Better Newspaper Contest

2014 Award Winners

Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher - Better Newspaper Contest

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Page 34 Division 3 Best In-Depth Feature or Feature Package/Category 10 First place End of an era: Franklin Electric in Bluffton Mark Miller The News-Banner (Bluffton) Comments: This was an in-depth feature package. I appreci- ated the breadth of coverage and time invested in this series of articles. Mark Miller attacked this story from an array of angles and perspectives. Second place "Postcards" series Staff The Commercial Review (Portland) Comments: I truly enjoyed this series and found it inspiring. It captured that human element readers respond to, and per- haps made people around the community take time to look around and wonder about those people and scenes they pass every day. I enjoyed the quality of writing and getting to the heart of the profiles. Third place Surviving suicide Tabitha Waggoner Princeton Daily Clarion Comments: This was an important piece of work. The loved ones' perspectives were heart-rending and critical when discussing suicide. I appreciated the candor you were able to capture during the interview process. In addition to the sta- tistics and research included, the use of compelling quotes pulled the story together nicely. I also found the informational sidebars to be helpful and great tools for readers. Best Sports Event Coverage/Category 11 First place RHS tops NM in controversial shootout Val Tsoutsouris The Rochester Sentinel Comments: This is a sports writer's dream: a game to report PLUS the controversy. Good job of bringing the step by step of the game to the reader. I was intrigued, and I'm not a soccer fan. Great job. Second place Crothersville softball team wins emotional season debut Zach Spicer The Tribune (Seymour) Comments: You turned what could have been a cheesy story into something that the disinterested reader (like myself) finds compelling. Good job. Third place Vikings fall short at state Staff Washington Times-Herald Comments: High school sports is more than just athletics, as your stories show. Photos illustrate the heartbreak of the players very well. I felt I was in the auditorium during the game with this story. Keep up the great work. Best Sports News or Feature Coverage Category 12 First place A work ethic to envy Ray Cooney The Commercial Review (Portland) Comments: A good insightful story of a young player who worked hard to become successful. Well-written story from the beginning to the end. Second place Another shot Zach Spicer The Tribune (Seymour) Comments: Good use of graphics, strong presentation, good in-depth look at the team. Third place 'The catch of a lifetime' Nicole Ott Minier Columbia City Post & Mail Comments: Photo immediately captured my attention. Excel- lent use of pull quote as the headline. Mark Miller The News-Banner (Bluffton) We dined with some out-of-town friends last weekend. There was the usual question: "What's new in Bluffton?" And the usual response: "Oh, not much." But I got to thinking and in short order said, "Well, hold on." While the wind farm debates and discussions have certainly been in the news, there's lots more. Several industries are hiring and a couple are expanding their facilities, we've long been blessed with some very steady snack-food plants, there are any number of people that I could talk about and besides all that there will be another significant event this summer, but it's been a bit under the radar. "What's that?" our friend asked. "Franklin Electric's headquarters will be moving to their new facilities in July," I replied. Of course, I was aware of all this because we are a) working on our annual "Who We Are" edition which makes you unusually aware of the usual and b) I decided a couple of months ago that we could not let the Franklin era come to an end without some recognition. The initial plan was to do a series of four articles focused on Franklin's history – the products, the people and their very significant role in local history. It became one of those projects that takes on a life of its own. Each person I talked with gave me names of at least two others that I needed to talk to. Digging into our archives uncovered additional angles. There were people and events that could not be ignored. The more I learned, the more I wanted to tell. And it remains a work still in progress. But June is getting along. If I'm going to get all of this in by mid-July (Franklin's anticipated move completion) we need to get going. So, today on our front page we begin a series of End of an era: Franklin Electric in Bluffton For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on "Contests." Val Tsoutsouris The Rochester Sentinel The Rochester and North Miami girls soccer teams played in the championship game of the North Miami tournament Saturday. The game ended in con- troversy. Actually, it ended in multiple controversies. Ultimately, RHS won 4-3 on Lexy Holland's goal in sudden death penalty kicks. But it ended with hard feelings. North Miami thought they had won. They briefly celebrated. The officials convened and decided they hadn't won. The fans were confused. The scoreboard operator might have been confused. The coaches were confused. "There was so much convoluted in this ending PK shootout, but honestly I don't know what was right or wrong," RHS coach Tricia Sederholm said. "I think they have an argument. I agree that they had an argument on it." The game was tied 3-3 after regulation. Per tournament rules, the game would be decided on penalty kicks, five for each side. Each team made three of five penalty kicks. That led to another round of five kicks. Each team made one of their first three kicks in the next round. North Miami's Bella Borse then scored, and RHS' Jenna Schlarf was apparently stopped. North Miami's Adrianna Faine then missed with RHS goalkeeper Chloe Richard making the stop. Richard then took the final kick for RHS. North Miami goalkeeper Alisha Towner appeared to stop her shot just before it reached the goal line. At that point, North Miami thought they had won and briefly celebrated. But the officials got together and after discussing the matter for a few minutes, they RHS tops NM in controversial shootout A work ethic to envy For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on "Contests." Ray Cooney The Commercial Review (Portland) Erin Hunt was never the star of her team. She didn't put up gaudy point totals. She wasn't on any all-state lists. But Hunt was and has continued to be outstanding in one key aspect that has allowed her to become a key contributor in a college program. "I think Erin's work ethic … made her a college player," said Bethel College coach Jody Martinez of the 2011 Jay County High School graduate who spends hours each summer shooting at Jay Community Center. "She's one of those players that comes in on her own. … She does her own shooting. Once in a while we'll do workouts together. "She just has a heart. She wants to be a college basketball player. And her work ethic is why she plays." Her hard work has changed her from a bit player to a starter, from a defensive specialist into a double-digit scoring threat. Hunt barely saw the court in her first year with the Pilots. She played only in blowouts, getting into just nine games. She attempted two field goals, missing both, and made one free throw. Her role grew somewhat as a sophomore as she played in every game. But her minutes were still slim as she served mostly as a defensive energy player in short spurts. "The first year my role was to be an encourager off the bench," said Hunt on Thursday following her team's game against Huntington University. "And then last year I had a role (to play) aggressive defense, which was only limited minutes when we needed a stop, which was good for me. I learned a lot in the few minutes I played." She learned enough to become a leader on this For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on "Contests."

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