2010 Better Newspaper Contest — Special Sections

Routine Special Sections

Daily
1. Facts, Clute — “Holiday Handbook 2009.” Very nice section. Simple theme but well put together. Advertising was very well represented.
2. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal — “Football Fever 2009.” Loved the theme and content. There seemed to be a lack of focus on the advertising end of it. Small sponsor ads with nothing to benefit the advertiser.
3. Waxahachie Daily Light — “Ellis County 2009 High School Football Preview.” Well put together. Made an easy read while giving enough attention to all teams. Points off for the cover design, though.
4. Galveston County Daily News — “December 2009 Gift Guide.” It started out with an actual gift guide but moved away from that theme a little toward the middle and end. Overall a well-put-together section.

Semiweekly

1. Hood County News — “Newcomer and Visitor’s Guide.” Great cover. Nice mix of layouts. White space made smaller print easier to read.
2. Polk County Enterprise — “Welcome Guide to Polk County.” Great cover. Some really good pictures. Good content.
3. Bowie News — “Visitor’s and Newcomer’s Guide.” I liked the theme and content.
4. No 4th place awarded.

Weekly A
1. Smithville Times — “The Guide.” Wow, 88 pages packed with good info about your area. Made me want to visit. Like that you had fun with “Everybody Deserves a Paddling.”
2. Rockdale Reporter — “FYI 2009.” Good layout and solid news content. Unusual for a special section. Nice work.
3. Lake Travis View — “Summer Guide.” Good-looking section with excellent content. Made me want to visit.
4. Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post — “Visitors Guide.” What a beaut—144 pages is just too many not to honor. Wish you wouldn’t use two different colors of paper—a little odd—and ad sizes need to be more consistent (page 109).

Weekly B
1. Bandera County Courier — “Bandera Country Living 2009.” Love smaller product, good cover, excellent content.
2. Alpine Avalanche — “Air Alpine Football Edition.” Good photography. Lots of short features. Q&A well done!
3. Springtown Epigraph — “Fine Arts 2009.” Nice ideas for kids to draw ads and to boost the arts. Well done.
4. Hill Country Community Journal — “Fall Sports Preview 2009.” Excellent photography!

Weekly C
1. Gladewater Mirror — “2009 Fall Sports Preview.” Great blending of photos, gray copy and different headline sizes. Ads don’t compete with layout. Schedules are easy to read. Neat and clean layout throughout.
2. Wallis News-Review — “2009 Fall Sports Kick-off.” Nice use of photos, copy, logos, drop shadows make for a nice kick-off section.
3. Princeton Herald — “Princeton Panther Preview.” All elements work well together. Decent use of white space as well.
4. Franklin Advocate — “The Pink Issue.” Writing and variety of content is impressive. More photos definitely would have helped the layout. Hate the body copy typeface—difficult to read.

Blue Moon Special Sections
Daily Division

1. Galveston County Daily News — “Hurricane Ike: Battered Not Beaten.” Great layout and design. Beautifully put together. Content was well thought out and stayed on topic the whole section. Ad support was tremendous.
2. Odessa American — “Class of Friday Night Lights 20 Years Later.” A little hard to follow sometimes but still an excellent section that brings attention to both the real people and the movie.
3. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal — “Our Buddy.” Very impressive.
4. Waxahachie Daily Light — “Souvenir Edition Sports Extra.” Very well put together. Nice pictures. Really liked the front page highlights of the season.

Semiweekly Division
1. Canyon News — “Women in Business.” Very well-laid-out piece. Idea is great. Lots of advertising support.
2. Round Rock Leader — “Round Rock Express 10th Anniversary.” Great design and layout. Good theme with clear content.
3. Graham Leader — “Remarkable 2009 High School Football Season.” Great idea. No new content, not much extra work involved. Good advertising support.
4. Fayette County Record — “LaGrange Football Season to Remember.” Good section. Put together well.

Weekly Division A
1. Jewish Herald-Voice —  “A House of Mitzvot.” Very well organized. Nice design and layout. Overall theme very consistent. Great presentation.
2. Tyler County Booster — “Discover Tyler County.” Theme and content were very good. Only needed more of it to be great. Small copy with lots of ads on the same page. Overall a very nice looking and informative piece.
3. Austin Business Journal — “Corporate Relocation and Homes.” Put together very well. Very nice layout. A little confused on your target distribution.
4. Alpine Avalanche — “Saluting Our Firefighters.” Great concept. Layout was lacking. Clean it up on the inside. Cover could have used some creativity.

Weekly Division B
1. Aransas Pass Progress —  “Centennial Edition.” Very well done. Good art. Good content. A keepsake.
2. Gladewater Mirror — “101 Things to Do in East Texas.” Very nice! Content and layout make this a winner!
3. Lake Cities Sun — “Lewisville Lake Toll Bridge.” Glad to see dedication to news. Not sure I like the section layout, but front page and content are excellent.
4. Wallis News-Review —  “Catholic Family Fraternal 100th Anniversary.” Well done. Good for the organization and the community.