The New Era won five first-place awards in this year’s Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspapers Contest, four on the news side and one for advertising excellence.
The contest was judged this year by members of the Arizona Newspapers Association. It covered work done during the 2020 calendar year. Results were announced last month.
“We like to participate in this competition, not so much to win plaques to hang on our wall, but to get feedback from other journalists in other states on how we’re doing,” said Publisher and Editor Scott Swanson.
“We especially are interested in how we stack up against other similar-sized newspapers in Oregon. So we’re happy to get these awards, but the judges whose opinion we care about most, as I say every year, are our readers.”
The New Era took third overall in the General Excellence category in which it was up against some competitors nearly twice its size.
It finished behind the West Linn Tidings and Sandy Post, both published by the Portland-area Pamplin chain.
“While I’d really love a first-place plaque, the fact that we placed in this type of competition tells me other journalists think the quality of our newspaper is worthy of this award, and we are thankful for that,” Swanson said.
First place awards were:
— Best Spot News Coverage to the newspaper’s reporting staff, for a joint-effort report of the past week’s fire activities that had occurred prior to the Sept. 16, 2020, issue. It included nutshell reports of each day’s developments, along with photos and a box of resources available to residents in need of help.
— Best Feature Story – General to Kelly Kenoyer, for a story about how the local Church of the Nazarene was reaching out to help local homeless, which appeared Sept. 9, 2020. Kenoyer also took second place in that category, with a story about problems that heavy use of Tamolich Falls (“Blue Pool”) by visitors and resulting injuries, that were requiring costly and time-consuming responses for Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District rescue personnel, which appeared Aug. 19, 2020.
Kenoyer left The New Era last spring and now reports for National Public Radio in Wilmington, N.C.
— Best Photo Essay: The New Era actually took first and third place in this division. Sean Morgan’s photos of the 2020 Northern Farms Mudfest, which appeared March 4, 2020, won first place. Scott Swanson’s photos of the 2020 Sweet Home High School graduation ceremonies and parade, which appeared in the June 10, 2020, issue took third.
— Best Overall Website.
Second place awards were:
— Best Online Coverage of Breaking News went to Kenoyer for her extensive and timely updates on The New Era’s Facebook site, primarily on Sept. 9, 2020, on the Holiday Farm Fire’s progress, local evacuation orders and activities, and aid efforts to victims.
— Best Educational Coverage went to Kenoyer for a story on internet issues that were plaguing local families trying to participate in online schooling, which appeared Dec. 9, 2020.
— Best News Photo went to Swanson, for a photo of local firefighters and Sheriff’s deputies using their muscles to push a crashed car off the roadway on Highway 228, which ran June 3, 2020.
— Best Sports Story went to Swanson for a story about Rebecca Wolthuis, a local triathlete who decided to do her own Ironman Triathlon after being derailed by injury and COVID from participating in an official Ironman competition. The story appeared July 22, 2020, a few days before Wolthuis successfully completed the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and full marathon (26.22 miles) under the required 17-hour cap.
Other third-place awards were:
— Best Sports Photo, to Sean C. Morgan, now community services officer for the Sweet Home Police Department, for a shot of Casey Tow fighting his way past an opponent for a basket that appeared March 4, 2020.
— Best Feature Photo, went to Morgan, for a photo of the moon shining over Foster Lake that appeared April 15, 2020.
— Best Spot News Coverage, went to Kenoyer for coverage in the July 22, 2020 edition of a runaway personal watercraft accident at Lewis Creek Park that left one local 6-year-old dead and another severely injured.
Advertising Awards
— The advertising staff won first place in the Best Private Party ad category for a full-color obituary that was commissioned by a local family, which appeared April 29, 2020.
Second-place advertising a-wards were:
— Best Merchandising Section for the Spring 2020 Home and Garden section.
— Best Multi-Sponsor ROP Ads for a thank-you page dedicated to first responders, which appeared Sept. 16, 2020, and
— Best Section Cover for a Sweet Home Visitors Guide published by The New Era.
The staff took third place in the Best Institutional Section category for the 2020 Veterans Day section, which appeared on Nov. 11.