The New Era received two first place and a third place awards for a special section and two stories published in 2000 during the annual meeting of the Greater Oregon Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Plaques and certificates were received Saturday evening at Spirit Mountain Casino.
The awards were earned among weekly newspapers in the states of Oregon and Washington.
The paper’s millennium edition, “Still Sweet, Still Home, Impressions of a small Oregon town at the dawn of the New Millennium” received a first place award among newspapers with circulations up to 8,000.
Judges said of the work, compiled by students by the University of Oregon in cooperation with The New Era staff, “This special section provides a comprehensive, insightful look at a changing community without falling into the common trap of ignoring uncomfortable realities.”
The second first place award was for spot new coverage and went to The New Era publisher Alex Paul for his article entitled “Trailer court argument ends with shotgun blast.”
Judges noted, “Paul used strong, descriptive language and many voices to draw a vivid picture of what happened.”
The paper’s third place award went to staff writer Sean C. Morgan for coverage of business. The story focused on an expansion program at Santiam Forest Products.
In addition to the newspaper competition, the Dallas School District won the First Freedom Award for defending the Harry Potter books.
Oregon SPJ members give the First Freedom Award every year for notable efforts in defense of the First Amendment and freedom of expression.
The Harry Potter books, written by British author J.K. Rowling, follow the adventures of a young boy as he makes his way through a school for wizardry. Some object to the books’ depiction of witchcraft and sorcery.
In April of last year, three Dallas residents asked school district officials to ban the books from being read out loud to elementary school students.
Radio, TV and newspaper personality Pete Schulberg was the evening’s guest speaker and emcee.