy to read style.
2nd - Snyder Daily News. Bill McClellan. A. Good grabber at start. You have a great knack for telling a story. I think I’m in love! B. The length was more tolerable on this one, Bill, but it didn’t have the punch I got from the longer piece and I don’t mean chicken. Here I’ve moaned about all these long columns and now I’ve got to admit, you left me wanting more.
3rd - Clear Lake City Citizen. Geoff Drushel. A. You gave me a great start, even made me giggle. Then, you bogged me down with more information than I wanted to know instead of entertaining me. Column too long for my taste. B. You grabbed me and kept me on this one, and that’s hard to do. God, but I love your humor.
4th - Rosenberg Herald Coaster. Bob Haenel. A. Bob, this column is too long! Be more straight-forward in your writing. Don’t beat around the bush. You didn’t have to tip- toe on this one. It would have been much stronger if you’d simply stated your case up front. B. Great line. “I could have chewed the head off of a nine iron.” Excellent column. Best I’ve read so far, but I’m still reading. This is a certifiable contender. My only complaint is the length. This should have been written tighter.
General Excellence
1st - Waxahachie Daily Light. July31 - Good writing. Good editing throughout. “FYI” is a super section. Feb. 24 -Another good effort. It’s obvious you have a hard working, dedicated staff. “Profile” is good reading - even for a stranger in the community. Clearly the best written, best edited newspaper in the category.
2nd - Pasadena Citizen. July 21 Neat page one. Good use of color. I wouldn’t have cut the car off in the fold. Too much invested to fold a picture. Graphics good. Tight editing. Photo reproduction inside leaves a lot to be desired. Your pressmen get an A+ on color. Sports photos good. Dec. 7- More good use of color and local copy, good Pearl Harbor piece. Who says color doesn’t get attention?
3rd - Huntsville Item. July 13 - Good looking. Good mix of local and wire. Photos clear, cropped tight for the most part. Oct. 10- Spot color use impressive. Teasers there, but not a waste of space. Well written, but shorten the leads. Such good use of spot color throughout!
4th - Seguin Gazette-Enterpise. July 28 –Nice use of local and spot color. Pictures in fold. Nice local opinion. Photos are excellent. Oct.27 -Deep teasers ruin your feature photos (on fold). Very clean, informative paper, well written. Your readers should know how lucky they are. Alice Echo-News. July28 - Screens too heavy. With heavy lines, they grab your attention even before the story. Modular makeup easy to follow. Don’t cut your only lead photos in half with fold. Inside topic heads too black. Your good
Editorial
1st - Waxahachie Daily Light. March 13 -Strong, straight- forward expression of opinion. Very readable. Oct. 16 - A community newspaper can perform no greater good than editorializing on items close to home. Too many papers shun the community to focus on “safer” matters. That’s the coward’s way out. This newspaper is no coward. The writing is compelling.
2nd – Mount Pleasant Tribune. March 21 –This editorial is thoughtful and mixes philosophy with wisdom. July21- R.L. Palmer’s humor is commendable and wide-ranging. He pulls people into the column and holds attention to the end.
3rd - Alice Echo-News. July 6 - The editorial exhibits courage on the local scene. The writing is excellent. Nov.24 - This is another example of the strong expression of editorial opinion that appears to be a characteristic of the Alice Echo-News.
4th - Clear Lake City Citizen. March 6 - This editorial shows thoughtfulness. It sheds light on a complex issue. Feb.24- This one proves that editorial writing does not have to be dull.
Feature Story
1st - Pasadena Citizen. A. Very good story/It could have used a picture. B. Wonderful feature, well written and good layout.
2nd - Rosenberg Herald Coaster. A. Wonderful pictures with good story. Well done. B. Cute pictures and story. Should have drawn lots of readers.
3rd - McKinney Courier-Gazette. A. Excellent feature - timely. Good photos. B. Very interesting. The Courier Gazette is fortunate to have two good feature writers.
4th - Seguin Gazette-Enterprise. A. Wonderful story and pictures. (Paper is lucky to have photographer and writer in one person.) B. Nice story.
Best Photo
1st - Huntsville Item. Richard Nira. Great composition, expressions, op close. Color is a plus, but not a necessity for this one. Great people picture. Tremendous. Readers are fortunate. Better than anything in division one.
2nd - Athens Daily Review. Brian Spurling. Please oh, please let there be more stock show photos like this. Absolutely terrific. Composition, cropping, everything. Thank God, papers are covering stock shows this way. Only reason this wasn’t number one was lack of color.
3rd - Taylor Daily Press. Darlene Morris. Great spot news coverage. This kind of photographer involvement means great photos. Keep up the good work.
4th - Rosenberg Herald Coaster. Lester Phipps. This would have place higher if it had been run bigger. Also, don’t crop off feet. Great photo! Run bigger, bigger, bigger.
Best Use of Photos
1st - Waxahachie Daily Light. March 6 - Good coverage. Vet photo and hometown support pictures are worth more than a thousand words. Strong verticals always help the page. Good job. B. Enlightening! Dorsett wins my vote. Probably the best set of photos in a newspaper of this size. Great Job.
2nd - Clear Lake City Citizen. March 7 –Interesting front page combo. Cute. Sports needs help. A little refining and your there. June 9 -Nice job! Everything is solid. Environmental portraits and sports definite high points in the paper. Classic pet picture.
3rd - Huntsville Item. July S - Front photos are most creative but lacking inside. Too many “grip and grin” check passings. Space is too valuable for the “grip and grins”. Oct. 18 - Dominant front page is too big for content. Lower front page is out of focus. Get closer next time. Large mug shots on sports are great for parents, but other readers don’t care. Make smaller. Nice illustration of environmental portrait in home trends.
4th - McKinney Courier-Gazette. March13-Nice fire picture. Ribbon cutting, make it smaller. Confusing spots. Good council picture. (A rare sight.) March 4 - Crop front page photo and its an automatic winner. Good try at sorts, where’s the ball? Page 6 photos continue good coverage.
News Writing
1st- Pasadena Citizen. A. Excellent coverage of the shooting. Story implies that the guy was still holed up in the house when you went to press. B. Gutsy story on redistricting. Good historic angle in last paragraph of teen shooting story. Suggest you moved it up to get reader’s attention early on that this is becoming a problem. Nice touch on Pearl Harbor.
2nd - Mount Pleasant Tribune. A. Trial coverage well balanced. Why are Mount Pleasant folks using 15% more water. Is there considerable growth in area. Waste? I can’t tell if the trial involves a racial issue. Is that the case here? I love local sports coverage. Covering youngsters will lead to more future readers. Do you run dispensations as well as arrests in For The Record column? B. AIDS story makes no attempt to talk to Mr. Schively’s family even though he makes some cold allegations against them. WWII piece well written and researched. I feel like I knew Jim. Any obits? Hospital records are good way to get names in them.
3rd - Athens Daily Review. A. Good blend of news. Stories are well written and researched. B. Lead on officer shot story has lots of punch. Interview with him was great. Shows initiative.
4th - McKinney Courier-Gazette. A. July 14 - Good story on Miller. Photo complements. A well written piece. Did you talk to any jurors? Theatre story sings. B. Good item on the trial coverage. Drug bust story took some doing to get in there with the officers. You apparently have some good sources.
Advertising
1st - Waxahachie Daily Light. Good variety of layouts. Good classified section. Creative headlines. Overall design of ads is good.
2nd - Mount Pleasant Tribune. Good variety of ads. Ads stand out from each other. Some over use of reverse. Good designs. Creative ads. No header for classifieds with how to place or index sections at beginning of sections. Faxed material (art) is not reproduced well and looks bit-mapped. Maybe a little over use of art borders.
3rd - Seguin Gazette-Enterprise. General design is good. Good classified display. Should use only one (or two) fonts per ad. Need more creativity in headlines (such as “The lenses you can’t get in an hour” - good example). Clean “Beat the tax man sale” ad. Good classified section overall.
4th - Brenham Banner-Press. Nice classified section. Good variety of ads. General layout good and clear. Needs more creative headlines to attract attention.
Sports Coverage
1st - Pasadena Citizen. A. Good use of art. Sports briefs takes care of a lot of needs, doesn’t it? Writing is clear and concise. Good mix of sports. B. Another good section. You do very good for a small daily. Very clearly a winner.
2nd - Rosenberg Herald Coaster. A. Pittman story timely, well written and edited. B. Good writing, good photos, good layout.
3rd - Waxahachie Daily Light. A. Great layout, art work and story. B. Not as striking as March 29, but good coverage of area, well written.
4th - San Marcos Daily Record. A. Interesting sports page. B. More of the same kind of good coverage.
Division 3 Semiweeklies more than 4,000
General Excellence
1st - Panola County Post/Watchman, Carthage. Excellent use of color - adds lots, but not overdone. Good sports section - picture and stories good mix. Overall photo quality excellent. Could use more local news besides weekly columns and “canned” news.
2nd - Graham Leader. Some of the standing heads throughout paper are fuzzy and have lost crispness. Front page could use more headlines with more than one line and possibly some descriptive subheads. Too many pictures buried at bottom of stories and become secondary instead of an impact on helping to tell the story. Border around pictures needs to be omitted or else very thin rule and set out from picture. They detract and give rough make up appearance. Layout is organized and readable, spacey appearance is good - possibly less use of so many column rules would be good. Photos are excellent in quality and quantity.
3rd - Williamson County Sun, Georgetown. Really good use of pictures - good quality -varied sizes. Make up well done.
4th - Uvalde Leader-News. Photo, make up quality and printing are good. Special features excellent. Perhaps more subhead use would help draw more interest and also divide stories from one another.
Editorial
1st - Beeville Bee-Picayune - A. This is well-written, calls for action and does a good job of getting the point across in a short space frame. Well done. B. This is a stronger subject than the other editorial. It’s explained well and the paper leaves little doubt its duties and responsibilities to its public. These two are the best combined in the category and division.
2nd - Wise County Messenger, Decatur . A. This is short, to the point, but could be just a bit more emphatic. Be stronger with your emphasis. Get bold. Don’t b be afraid to challenge these jerks. B. You do a good job, but writing the editorial a little tighter would have helped. You handled the subject well. And there’s no doubt what you want. These two are the second place in this category and division. If they were written a bit tighter, they would have won first.
3rd – Williamson County Sun, Georgetown. A. This is good but it’s a bit hard to read. It lacks clarity, but the point that peace officers are needed comes home. B. This is an outstanding editorial, but it’s quite long. Only the subject matter saved it. Of all the editorials in this division, it’s one of the best. But it’s much too long and it loses a little interest because of its length. Otherwise, it’s okay.
4th - Uvalde Leader-News. A. Not nearly as strong as the other editorial, this leaves one asking “What exactly is it we are supposed to do?” But it’s still pretty good. B. This is strongly written and deals with the pros and cons of an important issue - the inflexibility of government.
Column Writing
1st - Bastrop Advertiser. All the names of local people in Ellen Moore’s column captured judge who counted 41! Same thing happened in November column and we suspect it captured readers the same way.
2nd - Cedar Creek Pilot, Gun Barrel City - Barbara Gartznans column on throwing garbage miffs a lot of people. A good lesson. December was perfect time for a column on Santa.
3rd - Houston County Courier, Crockett - LaDeanne Smith’s name-dropping column will capture readers. Well done. We should keep the heat on Congress until they become responsive to the taxpayer.
4th - Atlanta Citizens Journal. Attention-catching names in John L Coleman’s column will also catch readers. Sexual harassment was a popular subject last October.
Feature Story
1st - Williamson County Sun, Georgetown. A. Wonderful photo and story-excellent writing. B. Very good story and pictures!
2nd - Atlanta Citizens Journal. A. Wonderful layout design. Good story, well written and interesting. B. Terrific feature and very well done!
3rd –Wharton Journal Spectator.A. Excel lent head and cute story. B. Wonderful feature! Well done.
4th - Hood County News, Granbury. A. Wonderful feature story! B. Nice story with good teaser, well done.
Best Photo
1st - Williamson County Sun, Georgetown. Daniel Byram. No contest- fantastic! This would have placed in Division two. Congratulations! Composition, cropping, expre5sion, etc. and also to an editor who believes in big pictures.
2nd - Polk County Enterprise, Livingston. Stephen Hengst. Great composition. The photographer got dirty and thus got a good picture. Very well done.
3rd - Wharton Journal-Spectator. Burlon Parsons. Excellent use of a large photo and a big group of people. Most papers won’t and can’t - pull this off and you did. Only a hair’s breath of difference between this and number 2.
4th -Atlanta Citizens Journal. John Coleman. Excellent composition. Good cropping, excellent photo, but it printed a little light. The expression on one man’s face makes it. Close to number two and number three.
Best Use of Photos
1st - Round Rock Leader. A. Page one shot of gunslinger cropped well, and shows action and emotion. Frontier Daze photos show strong expressions. Photo of boy eating peppers could have been cropped a little tighter. Sports picture on7Awouldhavebeenbetterhad it been cropped to a 2-column. B. Pictures on Homefront page put this one as the first place entry - shots are well composed. Good reproduction. Sports shots were the weakest part - a tighter cropping would help.
2nd - Williamson County Sun, Georgetown. A. Strong entry. Soldiers photos on page one and six - had they been cropped tighter - would have made this one hard to beat. Good sports shot -other inside photos just need to be cropped tighter. B, Good sports photos, nice use of large picture.
3rd - El Campo Leader-News. A. Color was effective - not a lot of action - good photos on page 6 - woman and balloons best shot - should have been given bigger play. Sports photo reproduction weak. Try a faster shutter speed to stop action. B. Lots of storm damage shots - one with man and grandson would have made a more effective page one shot - had he looked at damage and not camera. Nice use of big photos on 2-page layout - sports shots - especially stand-em-up photos - need to be cropped tighter - at waist instead of head to toe.
4th - Graham Leader. A. Nice big fire shot on page 1 would have been a more effective vertical shot - some of fire shots on 4Awould have been better verticals. Needed more action sports shots. B. Page 1 photos could have been cropped tighter - more info with cutlines- page 8 photos needed more information, less posed shots. Sports photos need to be cropped - enlarged.
News Writing
1st - Hood County News, Granbury. A. Good writing and editing. Inside pages a little cluttered, but you’re getting in a lot of news. It’s the readers that matter more. B. You have good writers. Encourage them.
2nd - Graham Leader. A. Good use of spot color, not my favorite color, but... Tighten leads. Photography is good, especially page 1. B. More of the same. You are ambitious.
3rd - Williamson County Sun, Georgetown. A. Good art, well written, but could use tighter editing. Sea cruise art about 1 1/2w to depth. B. Good job of community coverage.
4th - El Campo Leader-News. A. Such good copy, such long leads. Good variety of copy. Editorial sound off good idea. You cover your area well. B. Well balanced news. Lead still a little long.
Advertising
1st - Uvalde Leader-News. A. Ads stand out but too heavy use of reverses and bold heads make them also run together. B. Nice job of overall creativity and neat makeup. Your extra effort really shows up.
2nd - Lamesa Press Reporter. A. Good use of clip art-graphics to get attention for ads. B. Good creative touch.
3rd - Hood County News, Granbury. Hood General hospital ad is outstanding along with use of screens, color, various borders on other ads. Classified heads easy to read and well spaced. Good job. Good paper.
4th - Round Rock Leader. Classified—little sub-heads are difficult to find, perhaps, since main heads are reversed, you could screen the sub -heads. The Student design an ad contest was effective and good, it gives variety.
Sports Coverage
1st - Williamson County Sun, Georgetown. A. Writing solid, good column and super photos. B. Ditto. Readers are lucky to have such excellent coverage.
2nd - Panola County Post/Watchman, Carthage. A. Excellent coverage. B. Super photos. It’s obvious that much time and effort go into your pages. Pages are outstanding.
3rd - Lamesa Press Reporter. A. Good action photo (pg.12) and feature (pg. 13). B. Creative angles to stories.
4th - El Campo Leader-News. A. Good track photos. B. Some creative writing and angles to stories.
Division 4 Semiweeklies less than 4,000
General Excellence
1st - Canyon News. Clean, easy to read paper. It’s light and airy in the makeup department -maybe too much air and not used consistently in some places. Some photos muddy in required issue. Concern evident’ story –had to get to 4th graf to find out what story was about - checkout the error on your jump. Keep all of your jumps confined to one page. I’m being picky because this is a neat and easy to read paper. Wish you’d used same photos on some gray pages instead of stacking all of them (8) on one page.
2nd - Bowie News. Great flag! Good use of art in football ad. Excellent photos. OP/ED page clean. Good ad mix.
3rd - Perryton Herald. You get an A for volume. Pg. 1 - Don’t abbreviate in beds (Aug.), dean. Ad placement awkward with double pyramids. I, personally, don’t like it. Viewpoint: w-a-a-y too much air. Some pages gray, but photos you have are excellent and good and large. Ads look clean.
4th – Ballinger Ledger. – Muddy photos. Spacing horrible on pg. 1-too much air. Lead story should have bigger head - don’t use 2-column 3-line heads. Pg. 1 looks jumbled. Yeah! You have an OP/ED page - Now, where are the columns and editorials?
Column Writing
1st - Breckenridge American. Elsie Hope Sturgeon A. Everyone can relate to the subjects of the column. The same trip would be fantastic. B. Public officials getting their hands in the till -that makes everyone fighting mad and rightly so. More attention must be given this.
2nd - Alvin Sun. Bob Gilmore. A. Nice display, looks great. And the police should get credit at every opportunity. B. Home-owned, locally produced community newspapers are sorely needed everywhere. Good subject.
3rd – Canyon News. Kimberly Burk. The required column will be read by 100% of the circulation, you can bet on it! B. Everyone can relate to - a change for the better.
4th - Lamb County Leader-News, Littlefield. Cornball Blevins. A. The war was the number 1 subject and coverage was justified. B. More and more of us must be concerned with big government. It’s true that it’s a cancer.
Feature Story
lst - Canyon News. A. Nice feature - The Canyon News is lucky to have two (at least) good feature writers. B. Cute story with excellent lead! Interesting.
2nd - Lampasas Dispatch-Record. A. Wonderful feature and photos! Well done. B. Excellent lead! Nicely done. Paper is lucky to have two good feature writers.
3rd - Bandera Bulletin. A. Nice layout and good lead. B Wonderful story! Nice job.
4th – Ballinger Ledger. A. Wonderful story and picture! Interesting - deserves byline. B. Cute story and terrific photo. Nicely done.
Best Photo
1st - Bandera Bulletin. Larry T. Williams. Good expressions on part of all subjects; could have been cropped a little tighter on left, but overall a good feature shot.
2nd - Canyon News. Bill Linn. Nice feature shot, picture is cropped good, but could have been a little deeper.
3rd - Lampasas Dispatch-Record. Terry Schaub. Good photo - cropping tighter on the two subjects would have made this photo more dramatic in capturing the employees’ reaction and emotions. The women in white could have been cropped out all together.
4th - Brownfield News. No name. Photo would have placed higher had it been cropped better. The fourth column - being washed out detracts from the action. A tighter cropping to the four running would have put more punch into the photo.
Best Use of Photos
lst – Andrews County News. A. Excellent crowd scene - page 1. Wonderful variety of photos for July 4 coverage! Good job on captions for feature page, in particular - (so often people don’t use them on feature pages). Cute shot on page 8! B. Good news coverage - page. 1. Good job on composition with what could have been a very boring shot -top right, page 3.Watch the shadows - page 8. Try to avoid having subjects look off the page - page 11, bottom right.
2nd - Liberty Vindicator. A. Excellent photos throughout - page 1 could be better with one photo clearly dominant, but both of the photos used are good. Great job of news photography - page 1,2,3 & 4. B. Excellent page 1 fire shot, but I would have made it larger. Good job on the caption, too. I would try to avoid bumping two unrelated photos together (page 2). The gator shot is especially good! Golf cart photo a bit too contrasty, but does a good job for a group –especially considering the subject.
3rd - Bandera Bulletin. A. Excellent use of photography on page. 1! Great news coverage on dominant shot- nice human interest at bottom of page. Page 5 good quality, but a little busy. Might have worked bitter to focus on 1-2 kids and teacher. B. Page. 1 good subject matter! composition. Faces on the right are a bit dark. Page 5 - Try for something that looks more “academic” for a shot like this. Good job with shot on page 6. Hard to tell what’s going on with picture on page 8 without reading the caption. Great sports photos in the tab.
4th – Bowie News. A. Good news shot - top page 1. With groups like on page 4A, try to get subjects closer together (although it’s sometimes tough with kids!). Page 9A - Good shots, but they’re washed out. B. Good shot page 1 - would have improved if moved to the left edge of page and to give balance with the mugs at the top. Strive for good quality -sharp photos with range of black-to-gray-to-white. Feature page might have been better with only one large photo instead of two - they tend to compete and make the page look too busy.
News Writing
1st - Lampasas Dispatch Record. March 18 - Goodstories -well explained, good use of active voice. Experiment with creativity, not always inverted pyramid. Oct. 21- Great localization of Killeen shooting! Nice story about the man who was killed. Great coverage - excellent stories! Excellent writing. You really made a great effort. Congratulations, staff!
2nd - Commerce Journal. March 10-Okay -some good feature stories about local people. Nov. 10 - Great coverage of an important topic. Good, creative leads and writing styles. Now do this on regular news stories, not only on special assignments. Excellent work! Good explanations, stories move along well.
3rd - Rockwall Journal-Success. July 16- Some good writing. Excellent feature stories, especially the one about the shoe man. Good coverage of local news. Aug. 9 - Good involvement of readers. Good coverage, good style.
4th - Brownfleld News. March 20 - Great writing, but be careful of verbs — especially in headlines (“Lemon begans”). Otherwise good, really good, writing. May15 - Good coverage of different area topics.
Advertising
1st - Alvin Sun. A. Nice looking ad bottom of page 2, very effective! (lurch directory neatly organized, but it doesn’t quite look like a church ad at first glance. Try a different typeface for heading (not so bold) and perhaps an illustration of some sort. Good job on car ad page 7 and store liquidation page 8. B Great job on grocery ad, page 3, but if the 4 bottom boxes are coupons, make them dashed. Effective use of color! Good job accommodating several ad sizes on double truck. Nice use of color on page 6.
2nd - Bandera Bulletin. A. Avoid tilting type on the Boyle’s grocery ads. Also, in using color, try it on the prices or all the item headings and the store name. Effective, creative use of art – “Cactus Patch” page 3. Good small ads - ranch and land, page 5. Nice looking church directories, but consider boxing the listings and sponsoring ads so it’s dear they’re together. B. Good idea for the tab and many of the ads tie-in nicely. Nice use of art border - page 11 of tab –“Maxine’s.”
3rd - Lampasas Dispatch Record. A. Ads get a bit busy with so few typefaces available. Try varying the type sizes more and using more illustrations. B. Nice looking classified pages, Business Review, etc. Good job on Nape ad, SB. Effective use of color on Diamond Shamrock ad!
4th - Brownfield News. A. Good job on City Fruit Stand, pages. Nice looking church directory. B. Effective ad for AVI, 8B.
Sports Coverage
1st - Rockwall Journal-Success. Head and shoulders above the rest. Photos good and easy to read stories. Your readers must enjoy the sports coverage.
2nd - Lampasas Dispatch Record. Refreshing. Solid sports writing and solid action. It’s good to see both. Calendar is good idea. (I’d find place for stats, too).
3rd - Alvin Sun. The coverage is good, inn photos and design are lacking.
4th - Lamb County Leader-News, Littlefield. Good flow in copy, but only after getting pest lead. Action photos rare among papers of this size in Texas. Looks good.
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