OKLAHOMA PRESS ASSOCIATION – 2020 BETTER NEWSPAPER CONTEST DAILY NEWSPAPERS CIRCULATION BETWEEN 3,000 AND 4,700

NEWS CONTENT FIRST PLACE: Muskogee Phoenix, June 27, Oct. 30, Oct. 31. SECOND PLACE: The Ardmoreite, Gov's healthcare initiative, JUDGE’S COMMENTS: This entry won on the strength of Flu season, Mask mandate. headlines, strong local coverage and strong writing. I got to know THIRD PLACE: Stillwater News Press, Our collective bated breath, the community through the paper. Why don't you care?, A stern talking to. SECOND PLACE: Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Aug. 7, Aug. 22- 23, Nov. 21-22. JUDGE’S COMMENTS: This entry had some of the strongest writing and photos in the competition and was a close PHOTOGRAPHY second. Just didn't feel as local. FIRST PLACE: Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, “Sept. 6 circus, Nov. THIRD PLACE: Stillwater News Press, March 18, April 19, Dec. 5. 4 rodeo riders, July 30 canoists, Aug. 5 tent, Ark. Tech v. Harding JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Good headlines and organization, but GAC women’s B-ball tourney, BHS girls soccer v. Bentonville.” didn't feel as local; writing and photography wasn't as strong as the JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Solid news photos. The circus big top with top two entries. the sky has strong composition and made me want to pick up that newspaper. The sports photos are both terrific action shots, and the rodeo photo has solid composition and showcases how many LAYOUT & DESIGN people were on hand to compete. These photos stand out in this FIRST PLACE: Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, March 24, May 31, category very well. Even the scouting feature photo of canoers on a Dec. 8. JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Great photos, crisp, clean lake has solid composition, if not as engaging as the other photos. throughout the paper. Nice use of spot color. Headlines offer good SECOND PLACE: Stillwater News Press, “Standoff ends, Peaceful variety, yet are consistent throughout. protest package, parade support for Perry schools, hug- SECOND PLACE: Muskogee Phoenix, Feb. 18, March 21, Nov. 4. commitment to diversity, state wrestling package, Wolf trappers JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Like the information boxes on page 1 – football package.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Standoff photo is a gives readers a quick convenient look at the numbers. Nice spot terrific news photo, tells me a story without words of the situation color use. unfolding. The protest photo pages, however, become a "less is THIRD PLACE: The Shawnee News-Star, May 9-10, June 4, June 17. sometimes more" situation for me. The photos get redundant and JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Solid use of photos throughout, adds similar in that package, but the photos chosen to be dominant are interest and appeal to stories. Like the variety and size of typefaces. truly great. Commitment to diversity is a nice “right moment, right time” photograph. Well composed, captures human emotion and compliments the story well. Pretty solid wrestling photo page. Good ADVERTISING choice of dominant photos on the state wrestling competition pages. FIRST PLACE: Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Feb. 9, May 31, Football photos, though, I think I'm looking at too many on the Aug. 8-9. JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Nice clean paper. Ads really second page. The dominant photos are extremely strong, and if I stood out amongst the editorial copy. Consistently good color was looking at just the two dominant photos alone, it would be a results and flow was good. solid package. When it comes to the vertical hand-off photos, SECOND PLACE: Stillwater News Press, Aug. 6, Sept. 26, Nov. 25. though, so many are similar. JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Color was better than others. I liked that THIRD PLACE: The Shawnee News-Star, Softball victory and softball they consistently had multiple sections but that they weren't always action, Line/Hornbeck's final night, Suffragist remembered package, the same sections. Variation kept it interesting. BLM protests, News-Star press final run package.” THIRD PLACE: The Shawnee News-Star, March 27, May 29, June 27. JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Strong pitching photo captured right at the JUDGE’S COMMENTS: The color is very hit and miss with quality. right moment the ball leaves the hand. Love the angle on the Some pages/ads look great, others not so much. A lot of sections. interior theater shot. That one's interesting and tells a portion of the The direction was confusing. story. 5A's March dominant photo is terrific. The front page package on the march suffers because it doesn't have a dominant photo to guide the eye. The suffragist photo package, especially that EDITORIAL WRITING dominant photo of the ancestor is extremely well captured and FIRST PLACE: Muskogee Phoenix, Milk, Schedule, Voters. explains the significance of the petal throwing to someone who JUDGE’S COMMENTS: The Muskogee Phoenix won this one doesn't know that tradition. That final press photo composition is running away with incisive commentary that challenged legislators terrifically composed as well, as it's juxtaposed with the first issue attempting to shut voters out of the Democratic process. coming off the press and the final issue coming off the press.

SPORTS COVERAGE FEATURE STORY FIRST PLACE: Stillwater News Press, FIRST PLACE: Ashlynd Huffman, Stillwater News Press, March 1, Nov. 21, Aug. 27. “Coping with crisis; Coronavirus compared to Great Depression.” SECOND PLACE: Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, JUDGE’S COMMENTS: A standout in a category filled with strong June 3, Aug. 30, Oct. 30. entries. This provided a different historical perspective on the THIRD PLACE: The Shawnee News-Star, pandemic than others seen. Jan. 11, Oct. 13, Feb. 29-March 1. SECOND PLACE: Cathy Spaulding, Muskogee Phoenix, “Blair remembered in words, in song.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Excellent lede! Reader could definitely get a feel for who this man SALES PROMOTION was. FIRST PLACE: The Shawnee News-Star, “2020 Wish You Were Here - THIRD PLACE: Vicky O. Misa, The Shawnee News-Star, Discover Shawnee.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Beautiful photography. “Kayak Club: Activity picking up at Twin Lakes.” JUDGE’S Nice use of color. Design flows consistently throughout publication. COMMENTS: Puns are good in the lede. Maybe one less than what Really nice eye catching cover. Interesting and informative. Good was used. balance of ads and copy. SECOND PLACE: Stillwater News Press, “Readers Choice Best of Stillwater.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Nice series - well organized and SPORTS STORY planned/thoughtout. Encouraged advertisers to participate in FIRST PLACE: Mike Tupa, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, running in more than one publication (more revenue). Engaged “A remarkable man: Al Bunge.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: The lead community as well as advertisers. Nice eye catching logo/branding. was emotional and pulled me in. The stories were backed up with Lists of nominees and winners became a bit much to read through. quotes. It was a great read. Use of graphic elements could have made it a bit more interesting SECOND PLACE: Jimmy Gillispie, Stillwater News Press, to read through and broken up the text heavy pages. “NCAA drops hammer on Cowboy basketball.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: I like it for its good, clear reporting. It had multiple sources. The picture went very well with story. COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP THIRD PLACE: Brian Johnson, The Shawnee News-Star, FIRST PLACE: Stillwater News Press, “Shawnee coach Arthur glad about long-awaited announcement of “Help for Stillwater Medical Center.” Sutton's induction.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: This described SECOND PLACE: The Shawnee News-Star, relationship to the subject well. HOF induction is always special but “Best of Preps 2020 awards.” made a point to tell why. It was very thorough.

DIGITAL MEDIA IN-DEPTH REPORTING (All daily newspaper divisions combined) (Divisions 1 and 2 combined) FIRST PLACE: The Lawton Constitution, swoknews.com, Facebook, FIRST PLACE: Ashlynd Huffman, Stillwater News Press, Twitter, Youtube. JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Nice looking website. “Lack of prosecution for sexual assaults and rapes in Payne Easy for the reader to navigate. Great social media presence. County.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Fabulous reporting on a tough SECOND PLACE: The Shawnee News-Star, news-star.com, topic. The reporter noticed a trend in rape investigations and sexual Facebook, Twitter. JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Clean website. assaults and dug into the issue, using strong data and interviews Great social media presence. with a variety of sources to tell an often overlooked story. I can THIRD PLACE: The Ada News, adanews.com; Facebook. really tell the time, research and care you put into this series. JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Homepage looks great. SECOND PLACE: Kim McConnell, The Lawton Constitution, “Capital Improvements Program.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Great job taking a large topic like the Capital Improvements Program and NEWS STORY making it easier to understand and digest for readers. The reporter FIRST PLACE: Michelle Charles, Stillwater News Press, – and newspaper – provided a real public service to the community, “Tumbleweed owner addresses Weedstock worries.” making sure residents were fully aware of what they were voting for. JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Timely, well-reported story that shows what THIRD PLACE: Alexander Ewald, Enid News & Eagle, “Enid mask happens when commerce meets COVID-19. mandate and related recall petition.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: SECOND PLACE: Michelle Charles, Stillwater News Press, Good job following the progression of the mask mandate issue and “Waiting game.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Great way to get into the the recall election efforts. All stories provide good background "feeling" of COVID-19. I hope this story continued to be covered. information, so readers who may not have been following closely THIRD PLACE: Kim Archer, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, aren't left behind. “Bartlesville hospital's front-line health care professionals get vaccine.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: The quotes help put you where the health care workers are. It's a great look at the situation.

COLUMN WRITING FEATURE PHOTOGRAPH FIRST PLACE: D.E. Smoot, Muskogee Phoenix, “Off the Cuff.” FIRST PLACE: Cathy Spaulding, Muskogee Phoenix, JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Smoot is smart, pointed and obviously loyal “Celebrating veteran on 100th birthday.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: to his core set of beliefs. Whether your politics align with his or not, Love the emotion in the photo. he is a true believer, and his sharp writing drives home his points. SECOND PLACE: Michelle Charles, Stillwater News Press, His research certainly isn't Off the Cuff. Agree with him or disagree “High school color guard practices spins.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: with him, his context is top-notch and so is his writing. I love the artistic feeling and the bright colors with the flags. SECOND PLACE: Jason Elmquist, Stillwater News Press, “I'm a THIRD PLACE: Ronn Rowland, Muskogee Phoenix, “Man enjoys writer, so I'm going to write ... Finally doing what’s right doesn’t freedom with new prosthetic hand.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: change the wrong ... Debo Hall has a nice ring to it.” The photo shows how someone can overcome obstacles in life. JUDGE’S COMMENTS: These entries are unafraid to broach the idea of wrongs being perpetrated and the need to address them, which is admirable. The only way to improve these is to be less SPORTS PHOTOGRAPH apologetic in the approach and a little more succinct. FIRST PLACE: Jason Elmquist, Stillwater News Press, THIRD PLACE: Edwyna Synar, Muskogee Phoenix, “Remember the “Spencer Sanders dives toward the end zone against Iowa State.” Ladies.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: These works are certainly a JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Big moment caught as player dives for the must-read weekly. It's a great historical column that should appeal end zone as his toe touches the sideline. Did he cross the goal to all. The bonus is that they are apolitical in a time when politics first? Doesn't matter because a penalty killed it anyway but still the stains so many stories. They allow us to meet a person who thrived top photo of some good submissions. in her time. SECOND PLACE: Jason Elmquist, Stillwater News Press, “Wrestler jumps into coach’s arms after winning championship.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Nothing like the emotion of a big win on the SMALL SPACE AD mat caught in the celebration of an athlete and his coach. No entries. THIRD PLACE: Jason Elmquist, Stillwater News Press, “Stillwater loses football game to Choctaw.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: The celebration mixed with the obvious disappointment make for a LARGE SPACE AD great balanced emotional shot. FIRST PLACE: Laura Watts, The Journal Record, “Scissortail Waste Solutions.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Good use of color and not making the fonts too large to fill the space. Nice touch with triangle FRONT PAGE DESIGN to match their container. FIRST PLACE: Tina Bridenstine, The Shawnee News-Star, SECOND PLACE: Laura Watts, The Journal Record, “Jesus House.” December 12. JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Great centerpiece design JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Great use of typography and color to with unique photo treatments. The use of photos, skyboxes, and create a nice, clean, easy to read ad that drives the point home. logos gives the page a full and diverse look. THIRD PLACE: Laura Watts, The Journal Record, SECOND PLACE: Tanner Holubar, Stillwater News Press, April 1. “Oklahoma History Center.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Broke up the JUDGE’S COMMENTS: A great layout with a diversity of photos text nicely with various font sizes and use of graphics. and stories. I like the use of graphics and unique text treatments. Because the airport ad is angled there is unnecessary dead space. THIRD PLACE: Tina Bridenstine, The Shawnee News-Star, NEWS PHOTOGRAPH February 28. JUDGE’S COMMENTS: Very unique centerpiece FIRST PLACE: Ashlynd Huffman, Stillwater News Press, design with well cutout photos. I wish the Kari White headshot was “Standoff ends in Stillwater man's arrest.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: in color and the bottom graphic has too much dead space. Great example of spot news coverage. Congratulations to the photographer for getting close enough to get this image. SECOND PLACE: Jason Elmquist, Stillwater News Press, “Police officer talks with young man.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: This entry captures the the people, the event and the emotion of the moment. THIRD PLACE: Cathy Spaulding, Muskogee Phoenix, “Racially insensitive post leads to apology.” JUDGE’S COMMENTS: For a planned event this to a good eye to choose a moment that helps explain the news of the moment.