2006 Better Newspaper Contest — Sports Coverage

Sports Coverage

View Winners' Slideshow

Division 2 Dailies 7,000 to 99,999

1. Midland Reporter-Telegram - This entry, especially the Spring Sports Spotlight, features an amazing amount of local information. The layout is good, the photos are fantastic, and the stories are very well written. Great job!

2. Odessa American - Lots of strong, local stories with interesting photos and clean layout. A good entry in a close category.

3. Kerrville Daily Times - Lots of information presented well. Good photos, good stories, good layout.

4. The Beaumont Enterprise - Good mix, good layout. Nice feature story on front.

Division 3 Dailies Less Than 7,000

1. Waxahachie Daily Light - Great source of local sports coverage deep. Excellent Sunday extra. Obvious that emphasis is on good coverage through stories and many photos.

2. Taylor Daily Press - Great coverage, celebration photo for Thorndale should have been on cover (page 5, not 7). Space - newsprint - at a premium, so why waste it with sideways headers?

3. Alice Echo-News Journal - Pete is a good one-man show. He understands local emphasis and even does pretty well behind a camera! Good issues coverage on steroid testing.

4. Plano Star Courier - Overall a good local package. Could use larger art. Snappy writing versus long laborious ledes. A strong local presentation.

Division 4 Semiweeklies 4,001 or More

1. The Bowie News - Very simple, very clean, very good section. Incredible amount of information. In a close category, information presented in "sports blitz" and the overall layout gave this entry the edge.

2. Williamson County Sun - Excellent all the way around. Good mix of stories, strong local angles, great photos, great layout. Very good entry.

3. Hood County News - Good presentation, strong writing, good pictures. Nice sections!

4. Beeville Bee-Picayune - Good mix of coverage, including some sports not usually noticed. Great photos and writing.

Division 5 Semiweeklies 4,000 or Less

1. Mansfield News-Mirror - Well-written articles with good word choice. I really liked the use of dominant color photos on pages.

2. Breckenridge American - I liked everything about these sports pages from the good writing to the action photos included with every story. There is a nice mix of coverage on sporting events. It's nice to see attention paid to sports besides football.

3. The Wimberley View - Good special section on perfect football season. I especially liked how the "blazing" theme was tied in. Well-written, indepth sports stories, which really helped give people an idea of what happened in game.

4. Lampasas Dispatch-Record - I liked how the type was used in different ways in headlines. Good job of displaying track results and using photos on inside pages.

Division 6 Large Weeklies

1. Park Cities People, Dallas - There is a strong understanding of importance of local sports coverage evident in overall package, even as made clear with page 1 photo, story. Great photos help tell stories.

2. Pleasanton Express - Great use of photos, great wrap-up design on the sports year '05. Another paper that understands local sports coverage and is using "bigger paper" designs to display.

3. Fredericksburg Standard Radio Post - Might sound like Simon Cowell, but where this paper lacks in overall writing quality it makes up for it in excellent photo coverage - also, covers broad range of local sports thoroughly.

4. Azle News - Sports editor has fun and works. Entertaining columns. Good photos and color display. Was hard choice from 3rd and 4th.

Division 7 Medium Large Weeklies

1. Allen American - I had to look twice to be sure this was a weekly paper. The layout and photos are great. Every inch of available space is local sports, and the writing is strong. The front-page schedule is a nice touch. Keep doing just what you're doing.

2. Lake Travis View, Lakeway - Wonderful writing, a mix of everything from football to swimming, clean layout, sharp photos and clever headlines. This was an excellent entry.

3. Westlake Picayune, Austin - Wonderful sports section. The layout is clean and easy to read, and the writing is excellent. Great photos and the headline writer needs a raise.

4. Park Cities News, Dallas - Layout is a little cluttered with photos, but there can't be many complaints from your readers, because it's clear you try to make sure everyone's included. Great mix of stories, good writing, and strong photos. Solid effort.

Division 8 Medium Weeklies

1. Pilot Point Post-Signal - Outstanding number of stories, great content, wonderful photos. Easy to pick this as the winner.

2. Rockwall County News - Wonderful mix of local sports stories. Just what a weekly paper should offer. Very strong entry.

3. Iowa Park Leader - Great stories but you need more of them. Photos and layout are fantastic. With a couple more stories, this would have been the winner.

4. The Diboll Free Press - Lots of local stories and strong photos. Layout could be a little better.

Division 9 Small Medium Weeklies

1. Farmersville Times - Good writing, good photos, clean layout. I especially like the schedule on the front page. Good, strong mix of articles. Great entry.

2. Pflugerville Pflag - No comments.

3. The Citizen, Clear Lake - Great amount of varied coverage. Layout is hampered by a front-page ad in one instance. Strong entry.

4. Van Alstyne Leader - Lots of good, local stories, strong photos and layout.

Division 10 Small Weeklies

1. Alvarado Star - Great layout, good graphics, excellent photos, good features and game reporting. A sports fan's dream.

2. East Bernard Express - Good callouts/sidebars, good photos, nice overall package.

3. Little Elm Journal - I almost cut myself on the photos they were so sharp. Extra points feature is a good way to get little sports tidbits in.

4. Thorndale Champion - Good action sports photos. Punchy cutlines, real sports talk!