Texas Press Association

Texas Press Association

Division 2 Dailies Less Than 8,000
Division 3 Semiweeklies 4,000 or More
Division 4 Semiweeklies Less Than 4,000 

GENERAL EXCELLENCE

1st-ODESSA AMERICAN. What a combination. A solid, clean-looking, gutsy paper that isn’t afraid to try something new once in a while. Section fronts have a real flair, strong art and good writing. Especially like the handling of the nuts and bolts stuff—the opinion page columns and letters, the weddings and engagements, and sports stats. First thing to hit the judges was “the look” of the American, which isn’t too bad. That’s what bits the readers, too.

2nd-BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE. Consistently strong, clean paper with comfortable, friendly make-up. Photography could use a boost (or respect for it, anyway). Also, section fronts are pretty safe. Get crazy once in a while. It’s a visual world.

3rd-GALVESTON DAILY NEWS.Nice use of color, careful, conservative layout Not a lot of creative flair in the photography, though (leading with a photo of a woman at the beach with a dog puts a lot of pressure on the shooter to come up with something special). On the other hand the news coverage of the tanker fire was excellent, and the staff seemed to be out in force on that one.

4th-MIDLAND REPORTER-TELEGRAM. Had to admire the spirit of this paper. Everything tried doesn’t necessar­ily work, but it’s nice to see people trying. Section fronts, for example, are wacky at times, but, hey, nothing ventured.....

COLUMN WRITING

1st-BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE. By John Powers. U.S. sports: Great column, but a little long. Lost son: Another great column. (I want to read the next installment!)

2nd-MIDLAND REPORTER-TELEGRAM. By Gary Ott Drug rehab column was the best single column I read today. I’d like to read the next three columns.

3rd-BRAZOSPORT FACTS, Clute. By Rhonda Moran. An eerie duo of columns....good job!

4th-ODESSA AMERICAN. By Ken Brodnax. Interesting reading, even though I know nothing about Texas politics.

EDITORIALS

1st-KERRWLLE DAILY TIMES. Editorials strongly written, pointing out problems with government or quasi-government organizations. They raise questions and show no fear of offending establishment.

2nd-MARSHALL NEWS MESSENGER. Editorials written in straightforward manner, leaving no doubt as to message. Imagery used (“thinking with his boots and his gut”) draws attention.

3rd-MIDLAND REPORTER-TELEGRAM. Never fun to admit you’re wrong, but editorial saying so written with grace and perception which expands into a larger theme obviously of great importance to the local community. (Confederate flag and Dixie.)

4th-ODESSA AMERICAN. Best of the rest.

FEATURE STORY

1st-GALVESTON DAILY NEWS. Holy hankies, Batman —I could hardly get through those stories with a dry face! Zowie! Great use of dialogue in both (all 3) pieces, gut-wrenching because they weren’t sappy. Left reader with great understanding of terminal illness—yet with a positive attitude about cancer-sufferer’s ability to deal with it. Great use of photos and layout.

2nd-TEXAS CITY SUN. Sharp leads, well written — from the gut-wrencher to the off-beat “bright” Very attractive layout on clown piece. Quality photos.

3rd-BRAZOSPORT FACTS, Clute. Excellent writing on “farmers” piece; very good writing on “persistent little boy.” Unusual depth of treatment on both pieces. Much better -- excellent -- use of color, photos and layout on “fanners” than on “little boy.”

4th-BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE.Good use of color, photos and graphics on both. Quality writing (especially “Love’s Power”). Absolutely excellent lead-in (first three graphs) of “When Knights Were Bold.”

BEST PHOTO

1st-MIDLAND REPORTER-TELEGRAM. “Boy with kitten in tornado aftermath.” Nice strong image that tells the whole story! The way the boy is hugging the wee kitten says a lot I also liked the boy’s rubber boots. Lighting looked very harsh. Tough situation to shoot in, but Beverly Schilling did a nice job.

2nd-LAREDO MORNING TIMES. “Instant Suburb Born ~of Poverty.” Great shot taken in tough light situation. And it helped to sum up the whole story. Not quite as effective as first place, but still a very nice photo. I appreciate Magdalena Zavala’s effort to not shoot posed shots, which could have easily been one by a less enterprising photographer.

3rd-BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE. “Close Call.” Good, clean image, tight, emotional, well lit The little girl peering from her mother’s arms is very effective. It’s nice to see a good, strong image from a car wreck that has a human feel. Not just another wrecked vehicle with firemen/policemen/paramedics standing around. Good job, Meg McKinney.

4th-TEXAS CITY SUN. “Knees in the Breeze.” It’s interesting having to judge news, sports and feature photos all in the same category, which unfortunately, pushed this innocuous feature shot out of the top three. Still, a very nice image. Good emotion on both boys’ faces, strong lettering on the “Free Car Wash” sign makes the meaning clear right away. Could have been cropped a little tighter on the sides to be more effective, bring more attention to the faces and shorts at the ankles. Congrats to Jim Richard.

BEST USE OF PHOTOS

1st-ODESSA AMERICAN. While it may appear that I’m partial to the papers using color photos, it’s the use and content (no color) that won it for the American. The coverage of a tornado and its destruction was played well on page one. Then a fantastic B&W layout on the inside gave even more details. Use of two and sometimes three local photos on front pages made the paper appealing. Lead photos were used large and in conjunction with headlines, copy and page layout to make a very effective package. Surprisingly, in this category sports pages were not using local art terribly well to make a strong page. Fashion page was excellently laid out and photos were different. Very pleasing page.

2nd-MIDLANDREPORTER-TELEGRAM. Lots of local photos on section-fronts and throughout the paper made for an interesting package. There was a lot of emphasis (or at least effort) on some “non-conventional” assignments. The Homes & Living page used fantastic color photos, combined with catchy headlines and great page layout Throughout the paper, strong lead photos are used with very effective headlines to draw in the reader. Special Midland People section used nice(although posed) color photos, run very big (which I like). Page layout played a big roll in this finishing second. But then, use of photos is what this is all about. Nice job!

3rd-BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE. Local art on almost all section fronts made this a very nice paper to look at While the quality of the photos wasn’t the best (or even third best), the way they were used effectively throughout the paper worked well. Also, strong images were used big, weaker images were kept smaller. Good use of discretion!

4th-GALVESTON DAILY NEWS. Photos used well with page layouts helped this paper, despite its lack of many local photos throughout the paper. The good photos were used well (especially the firefighter & flames) to grip the reader. Lifestyles photo page could be stronger, but I still liked the idea. Fashion page also tried something out of the ordinary. I would have liked to see more local photos inside and strong local art on sports. Sports page was definitely the weakest for use of photos.

NEWS WRITING

1st-BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE. Virtually all of this newspaper’s news stories get to the point quickly. Hard news leads are used where appropriate and feature leads are used well to add a human element. Many entries in the category did well with leads and then faltered. The Enterprise’s stories appear to be well written and edited throughout, making for easy reading.

2nd-ODESSA AMERICAN. The American appears to be a well written and interesting newspaper, and it missed first place narrowly. Stories are to the point where necessary and have a human angle when that’s appropriate. They could be edited to be a little clearer. The winner in this category contained stories whittled down to just the necessities; the American’s sometimes contain a bit more. Overall, though, a good job.

3rd- GALVESTON DAILY NEWS. The biggest difference between this entry and the second and first place winners wsas words exra words. Edit a littlme more tighly and the Daily News will be a w winner. News coverage appears to be solid; the stories make the needed points and are generally interesting. They just lack saome of the spark of the winners in this category.

4th-MIDLAND REPORTER-TELEGRAM. The Reporter-Telegram makes its points in stories, but not as effectively as some of the other entries in this category. Reporters need to remember readers rather than sources when they write; editors need to take stories apart and reassemblethem whe it’s called for. For examples were thre other possibilities for the apge one story March 23? ~Group tours UTPB Cen­ter.” Why would a reader want to wade through this story? Probably not because a business group toured it, but that’s what the writer started with. This newspaper would benefit from looking for more innovative approaches. Overall, though, a solid job.

ADVERTISING

1st-BRAZOSPORT FACTS, Clute. Good variety and appearance. Good layout and originality.

2nd-TEXAS CITY SUN. Good originality, good variety, typestyle good.

3rd-PLAIN VIEW DAILY HERALD. Good appearance. Good ad layout and variety, fair originality.

4th-BROWNWOOD BULLETIN. Good appearance, layout and typestyle. Excellent small paper.

SPORTS COVERAGE

1st-ODESSA AMERICAN. Spectacular color photo (track shot) in April 15 issue won it for you. Pretty nice layout, but get rid of the screen inside the double box. Writing pretty good. Black and white photos poorly printed and poorly displayed. Headline writing clean, concise, but somewhat unimaginative. Color registration off in Oct 27 issue. B2 in Oct 27 issue could use photo. Page gray. Good B/W tennis photo on B5 could’ve been used larger. Page needs dominant element.

2nd-CONROE COURIER. Great shot of Arnold Palmer — somewhat ruined by poor reproduction. Writing pretty clear and imaginative. Bottom football photo OK, but again poorly printed. Pretty clean and simple Bl layout On B1 of Dec. 5 issue, need something dominant Good basketball photo. Go up in size and drop size of golf shot. Work on sharpness and contrast of all photos. Also whole page seems faded.

3rd-LAREDO MORNING TIMES. Pick a dominant package. Lead golf shot best photo. Play it up. Baseball celebration shot cliche, can be shrunk. Too many photos. Layout too busy. Writing pretty straight forward. March4 issue same complaints. Nothing dominates by virtue of size. Have some good art to work with. Tennis and track photos show good emotion. Excellent baseball shot on B3, may be best sports shot. Jump heads should refer back to story’s start. Should have some wire sports (national) out front.

4th-MIDLAND REPORTER-TELEGRAM. This was just the best of the rest. Color in Feb.25 issue washed out, but good baseball action shot in March 7 issue. Colored borders around color photographs sometimes detract from the photo. Conventional sports writing, nothing offensive, but nothing too creative either.

Division 2 Dailies less than 8,000

GENERAL EXCELLENCE

1st-THE COURIER-GAZETTE, McKinney. Best entry in a weak category. Like the runnerup, the front appears fairly clean and moderately interesting. Story selection is pretty good, but color borders and screens are little too much. On down side, drop heads should be consistent and all photos should have 1 pt. borders. Layout is clean and simple, but could be a little more creative. Photography fairly weak, especially on the sports pages. First sports page should be an open page if not a section page. Sports calendar box too large, overshadows main story/photos on page. Get rid of grip and grin photos. They only please those in photos and their families. Action photo will get attention of all the other readers. Never did see an opinion page??

2nd-WAXAHACHIE DAILY LIGHT. Second best of the entries, but still had some problems. Of the two issues submitted, the Feb.25 issue had the best front page. Color photo on Oct. 28 issue was bothersome. Was a good idea, probably, just didn’t quite come off as expected. Rest of Oct. 28 front page too busy. Car crash photo and enviro-portrait not front page caliber. Also enviro-portrait should at least have a nameline below it. Personal opinion, but boxed line near top flagging Windmill Academy ad cheapens the paper. Black and white photos throughout missing 1 Pt. borders. Cutline type should be smaller (10 Pt. on 11 Pt. leading perhaps) and in bold type to set them off from other copy on page. Be consistent in use of color in masthead. Good to have flexibility to move it down and banner story above. As for masthead color scheme, the Feb. 25 version preferred. It’s cleaner, easier on the eyes. Where are letters to the editor in Feb. 25 issue? Why isn’t sports a section front? Weak sports photos/layout/headlines.

3rd-CLEAR LAKE CITIZEN. Don’t use color just because you have color to use. Very weak front page photo. Move in, get close. Fairly simple front page but index box at bottom too big, especially with the teasers on top. Boxed sidebar “Five Vie” should be above copy to avoid dog leg look. Teasers at top nice idea, slightly overdone. Three are enough and be consistent with screens—either all 10% black (gray) or all screened back blue. Masthead should be black or blue, probably black. Current color looks like press mistake. Jump heads should refer to page where story started (from page Al). Would advise against using sports photo or any photo—in editorial column. Watch folios, some are crooked. Weird sports page layout. Too tight. Lower right hand photo doesn’t add to page or

4th-PASADENA CITIZEN. State mapin upper left corner poorly done. Registration on masthead and throughout front page off. Watch press work! Do press checks. Front page photo selection uninspired in both cases. Sports (lead) page should be open. Best sports photo of all entries though. Watch for straightness. Sports briefs too large on the page. They compete with main photo/story. Too much white space on Bi feature page. Missing photo credits. Bottom photo printed way too darkly. Get rid of italics heads. Hard to read, make paper look cluttered. For variety stick to bold and light face types. Don’t use same photo twice (B1 & B4). Wasted space on B1 means crowded pages in rest of section.

COLUMN WRITING

1ST-ROSENBERG HERALD-COASTER, When Culture Shock, etc.:Good job of linking past, current events through memorable individual. From Honey to Sweetie, etc.: Light, fun reading.  Community must have enjoyed reading Clyde King’s column.

2nd-ROSENBERG HERALD-COASTER. Honey, let’s raise taxes: good commentary on national problem. What goes up, etc.: good readable explanation of well-intentioned causes get complicated. Bob Haenel did a good job.

3rd-WAXAHACHIE DAILY LIGHT. Life of 90 Years: Thoughtfultribute to woman many people have known, or wish they had, by Sandra Minatra. One of Us: Shows universal feelings at loss of friend.

4th-SAN MARCOS DAILY RECORD. “Insurance doesn’t reassure” and “Children should”: Susan Hanson takes good look at major issues in lives of most people and their communities.

EDITORIALS

1st-WAXAHACHIE DAILY LIGHT. A solid editorial that appeals to a niche of every reader’s heart and mind. And, perhaps most importantly, points out the pocketbook connection that’s so often the basis of all decisions. Its strengths include a compelling lead, an appropriate dose of humor (“Even the president doesn’t like broccoli”) to lighten the tone, and several admissions that, yes, all of us feel peculiarly threatened by those who we think are “different.” With racism on the upswing in many parts of the U.S., I felt this editorial most pertinent. It attacks “racism” toward the retarded, rather than lambasting neo-nazis and other popular evils, makes readers more aware of how easily they’re least looking for it. And that’s a reminder more readers should have.

2nd—PECOS ENTERPRISE. A very well-written and well-organized editorial. The lead graf draws in readers quickly, and the third graf presents an analogy (the two Jesses) that keeps readers going. It handles an angle of a popular topic in a more original way. Moreover, the writer exercised restraint: rather than blasting councilman Hernandez for swaying like a willow rather than standing firm on issues, the writer allowed the reader to draw that conclusion from the facts presented. This is what good journalism is all about. Further, the background was smoothly presented; complicated history was boiled down to the bare, yet understandable, facts; and the call for action was backed by strong justifications.

3rd-BAY CITY DAILY TRIBUNE. Except for a weak lead, this editorial makes a strong point and offers “doable” solutions for the problems it points Out. Responsibility for environmental improvement is put in individuals’ hands rather than generally bemoaning the planet’s destruction. It also offers simple steps most people can take to begin positive changes. And it’s not afraid to endanger, however slightly, its own revenues, by suggesting sharing of newspapers rather than individual subscription. Now that’s forward-thinking. Kudos!

4th-CLEAR LAKE CITIZEN. The lead graf could have been stronger. As it’s written, the bizarre angles to the story (the 3 a.m. meeting, the $75k buyout) aren’t as high up in the piece as they should have been in order to entice more readers. However, the gist of this editorial — that taxpayers have a right to know why an action was taken — is its strong point. The background is presented in sufficient detail to not leave new readers/residents in the dark. The editorial could’ve been further strengthened by a more definitive call-to-action, rather than the wimpy “It’s nice to be filled in on the reasoning.” How about “Board members should divulge why Thacker really resigned?”

FEATURE STORY

1st-CLEAR LAKE CITIZEN. “Sounds of wars...”: This was by far the strongest entry in this category. Excellent lead. Good transitions. Good use of description. Sensitive handling of an easily humdrum type of story. Strong close. Watch your spelling in Oregon, we spell “surprised” without a “z.” “A guardian...”: A good, user-friendly treatment of an often boring subject. Captured Le Blanc’s struggle between demands of development and need to preserve wetlands. Showed the realities that sometimes compromise environmental assessment.

2nd-PASADENA CITIZEN. “Teendilemma...”: This was perhaps the only entry to look at a statewide problem by examining a single case. It’s an excellent approach. Good photo support, especially of father (a rare sight). Watch out for long sentences, break them up (i.e. third graf). “Clark reflects...”: An OK story but what about photo? Gilley’s closes and nobody thinks to bring along a camera? Story also needs more sources. Lead is too matter-of-fact, doesn’t grab readers.

3rd-HEREFORD BRAND. “Walking Tall”: This story is a hoot. Excellent writing and best use of quotes of any entry (“It felt like somebody had a cutting torch down there...”). And it doesn’t go on forever and ever and ever. The writing captures Davis’ character—and what character it is. “Well-made sizzle”: Nice treatment of a local business, but lead could be stronger. Also goes on a little too long.

4th-WAXAHACHIE DAILY LIGHT. “Vision of the collider”: Only story to tell the tale of ‘little guys’ standing up to bureaucracy. Well written although lead could be stronger. Collider isn’t mentioned until sixth graf. “Learning more...” Good use of photos and nice computer graphics. Story was lightweight but I liked the bit about avoiding “a new and distinctive tile pattern.”

BEST PHOTO

1st-ATHENS DAILY REVIEW. Goodaction, and expression of players. The photo is clean, composed and printed well to emphasize the player’s face. Photo is also a good choice since the player was the high-scorer in the game.

2nd-WAXAHACHIE DAILY LIGHT. Strong emotional impact though it is hard to figure out what is going Out from the image alone, and the caption provides only a bare minimum of information. The nature of the photo lends itself to having great news value that might have been provided with wider view of the scene.

3rd-VERNON DAILY RECORD. A unique look at a Friday night football game, that makes a nice statement about youth and sports. The composition makes the photo, though the light in the background is distracting.

4th-SNYDER DAILY NEWS. Goodemotional reaction shot that captures a lot of good expressions. The photo is somewhat cliche but nevertheless works well.

BEST USE OF PHOTOS

1st-WAXAHACHIE DAILY LIGHT. Some very, very good photography....and played  well! The Family & Life photo page on Day in the Life of a Hospital was terrific use of photos. Throughout the front sections, the lead art was used strongly and were good photos to boot. Photos were also used well in conjunction with copy to make even the “copy heavy” pages look pleasing. Keep up the use of good photos run big!

2nd-ATHENS DAILY REVIEW. Lotsof local photos throughout the paper, used large and with secondary art when appropriate. These are characteristics of good photo use. Nice job! Chosen photos were clean and strong, and use to their best. One of the front pages entered had three photos and three stories. As a photographer, I liked the appearance of that page, and the photos worked well with the stories to give a great look at one day’s news in the local area.

3rd-CLEAR LAKE CITIZEN. Lead art on front pages was played well...fairly big and high on the page. “Guardian of the Environment” page used large lead shot (color) and strong headline and an effective use of white space to make a nice page. Although sports photos were rather redundant, I still liked that they were played large and used more than one. The key to this finishing third was the use of strong images, fairly large, as lead art, combined with strong headlines to make a pleasing package to look at.

4th-THE COURIER-GAZETTE, McKinney. Photos chosen to run were strong images and played well on the page. Also, the photographers took time to look further into their stories than one “posed on the front porch” shot. Detail shots can tell a lot, and they were used. Sports photos could use the same treatment (larger and more than “what’s expected”). Add a photo page once or twice a week and you’ll be near the top next year.

NEWS WRITING

1st-CLEAR LAKE CITIZEN. It was atreat, after reading a stack of newspapers, tocome across two editors that consistently explained the news in a tight succint fashion. The lead sentence primarily told the whole story, so the reader had the option of reading for more information or skipping to something else. The writing styles were straightforward and uncluttered and avoided use of cliches. In a few cases, the leads were a little long — Pritchett’s roll back petition story and Carpenter-Wilson’s piece on the dog track. It looks as if there is a lot of leading between lines and between words, which may add to the feeling that the leads are long. I object to Pritchett’s lead on the school transfer. She says nine people will talk at an upcoming meeting. There are too many variables in life to make statements like that. Good use of quotes. The paper reads like a no-nonsense paper that perhaps could use a bit of humor.

2nd-ATHENS DAILY REVIEW. Good work by Dukes and Spurling in keeping my interest on what could have been dull stories about the economy. I liked the phrase “kick in the economic pants” and sending “nearly 200 employees into the jobless....” The news writing was straightforward and included volumes of facts. The stories flowed, answering questions in the order that I had them. The stories also were well organized. Also enjoyed Spurling’s effort to equate the storm in the sky to the storm on the street in his Easter melee story. Prudent use of quotes.

3rd-PASADENA CITIZEN. Clear and tight writing came through in almost all presentations. Leads were to the point for the most part. Did have trouble with Noble’s PISD bond lead. It hung out there, meaning nothing to me. Enjoyed his use of quotes and no-nonsense writing in Robin & Haas contract story. In Wilson’s story on the murder, the sentence dealing with Kevin Drake should have been expanded. I get the idea he also took part in the crime,  in her lead that South Houston has her eyes focused on plans. Inanimate objects such as cities can’t see. Enjoyed Zagrzecki’s lead on the fire at Gilley’s Club—”charred shell of the honky tonk. . . .mechanical bull Urban Cowboy...” Everything I as­sociate with that place is dispensed with in a clear fashion that also tells what happened.

4th-VERNON DAILY RECORD. Perhaps this paper would have ranked higher had there been more news copy to read. What was there was written clearly and concisely. The stories were told in a straight-forward manner. Did object to phrase “hot under the collar” on the VHS story. Too much a cliche. Did enjoy the headline. Many of the newspapers submitting entries contained stories that were cluttered — backed into what the story was about, and told the story in chronological fashion —often leaving the meat to the end.

ADVERTISING

1st-SNYDER DAILY NEWS. Outstanding! Very creative layouts, especially Margaret’s ads & Clyde’s Air Conditioning — color and screen. Lots of small business opportunities. Unique ideas: Bank sponsored Honor Roll, Brides section (looks like its monthly?), Chamber newsletter (I stole that page!) sponsored by businesses.

2nd-HEREFORD BRAND. Excellent use of headlines that tie in art. Excellent layouts (especially Hereford State Bank). Full page business feature style ads Regular senior tabloid: great ideas.

3rd-WAXAHACHIE DAILY LIGHT. Lots of small advertiser options. Progress edition well done with a wide variety of advertisers. Quality of ads above average with a few exceptional ones (especially the Box Printing & Advertising ad).

4th-PASADENA CITIZEN. Excellent auto ads. Overall gooduse of benefit headlines in ads.

SPORTS COVERAGE

1st-THE COURIER-GAZETTE, McKinney. Extremely well-organized section. Good use of photos. Writing generally good. Close call between McKinney and Stephenville for first place.

2nd-STEPHENVILLE EMPIRE-TRIBUNE. Tough call for first and second place . Close in quality and a step ahead of the rest.

3rd-WAXAHACHIE DAILY LIGHT. Good coverage of regional semifinal and reverse overburn of the quote into the picture was a classy touch.

4th-ATHENS DAILY REVIEW. Best of the rest.

Division 3 Semiweeklies more than 4,000

1st-The SUNDAY SUN, Georgetown. Both issues had strong lead packages. Lead photo in May edition especially well done. Story selection for lead on Oct. 3 issue very good. Layout not too strong. Photos need to be bordered. Get rid of italics heads. Be careful with feature leads on hard news stories. See “Gunshot kills...” lead is buried! Pretty nice horizons page in May 6 issue. Good sports shot in Oct. 3 issue.

2nd-EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS. Nice top half of page. Goes downhill after that. Border photos! Work with press, everything dark and muddy. Shorten leads, change byline format to include second line...”staff reporter, writer”?

3rd-CENTER LIGHT & CHAMPION. Get rid of ads at top of page and get more readable masthead and you’re on your way to a much nicer paper. Go to sanserif type for body copy. Work on photography, border all photos!

4th-MOORE COUNTY NEWS-PRESS, Dumas. Nice layout, poor photos for front pages. Writing OK.

COLUMN WRITING

1st-PANOLA COUNTY POST, Carthage. Great columns by Charles McClure. They are thought-provoking, spicy and pointed. And they say what they want tosay in a reasonable amount of space. Well done.

2nd-WILLAMSON COUNTY SUN, Georgetown. Pointed, moving, well-written column about the death by Brad Stutzman. Good use of the language in both. “Denim” was cute. Good metaphors. Only criticism is they might be a little on the long side. Good job and good reading.

3rd-EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS. I picked Jerry Aulds’ columns because they were like “snatch of life” pieces. Good reading. Short. Thought-provoking with a personality angle I enjoyed. And it’s good to chuckle at stories like “Heard.”

4th-HOOD COUNTY NEWS, Granbury. Maybe I’m prejudiced because I happen to think Joe Thompson’s “equal lock-out” column was on the mark. It was also well-done, full of opinion and suggestions. The column about kids leaving home was a little rambling, but given the license allowed d columnist, it rambled creatively.

EDITORIALS

1st-THE SUNDAY SUN, Georgetown. Excellent points, well-written edits but too long. Other than that, they fit editorial style, with a lead, point and final comment Lots of facts. Use of “we” instead of the suddenly-popular “I” is good! Endangered species edit was very well done, if a bit long. We suffer in Oregon from that’ Act, too.

2nd-ROUND ROCK LEADER. I likedyour metaphors and use of “horse” terms in race track edit. While being creative you also made a good point. Suggestion: shorter paragraphs; set aside your final point as its own paragraph—” “Anything less” It makes it stand out. Good points about disabled.

3rd-BEEVILLE BEE-PICAYUNE. Local editorials stressing local issues. That’s good. Lots of facts in “Navy” edit, helping to prove point. Last sentence with your “point” was unfortunately hidden in a paragraph asking people to write congressmen. Should have set it in separate sentence. And speaking of “should” your 1/2 cent sales tax edit used “should” two times inthe first paragraph. Could you have used a different word? I thought your “blank-check” sentence would have made an excellent lead, as well as use in headline. Good points.

4th-ATLANTA CITIZENS JOURNAL. Good points made in each edit. Paragraphs are too long. If you broke them up more, edits would look better, read better, make the point better.

FEATURE STORY

1st-THE SUNDAY SUN, Georgetown. A joy to read “Rob.” Your photos for both features, as well as layout, were very good. These features were outstanding, making first place in this category an easy choice.

2nd-PANOLA COUNTY POST, Carthage. Charles McClure’s story on Haile was fascinating — interesting personality. The print is a little hard to read, which could keep readers from finishing story. Good use of the language, however.

3rd-ROUND ROCK LEADER. Some good language in “marble” feature by Sheryl Gribble. More quotes would add to it. I loved the “high priestesses of paint” —great. The subject matter of Job Search was good, but it bordered on not being a true “feature,” in my opinion. More photos would have made it better, more “featurish.”

4th-BURLESON STAR. James Moody has a nice breezy style of writing which is well-suited to features. The feature on the singer was the best of the two. It was well written, if a little long. Picture layout of students very weak. Too many, too close, too small, non-dominant.

BEST PHOTO

1st-WILLIAMSON COUNTY SUN, Georgetown. Great! Focuses on the emotions of the event—pain, love, caring. The large adult hands tenderly caring for the small boy. The look on the father’s face says it all.

2nd-CEDAR CREEK PILOT, Gun Barrel City. The reader can feel the excitement of a stolen base! The photo makes you want to read to see if the runner actually made it.

3rd-EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS. It is unusual to see more than one or two of the “little hummers” so this photo makes it easier to imagine 40-50 swarming around six feeders.

4th-BEEVILLE BEE-PICAYUNE. Nice portrait shot. The weathered face looks at rest before the long walk home.

BEST USE OF PHOTOS

1st-THE SUNDAY SUN, Georgetown. Goodoverall variety and used well in the design of pages. Photos are generally strong and show an effort of the photographer to seek out more creative angles.

2nd-ROUND ROCK LEADER. Good people oriented photos that are clean and uncluttered that work well with the stories.

3rd-EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS. Good varietyof community photos placed well to carry the pages. Photo pages are a little busy and some photos are cropped too tight.

4th-NONE.

NEWS WRITING

1st-HOOD COUNTY NEWS, Granbury. There were many fine examples of good news writing among the entries. The Hood County News stood out because its writing reflects a true understanding of the community. A good mix of stories, variety of depth. Lots of strong local news content. Strong writing emphasis throughout entire issue. This is an excellent example of community journalism.

2nd-WISE COUNTY MESSENGER, Decatur. This was a very close competitor for first place. Good, hard-hitting stories. Balanced layout and variety. This paper is clearly important to its community. Very good job.

3rd-BEEVILLE BEE-PICAYUNE. Coverage of economic and social aspects of potential naval base closure was excellent Covered story from many angles. Well done. This is a good community newspaper that’s actively involved in making its area better.

4th-ROUND ROCK LEADER. I don’t like to see ads on the front page of a newspaper, but that makes an award here even more noteworthy. This is a good paper that knows what’s important to its town and goes about saying so. Strong editorial page and pleasing display of news photos throughout the paper.

ADVERTISING

1st-PANOLA WATCHMAN, Carthage. Extremely attractive Christmas ad pages. Good use of color and unit sizing.

2nd-EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS. Most entries had organized, easy to read ads with good use of white space. Leader-News had a consistent good appearance in ads supporting the Wharton County Youth Fair.

3rd-POLK COUNTY ENTERPRISE, Livingston. More unusual ads with better than average layout/idea and use of white space.

4th-LAMESA PRESS REPORTER. Though many papers had sports pages, this one featured a large photo, unit sizing and color creating a very attractive page.

SPORTS COVERAGE

1st-WILLIAMSON COUNTY SUN,  Georgetown. Simple, clean and effective. Compared to other papers in this division, the photos are excellent — good action photos with proper exposures, etc. The “Sports Faces” feature is a great break from the game summary stories. Nice packaging for layout, including logos identifying each school and team. Good writing, telling game outcomes without need to dwell on play-by-play. The sports editor and photographer need to work well together and here the results speak well.

2nd-ROUND ROCK LEADER. Again, here is a paper that veers the standard, dares to be different The April 30 feature display on the baseball playoff is eye-catching and contains a catchy lead and good writing. The Oct 18 display with volleyball also is nice, with two great pictures. I question the mugs, which detract somewhat from the main pix. A very good combination of photos, writing and layout mean in this case a fine end product.

3rd-PANOLA WATCHMAN, Carthage. Nice, comprehensive coverage that’s jam-packed with information. The stories on Friday football games appear to be long for the following Wednesday’s paper. The writing is good. The photography is average. I do not like cut-out photos, especially over a headline (see Sept. 19, lower right hand corner, also Oct24, page 2B-5B lower photo. NO! !). Nice use of graphics, other game information. Too much use of the same size of headlines. Some different layout schemes needed.

4th-KINGSVILLE RECORD. Why is the second sports page not the first in Oct.28 issue? Why bury the showcase, which is a superior example of layout and design? Photography kept this paper from climbing higher. More must be done to elevate the pix from stock situations and to improve the technical aspects such as shutter speed and proper exposure. With apparently three high schools there, felt there might be more.

Division 4 Semiweeklies less than 4,000

GENERAL EXCELLENCE

1st-THE BOWIE NEWS. Excellent writing across the board. Best quality photos (especially B. Beckwith’s rodeo shot with bull sticking out its tongue). Clear, meaningful headlines. Layout is slightly busy, but readable. Sparkling sports section. Good use of graphics and design in opinion section. Good old-fashioned community news columns. Advertising: consistently well-constructed, readable and attractive. What made this paper stand Out was a sense of spirit. This reader, unfamiliar with any Texas community, felt that she knew all about Bowie’s folks and what they do from week to week. Also felt it would be a fun place to live. Love the motto in the masthead.

2nd-COPPERAS COVE LEADER PRESS. Quality features, writing and photos. Very nice looking page 1; good use of color. Sparkling newswriting. Good roundup of community news items. Very readable sports page. Outstanding ads (especially the National Bank “Our Family album is growing...” ad and the Isdale Chiropractic Clinic “It could have made a difference” ad). You sold me on the Rabbit Fest photo pages.

3rd-BROWNFIELD NEWS. Good news coverage. Very good spotlight on individuals in the community throughout each section. I didn’t like your use of color headlines on page one. Nice looking editorial page. Fun, creative ads. Great sports coverage, but why not create a nice logo to highlight your sports section? Loved page one volleyball team feature — great picture, great story.

4th-BALLINGER LEDGER. So-so layout, weak photos. This paper won over many fancier, better looking papers be-cause of its chutzpah. It seemed to effectively convey the spirit of Ballinger. First-rate features. Good news writing/headlines, punchy opinion page. Like “Homing In” section. Quality content in “Enlightenment” section (but again, weak photos). Sports page is not the prettiest, but had solid content, good variety. Nice to see a “religion” page, not many of them in this competition. Quotes in mastheads above some sections are weird, but I liked them.

COLUMN WRITING

lst-BROWNFIELD NEWS. “Kelly’s Country” by Kelly Sinclair. Interesting observations on the sexes, in a readable conversational tone of voice. I think this paragraph tells us a lot about the writer: “I married a man once, and if sufficiently provoked, I might do it again someday.” What a line. This column looks to e a great addition to any newspaper— maybe more-so in small-town Texas than elsewhere.

2nd-BROWNFIELD NEWS. “Paper ‘N Ink” by Lynn Brisendine. Liked one a lot (on Era Sears). Didn’t care for the other (monster on the loose). The first was a touching and personal tribute to what sounds like a remarkable character. The second piece, on drugs, took too long to get to a too-obvious point (that drugs are bad), without telling us anything very new or interesting. Overall, though, I suspect this is a column I’d have to read regularly, whether I believed it or not.

3rd-CANYON NEWS. “Beyond the News Beat” by Kimberly Buck is so refreshing because it contains plain talk. Though it presents ideas (about sour milk and the follow-up to a stabbing), it does so in terms that are easily understood and appealing to the reader. Making such clear and simple sense out of the world is not as easy as our critics think it is, but Kimberly Buck succeeds. Good job.

4th-WIMBERLEY VIEW. “From Left Field” by Eddie Davis. OK, I’m a sucker for a smart-ass columnist, and Davis is a pretty good one. I ranked him above a lot of scripture-quoting, big-word-using, complicated-idea-mongering columnists. But they were boring, and he wasn’t. I’d bet the readers feel that way, too.

EDITORIALS

1st-BALLINGER LEDGER. An editorial that shows understanding of long-term events in a community, relates that understanding to a current problem, then calls for action, is a good editorial. Both entries are well written, hit home and show compassion for a need in the community. Editorials are succinct, yet powerful. Good job among tough competition.

2nd-LAMPASAS DISPATCH RECORD. The writer knows the community and has researched problems to find solutions. Good editorial writing, although both examples are rather lengthy. It is evident the newspaper is important to the community and takes its role seriously. Good layout. Well thought out material.

3rd-THE BOWIE NEWS. Editorials clearly indicate newspaper isn’t afraid to take a forceful position on-issues. The writers do a good job of quickly stating a need, a position and a solution or call to action.

4th-ROCKWALL COUNTY JOURNAL-SUCCESS, Rockwall. We can’t envision anyone in this community not being able to understand the need for new school facilities after reading this editorial. The writer clearly outlines the need, the demands of growth and the cost of dealing successfully with that growth. Photos on the same page don’t hurt the issue, either.

FEATURE STORY

1st-COPPERAS COVE LEADER PRESS. Your newspaper entries reflected the best for “feature” categories, with full-fledged treatment of subjects, plus pics. Watch the layout, and use of white space. For instance, in the Smitty feature, by Janine Rhlinger, a “pullout” quote of his “if I lived to be 150” would be great. And the white space would be more effective if it was on in outside edge. The soldier feature was good subject, especially for full-page feature. A little more attention to transitions and organization for writing would improve the story. By the way, “Smitty” was well done. I felt like I had shaken his hand.

2nd-ANDREWS COUNTY NEWS, Andrews. Aussie Pilot by Kerry Norwood was interesting reading and personality. The style was almost “breezy,” which fits he subject apparently. Vietnamese family story by Linda Stewart was touching subject. If I could suggest improvement in writing, it would be: don’t be afraid to add descriptive or narrative language to give he story the drama it deserves.

3rd-LAMPASAS DISPATCH RECORD. Great picture of “dino” prints. In act, it was an interesting story and fascinating subject. It lacked sources and the people” angle, expert quotes, maybe a comment from the man in picture, etc. I very colorful. Field trip recorded some nice pictures. I felt this was not truly a “feature” except for the pics. I believe layout would have been stronger if you had dropped out one or, more likely, two pics and made another larger one instead. And some “color” for the writing by way of kids’ comments would brighten it up.

4th-ROCK WALL COUNTY JOURNAL-SUCCESS. Rockwall. Story on marrow donors by Dorothy Harris was good. Shows the dilemma, personal tragedy and what bone marrow donations mean. A few specifics as far as improving the story: good lead, but second graf was weak, would have been better to combine the two sentences and leave out “at least that’s what the odds are” and perhaps a pull-out quote or earlier entry of quote before the details about donors (in first column) would bring story home faster. Church story by Joy Gannon was an interesting subject. More recollections from other sources or people would have brightened it up, also a pic of Louise would be great.

BEST PHOTO

1st-LIBERTY VINDICATOR. By far the best. Good subject matter that tells the story. Good composition and reproduction. Framing is good, although I would have tried to get in closer.

2nd-SEMINOLE SENTINEL. This is a great photo, unfortunately the caption is not strong enough and is sort of confusing. News value is also not as strong as the first place winner.

3rd-B ALLINGER LEDGER. If photo were in focus, it may have been #1. Good composition and subject matter. Using the window as a frame shows good creativity.

4th-THE BOWIE NEWS. It tells the story. Lacks creativity in the sense that it’s really a “right place and the right time” sort of photo. And considering its proximity to the paper, could have done better.

BEST USE OF PHOTOS

1st-COPPERAS COVE LEADER PRESS. Emotional photos, prominently played, tied well into stories. Three photo pages (two singles and a double-truck) really tell me something about life in your town. The soldiers’ departure from Ft. Hood is a hallmark of how well photos and reporting can work together to tell the entire story. Suggestions: Use no more than five photos a page — the photos’ jobs are to tell story, not fill white space; photos and captions alone can’t tell the story. Also, write a little story to go with your photo pages.

2nd-CANYON NEWS. As with first place winner, photos tied in well with stories. And well played sports coverage shows action and emotion. Complaint too many groups standing around doing nothing. Better to show parts of groups actually doing something.

3rd-WIMBERLEY VIEW. In one way, this paper was the best because its photo coverage was concise. They didn’t use as many photos per issue as the others, but each one told a story; each one belonged there. Photos emotional, well played. Some technical problems and lack of diversity held you back. Correct these and I think you’ll win next year.

NEWS WRITING

1st-Lampasas Dispatch Record. Staff writers Jim Lowe and Joyce Tomlinson have done good jobs of explaining potentially difficult financial stories on the closure of United Peoples Bank and assumption of UPB’s assets by 1st National. Lowe’s story puts this closure in the context of many closures in Texas — very important. I am a little confounded, however, why the story was separated into two articles. Overall, writing in the Dispatch is straightforward with few frills. On occasion, however, the leads are unimaginative and lack spark.

2nd-COPPERAS COVE LEADER PRESS. The writing is generally interesting to read, which, in my mind is the journalist’s first task — to hold on to the reader. Janine Ehlinger takes what could have been a routine lead on discarded tires and gives it punch with her “big pain in the trunk” phrase. The “2 Killed in fiery collision” has plenty of drama in it and writer John Eubanks does little to get in the way. His news writing is direct and logically organized. However, the story needs quotes high up in the story. Could you have gotten a quote from the school administrator about the tragedy? No quotes from students? John got plenty of quotes into his weather story, but somehow failed to get any juicy quotes for the dead teacher story. JanineEblinger’s entry on the Gulf soldiers and military wife kept me reading. In general Leader Press uses lots of strong verbs in leads, makes good attempt to draw readers into stories with inviting leads.

3rd-THE CANYON NEWS. The writing is not quite on the mark. Kimberly Buck takes a good stab at the “WT Finances” story, but the 3rd, 4th and 5th grafs are somewhat confusing. Nonetheless, the writing in and of itself is concise and to the point. Story was probably well read. The “City to pursue curfew” story has a strong three-paragraph lead in. Lead tells action, graph two explains effect, and third graph has a terse, but issue-framing quote. The “Acker enjoys WT” story has a lame lead and is missing lively quotes, but the story idea has potential. In the “Hemorrhaging will stop” story, use of the quote doesn’t work in the lead.

4th-ALLEN AMERICAN. Straight-forward, clean, reads easily but tends to be somewhat dry. Maybe it’s because it was 103 degrees that day. Who is Big Daddy Summers? Leads are of the “textbook” variety, but make sense.

ADVERTISING

1st-BRECKENRIDGEAMERICAN Excellent overall use of benefit headline. Very creative “Capture the Lions” multi-sponsor page, great variety of business types Nice variety of art styles for layouts. John Cook ad especially well done. Nice Business Review, excellent twist of a common idea, makes it fresh.

2nd-LAMPASAS DISPATCH RECORD. Lots of small business options. Excellent hunting section. Good example of stretching theme to advertisers not normally associated with it. Good CS Bank ad. Good benefit headline that tied well to illustration. A bit too complex for average reader but gets the point across. Used too many store logos as headlines. Doesn’t give reader a target. Too many ads use the same type style as your editorial headline.

3rd-ROCKWALL COUNTY JOURNAL SUCCESS. Rockwall. Excellent benefit headlines and use of art. American National Bank good example. Excellent variety of layouts, Klein photo. Lots of spot ads in classified. Lots of institutional and image ads, as well as retail.

4th-QUANAH TRIBUNE-CHIEF. Good headlines in ads. Most tied well to the illustration. Small advertiser opportu­nities. Nice variety of ads.

SPORTS COVERAGE

1st-LAMPASAS DISPATCH RECORD. Best overall concept in layout, photography and writing. A primary area where this sports coverage stood out was photography, offering good action and a clear photo. The writing also was notable in that it sought to dig in and have coaches’ quotes to explain the games and situations in depth.

2nd-THE COMMERCE JOURNAL. The look and feel of the layout was strong and the writing was lively and involving. The drawback was in the photography. Better exposures and stopping of action are needed. Overall, good sports coverage that could use just a little more help in photography. The other elements look to be solid.

3rd-ROCKWALL COUNTY JOURNAL SUCCESS, Rockwall. The writing is good, but there isn’t enough depth to the stories. Basic layout is good, but more attention needs to be paid to story packaging. Beef up the writing and story content, and use fewer pictures to emphasize the good ones. A little more forethought and care might have made this sports coverage much stronger.

4th-BRECKENRIDGE AMERICAN. The writing is good, but there is a serious lack of quotes. Because of the reliance on statistics and play-by-play. these stories are missing a sense of perspective that could be lent by quotes from coaches or players. Liven up the stories, use more snappy leads. The photography is OK. There is good action, but the technical aspects are weak. The layout could be packed better.