MESSENGER Texas Press
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION • TEXASPRESS.COM • JUNE 2013 • VOL 88 NO 6
TPA honors three with Golden 50 Awards Texas Press Association members recognized three newspaper stalwarts as “Golden 50” journalists at TPA’s recent summer meeting in Houston. J. Tom Graham of Frankston, Louis C. Stas of Wheeler and the late Wesley W. Burnett of Rockwall were awarded the Golden 50 designation for having worked in the newspaper industry for 50 years.
ies, including Del Rio, Burnett, Mineola, Lindale and New Boston, Pasadena. Graham loved the challenge of getting community newspapers out of the red and making them relevant to their communities. After taking the reins in Pasadena in 1998, he worked to merge Westward and HCN into one company. He became the chief operating officer for AP Westward, where he oversaw more than 60 newspapers around Houston, Austin, East Texas and Colorado. Since 2006, he has been the owner and publisher of The Frankston Citizen. Graham has served on numerous press association committees and has written several books, plays and songs.
J. TOM GRAHAM Graham’s newspaper career began at the age of eight in Knox City. He remembers that he was offered a quarter for a day’s work, pulling the papers off the press, and that seemed like far better money and less work than the toil in the cotton fields that he had been used to. He worked at the Knox City paper until he graduated high school in 1960. Graham graduated North Texas State in 1964 with a journalism degree. While attending school, he worked his way up to the position of city editor of the Denton Record Chronicle. After graduation, Graham became the managing editor of the Gonzales Inquirer and then joined the Abilene Reporter News in 1966. He served as AP wire editor and later state editor before entering the Army in the fall of 1966. In the Army, he served as news bureau chief of Pacific Stars and Stripes’ Korea bureau. He covered the North Korean attempt to assassinate South Korean President Park Chung-hee, as well as the Pueblo incident in 1968. He also worked on Stars and Stripes in its Tokyo headquarters and as a correspondent in Vietnam. After his two-year service in the Army, he traveled through the Far East and spent a year with two Australian newspapers before returning to the U.S. and rejoining the Abilene Reporter News in November of 1969.
LOUIS C. STAS
Top: James Burnett (son), Kim Dolberry (daughter), Tim Burnett (son) and Pat Burnett (wife) accept the Golden 50 Award on behalf of Wes Burnett from TPA President Russel Skiles. Left: J. Tom Graham says a few words to convention attendees after accepting the Golden 50 Award at the Saturday awards luncheon. Right: Louis C. Stas accepts the Golden 50 Award from TPA President Russel Skiles.
Next, he became the publisher of the Huntsville Item, where in 1974 he led a news team in covering the Carrasco prison hostage situation, which would later
earn the team a national press award and a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize. After leaving Huntsville, Graham served as publisher in numerous cit-
Louis Stas was born northwest of Watonga, Okla., and received the first five and a half years of his education in a oneroom schoolhouse, walking three miles to school each day. In 1949, he moved to a farm eight miles southeast of Geary, Okla., and attended school in Hinton, Okla. After finishing his sophomore year in school, Stas took a job at The Hinton Record as a Linotype operator. For the next two years, he authored School Chatter, keeping everyone informed of what was going on at school. In the fall of 1957, Stas enrolled at Oklahoma State University, formerly Oklahoma A&M, and worked at the O’Collegian as a Linotype operator while attending classes in an effort to obtain a degree in architecture. At the end of the summer in 1959, he married and returned to college with his bride. At the end of the first semester, they learned they were
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Summer convention photos inside! PAGE 4
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MESSENGER VOL 88 NO 6 JUNE 2013
MESSENGER Texas Press
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE Texas Press Association 718 West 5th Street Austin, TX 78759 (512) 477-6755 phone (512) 477-6759 fax texaspress.com
2012-2013 TPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS
President Russel Skiles, Lamesa Press-Reporter; First Vice President Greg Shrader, Lufkin Daily News; Second Vice President Randy Mankin, Eldorado Success; Treasurer Glenn Rea, Cuero Record; Chairman Chad Ferguson, Banner Press Newspaper
BOARD MEMBERS
Elected: Bill Crist, Snyder Daily News; Sue Brown, Pleasanton Express; Brandi Guy, Thorndale Champion; Brett McCormick, Vernon Daily Record; Chad Engbrock, Wylie News Appointed: Jeff Berger, Hondo Anvil Herald; Mark Henry, Mexia News; Melissa Perner, Ozona Stockman; Ken Esten Cooke, Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post; Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise; Randy Keck, Community News; Hank Hargrave, Normangee Star; Patrick Canty, Odessa American Regional Presidents: Mark Engebretson, Lake Country Sun, NETPA; Wanda Brooks, Moore County News-Press, PPA; Cyndy Slovak-Barton, Hays Free Press, STPA; Danny Reneau, Silsbee Bee, TGCPA; Mark Engebretson, Lake Country Sun, WTPA Regional Vice Presidents: Don Treul, Tri County Leader, NETPA; Jeff Blackmon, County Star-News, PPA; Larry Hauk, Copperas Cove Leader-Press, STPA; Tania French, Port Lavaca Wave, TGCPA; Lisa Davis, Wise County Messenger, WTPA
MESSENGER STAFF Publisher Micheal Hodges Editor Laura King Advertising Consultant Diane Byram Volume 88 — Issue No. 6 JUNE 2013 Subscription rate $6 per year Single issue 50 cents © Texas Press Messenger, 2013 (ISSN 1521-7523). Published monthly by Texas Press Service, a business affiliate of Texas Press Association. Periodicals postage paid at Austin, Texas, and additional mailing office, USPS 541-440. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Texas Press Messenger, 718 West 5th Street, Austin, Texas 78701-2783. Printed by Hood County News in Granbury, Texas.
Skiles’ last ‘Rambling’ as TPA president It has been both a privilege and an honor to serve as your Texas Press Association president this past year. I count it among the highest blessings I have received during a truly wonderful career in community journalism. Looking back, I can’t help but be amazed that it all got started with a pair of boots and jeans. Yes, boots and jeans! That was my standard attire the day I first walked into the journalism office at Angelo State University more than 36 years ago. A rocky fall semester of my sophomore year had ended any vague hopes I had of becoming an engineer. I returned to college that spring seeking a new path in life. I unwittingly found it while signing up for a photography course. From his office across the hall, Dr. Harrison Youngren overheard my conversation with the journalism secretary about the course. Seeing a country kid wearing boots and jeans, he immediately started talking about the need for people with rural, agriculture backgrounds in journalism. Before I left, he had signed me up for his basic news writing class. It has been a wonderful ride ever since. A few short months later I was cutting my teeth in the business with a summer job as a reporter/photographer for the Del Rio News-Herald. A vacancy on the staff allowed me to cover everything from the police beat and commissioners’ court to a meeting with some of the state’s top brass. But the highlight for a 19-year-old boy, of course, was an interview with two members of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders who came to town. A required internship at the San Angelo Standard-Times saw me assigned to float down the Rio Grande on a raft in the Big Bend region. What a gig! That was something my family regularly did for fun while I was growing up. Yet I was still not certain about making a career in the newspaper
business when, a few months out of college, I accepted a job at the Lamesa Press-Reporter.
Rambling Russel Skiles TPA PRESIDENT 2012-2013
My plans to spend a couple of years there changed on the day I moved into a house on a cotton farm the company owned a few miles north of town. It was early March. Fields were bare and the sand was blowing. Through newfound grit in my teeth, I silently vowed to stay only six months – maybe a year at best – before fleeing to truly greener pastures. But I didn’t know what I had gotten myself into. I walked into a newspaper office where Walter Buckel was the publisher and his son Bob was the editor. Both would eventually serve as presidents of the Texas Press Association. Already a top-notch reporter and editor at a young age, Bob showed how it was done before leaving and turning over his office to me. Walter – he remains Mr. Buckel to me – became my mentor and eventually something of a second father. Although lacking any formal training and getting into the business relatively late in life, Mr. Buckel was – and still is – a true leader in the field of community journalism. He and his partner, the late James Roberts of Andrews, understood that a newspaper in a small town has a responsibility beyond just reporting the news. They believed the interests of a newspaper and the community it covered went hand-in-hand, each helping determine the fate of the other.
Their model helped define community journalism, and both are now in the Texas Newspaper Foundation Hall of Fame. Another of Mr. Buckel’s philosophies had just as great an impact on my life. He knew that the best way to keep a young newcomer in town was to get him married to a local girl. He did just that. Just a few months after I joined the staff, he hired a farm girl in the composition department who would eventually become my wife. After more than 33 years at the Press-Reporter I can’t think of any better career than working at a small-town newspaper. I’ve had the opportunity to cover everything from a future president’s visits to Lamesa to a wedding performed during halftime of a six-man football game. But the greatest honor has been to serve as TPA president. It has been in interesting and challenging year for our association, with the end of the Texas Daily Newspaper Association, ongoing plans to sell our building in Austin, numerous issues with the state Legislature, and a move to electronic submission of newspaper contest entries. The greatest joy and privilege I’ve had this past year has been to get to know so many of the wonderful people working at newspapers, both large and small, across the state. You, the members, are what truly make the Texas Press Association such a great organization. The newspaper industry in Texas is indeed a true family. We’re all in this together. Whether at a large metropolitan daily or a small rural weekly, we face many of the same challenges and enjoy similar achievements. I can’t imagine any field where there is more cooperation – where everyone is not only eager to help each other but where having someone steal (use) one of your ideas is nothing short of flattery. Thank you for allowing me to be involved with such a great organization – with such a great family!
MESSENGER VOL 88 NO 6 JUNE 2013
Horn wins Hartman Sportswriting Award
For the fifth time in his career, veteran sportswriter Barry Horn of The Dallas Morning News has won the Fred Hartman Award for excellence in sports writing. Horn accepted the award at the summer meeting of Texas Press Association. Jeff Wick, editor of the Fayette Record and last year’s Hartman Award winner, was this year’s judge. “In Horn’s collection of stories, almost every piece transcended the world of sports into more universal themes that even non-sports fans could be drawn into,” Wick wrote in his judge’s notes. “From compelling features on everyone from Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey to Duncanville High star-turned Olympic high-jumper Brigetta Barrett, the detail (even from events that occurred decades ago) and multitude of sources in Horn’s stories, show his expertise as a reporter. For instance, Horn not only tells the
reader that Barrett used to miss track meets to attend poetry and singing competitions, but he even quotes lyrics she sang at a competition. “And Horn knows the difference between just adding detail for detail’s sake, and adding nuggets that truly add to a story. His witty phrasing shows he’s the writer to match that reporting ability. He took a feature about the University of Texas-Arlington’s new basketball arena, and turned it into a grand obituary to the old gym/theater building that new arena was replacing. “For his story about the 40th anniversary of Title IX gender equality in sports, he took a subject that could have been bogged down by facts and figures and instead interwove the pre-Title IX struggles of one of the nation’s most legendary high school coaches (Leta Andrews) into the tale. Every story submitted by a Horn was a joy to read.” Each year the Fred Hartman Award competition alternates between two fixed circulation breaks: newspapers over 10,000 and those under 10,000. This year the contest was open to journalists currently employed with a Texas newspaper over 10,000 in circulation. The award is sponsored annually by Hartman Newspapers, a familyowned company started by the late Fred Hartman. Hartman began his newspaper career as a sportswriter, and although he eventually became a publisher and newspaper company owner, the senior Hartman never lost his passion for sportswriting. The award includes $1,000 in prize money.
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Cobler wins Community Leadership Award
Chris Cobler, editor of the Victoria Advocate, has received the Frank W. Mayborn Award for Community Leadership from the Texas Press Association. Cobler, editor of the Advocate for six years, accepted the award at the association’s summer meeting in Houston. Cobler is treasurer of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas and is a board member of the national Associated Press Media Editors association. He also was a founding member of the Victoria Independent School District Education Foundation. In 2005, Cobler was selected to participate in a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, which he
completed in 2006. Under his leadership, the newsroom of the Advocate has won more than 200 state and national journalism awards. “Chris is deeply connected to the community,” said Dan Easton, publisher of the Advocate. “Whether it is moderating a Habitat for Humanity event, holding a town hall meeting on newspaper credibility, or posting video from the local high school football game, the community looks to Chris, his team, and our newspaper to be connected to and informed about the community. “Chris is a tremendous leader and a passionate advocate for community journalism,” Easton continued. “He has been responsible for the development of numerous journalism careers that started out working with him. Despite his long tenure in the industry, his passion is as strong as ever, and it is reflected in his work.” Cobler, a journalism graduate of the University of Kansas, worked at newspapers in Kansas, Colorado, South Dakota and Denton before joining the Advocate in 2007. The Frank W. Mayborn Award for Community Leadership has been awarded annually since 1992 to a publisher or newspaper executive who contributed most significantly to society during the past year.
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MESSENGER VOL 88 NO 6 JUNE 2013
Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas joins Texas Press Association in presenting Spirit of FOI Award
Photos from the TPA Newspaper Leadership Retreat June 20-22 | Houston, TX
Left: FOIFT Vice President Diana Fuentes, publisher of the Del Rio News-Herald, presents Allison Pollan, managing editor of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, with a Spirit of FOI Award. Right: FOIFT Executive Director Kelley Shannon announces the winners of the Spirit of FOI Award.
HOUSTON - Two Texas newspapers have been honored with the prestigious Nancy Monson Spirit of FOI Award for their in-depth reporting that promoted freedom of information and open government. Presented by the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas and the Texas Press Association, the annual award was given Saturday to The Dallas Morning News in Class AAA and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in Class AA. The Dallas Morning News won recognition for its work by reporters Reese Dunklin and Sue Goetinck Ambrose uncovering the lavish spending of Dr. Kern Wildenthal, who served as president of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Through a lengthy investigation using records obtained under the Texas Public Information Act, the News detailed Wildenthal’s questionable spending on such items as overseas trips, opera and wine. He ultimately resigned his university positions and was asked to
repay some of the expenses. The Corpus Christi CallerTimes received the Class AA award for its numerous reports by Rick Spruill on the complex issue of windstorm insurance. By attending public meetings and obtaining records using the Texas Public Information Act, Spruill educated coastal homeowners about the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, an agency often shrouded in secrecy. Spruill detailed his findings in more than 80 stories in 2012. Documents he uncovered led to reporting on the state insurance commissioner’s travel expenses and the intricacies of identifying and spreading risk in insurance pools. The Nancy Monson Spirit of FOI Award is named for the FOI Foundation’s former executive director, a longtime advocate for open government and the First Amendment. The award was presented to the two newspapers at the Texas Press Association’s summer leadership meeting in Houston.
Regina Keilers, publisher of The Fayette County Record, wins $20 during a roundtable session.
Ramona “Bebo” Ferguson (left), The Banner Press Newspaper; Carrie Rea, The Cuero Record; and Joyce Hauk, Copperas Cove Leader-Press at the Astros game at Minute Maid Park.
MESSENGER VOL 88 NO 6 JUNE 2013
Clockwise from top left: Past TPA President Chad Ferguson, publisher of The Banner Press Newspaper, and TPA President Russel Skiles, publisher of the Lamesa Press-Reporter, say goodbye after the June 22 awards luncheon. TPA First Vice President Greg Shrader, publisher of The Lufkin Daily News, waits his turn to tee off on June 20 at the 2013 Robert Burns Classic, the 15th annual golf tournament benefiting the Texas Newspaper Foundation, at Tour 18 in Houston. Gilbert Hoffman, publisher of the Highlands Star-Crosby Courier, peruses the Museum of Printing History in Houston on June 21. Mark and Paula Campbell of the Springtown Epigraph and Azle News and Randy Keck, publisher of The Community News, watch the Astros play at Minute Maid Park on June 20. TPA Treasurer Glenn Rea, publisher of The Cuero Record, assists the tour guide and museum artist-in-residence, Charles Criner, with a demonstration at the Museum of Printing History in Houston on June 21.
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MESSENGER VOL 88 NO 6 JUNE 2013
2013 NETPA Better Newspaper Contest Results Division 1
ADVERTISING 1st Place: Texarkana Gazette 2nd Place: Lufkin News 3rd Place: Paris News COLUMN WRITING 1st Place: Paris News 2nd Place: Lufkin News 3rd Place: Texarkana Gazette 4th Place: Herald Democrat EDITORIALS 1st Place: Texarkana Gazette FEATURE STORY 1st Place: Texarkana Gazette 2nd Place: Herald Democrat 3rd Place: Lufkin News 4th Place: Paris News HEADLINE WRITING 1st Place: The Paris News 2nd Place: Texarkana Gazette 3rd Place: The Lufkin News PAGE DESIGN 1st Place: Texarkana Gazette 2nd Place: Paris News 3rd Place: Lufkin News NEWS WRITING 1st Place: Texarkana Gazette 2nd Place: Lufkin News 3rd Place: Paris News 4th Place: Herald Democrat SPORTS COVERAGE 1st Place: Paris News 2nd Place: Texarkana Gazette 3rd Place: Lufkin News FEATURE PHOTO 1st Place: Texarkana Gazette 2nd Place: Lufkin News 3rd Place: Paris News NEWS PHOTO 1st Place: Lufkin News 2nd Place: Paris News SPORTS PHOTO 1st Place: Lufkin News 2nd Place: Paris News SPECIAL SECTION 1st Place: Lufkin Daily News 2nd Place: Paris News 3rd Place: Texarkana Gazette JOURNALISTS OF THE YEAR 1st Place: Jessica Cooley – Lufkin News 2nd Place: William Wadsack – Herald Democrat 3rd Place: Lynne LaRowe – Texarkana Gazette 4th Place: Krista Goerte – Paris News PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 1st Place: Texarkana Gazette/ Evan Lewis 2nd Place: Lufkin News/Andy Adams 3rd Place: Paris News/Sam Craft
COMMUNITY SERVICE 1st Place: Texarkana Gazette 2nd Place: Lufkin News 3rd Place: Paris News
GENERAL EXCELLENCE 1st Place: Lufkin News 2nd Place: Texarkana Gazette 3rd Place: Paris News SWEEPSTAKES 1st Place: Texarkana Gazette, 1,025 points 2nd Place: Lufkin News, 925 points 3rd Place: Paris News, 850 points 4th Place: Herald Democrat, 125 points
Division 2 ADVERTISING 1st Place: Athens Daily Review COLUMN WRITING 1st Place: Stephenville EmpireTribune/Sara Berge 2nd Place: Henderson Daily News/Matthew Prosser 3rd Place: Athens Daily Review/ Rich Flowers 4th Place: Daily Sentinel/ Ashley Smith EDITORIALS [no entries] FEATURE STORY 1st Place: Henderson Daily News/Matthew Prosser & Rachel Riley 2nd Place: Daily Sentinel/ Paul Bryant 3rd Place: Athens Daily Review/ Jayson Larson & Rich Flowers 4th Place: Stephenville EmpireTribune/Amanda Kimble & Donnie Bryant HEADLINE WRITING 1st Place: Athens Daily Review 2nd Place: Henderson Daily News 3rd Place: Stephenville Empire-Tribune PAGE DESIGN 1st Place: Daily Sentinel 2nd Place: Athens Daily Review NEWS WRITING [no entries] SPORTS COVERAGE 1st Place: Stephenville Empire-Tribune 2nd Place: Athens Daily Review FEATURE PHOTO 1st Place: Daily Sentinel 2nd Place: Athens Daily Review 3rd Place: Henderson Daily News
NEWS PHOTO 1st Place: Daily Sentinel 2nd Place: Athens Daily Review 3rd Place: Henderson Daily News 4th Place: Stephenville Empire-Tribune
SPORTS PHOTO 1st Place: Stephenville EmpireTribune 2nd Place: Daily Sentinel 3rd Place: Athens Daily Review SPECIAL SECTION 1st Place: Daily Sentinel 2nd Place: Athens Daily Review 3rd Place: Stephenville Empire-Tribune JOURNALISTS OF THE YEAR 1st Place: Paul Bryant – Daily Sentinel 2nd Place: Rich Flowers – Athens Review 3rd Place: Matthew Prosser – Henderson Daily News 4th Place: Sara Berge – Stephenville Empire-Tribune PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 1st Place: Daily Sentinel – Andrew Brosig COMMUNITY SERVICE [no entries] GENERAL EXCELLENCE 1st Place: Daily Sentinel 2nd Place: Stephenville Empire-Tribune 3rd Place: Athens Daily Review SWEEPSTAKES 1st Place: Athens Daily Review 2nd Place: Nacogdoches Daily Sentinal 3rd Place: Stephenville Empire-Tribune 4th Place: Henderson Daily News
Division 3 ADVERTISING 1st Place: The Light & The Champion 2nd Place: Hood County News 3rd Place: Wise County Messenger 4th Place: Graham Leader COLUMN WRITING 1st Place: Kilgore News-Herald – Mike Simpson 2nd Place: Hood County News – Mark Wilson 3rd Place: Wise County Messenger – Kristen Tribe 4th Place: Burleson Star – Brian Porter EDITORIALS 1st Place: Burleson Star 2nd Place: Hood County News 3rd Place: Wise County Messenger 4th Place: Breckenridge American
FEATURE STORY 1st Place: Wise County Messenger – Brandon Evans and Erika Pedroza 2nd Place: Hood County News – Rick Mauch and Mark Wilson 3rd Place: Kilgore NewsHerald -Austin King and James Draper 4th Place: Graham Leader – Gay Storms 5th Place: Burleson Star – Julissa Trevino and Brian Porter HEADLINE WRITING 1st Place: Kilgore News Herald 2nd Place: Wise County Messenger 3rd Place: Breckenridge American 4th Place: Graham Leader PAGE DESIGN 1st Place: Hood County News 2nd Place: Wise County Messenger 3rd Place: Kilgore News-Herald 4th Place: Breckenridge American NEWS WRITING 1st Place: Wise County Messenger 2nd Place: Hood County News 3rd Place: Kilgore News Herald SPORTS COVERAGE 1st Place: Wise County Messenger 2nd Place: Hood County News 3rd Place: Kilgore News Herald FEATURE PHOTO 1st Place: Wise County Messenger 2nd Place: Hood County News 3rd Place: Graham Leader 4th Place: Burleson Star NEWS PHOTO 1st Place: Hood County News 2nd Place: Wise County Messenger 3rd Place: Graham Leader SPORTS PHOTO 1st Place: Wise County Messenger 2nd Place: Burleson Star 3rd Place: Hood County News 4th Place: Kilgore News-Herald SPECIAL SECTION 1st Place: Kilgore News-Herald 2nd Place: Wise County Messenger 3rd Place: Hood County News 4th Place: Graham Leader JOURNALISTS OF THE YEAR 1st Place: Kathy Cruz – Hood County News 2nd Place: James Draper – Kilgore News Herald 3rd Place: Brandon Evans – Wise County Messenger 4th Place: Cherry Rushin – Graham Leader
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MESSENGER VOL 88 NO 6 JUNE 2013
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2013 NETPA Contest Results continued FROM PAGE 6
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 1st Place: Hood County News – Mary Vinson 2nd Place: Wise County Messenger – Joe Duty 3rd Place: Breckenridge American – Rob Durham 4th Place: Kilgore News Herald – James Draper COMMUNITY SERVICE 1st Place: Kilgore News-Herald 2nd Place: Hood County News 3rd Place: Graham Leader 4th Place: Burleson Star GENERAL EXCELLENCE 1st Place: Hood County News 2nd Place: Wise County Messenger 3rd Place: Kilgore News Herald 4th Place: Graham Leader SWEEPSTAKES 1st Place: Hood County News 2nd Place: Wise County Messenger 3rd Place: Kilgore News Herald 4th Place: Graham Leader
Division 4 ADVERTISING 1st Place: Wylie News 2nd Place: Azle News 3rd Place: Springtown Epigraph 4th Place: Pittsburg Gazette COLUMN WRITING 1st Place: Azle News - Mark Campbell 2nd Place: Mineola Monitor - Gary Edwards 3rd Place: Winnsboro News - Linda Henry 4th Place: Kaufman Herald - Loyd Cook EDITORIALS 1st Place: Winnsboro News 2nd Place: Mount Vernon Optic-Herald 3rd Place: Kaufman Herald 4th Place: The Bee FEATURE WRITING 1st Place: Azle News – Chase Carter and Carla Stutsman 2nd Place: Wylie News – Judy Truesdell 3rd Place: Pittsburg Gazette – Kim Cox and Susan Taft 4th Place: Mineola Monitor – Gary Edwards
HEADLINE WRITING 1st Place: Springtown Epigraph 2nd Place: Pittsburg Gazette 3rd Place: Azle News 4th Place: Mineola Monitor
COMMUNITY SERVICE 1st Place: Azle News 2nd Place: Pittsburg Gazette 3rd Place: Wylie News 4th Place: Winnsboro News
NEWS WRITING 1st Place: Pilot Point Post-Signal 2nd Place: Olney Enterprise 3rd Place: Farmersville Times 4th Place: Dublin Citizen
SWEEPSTAKES 1st Place: Pilot Point Post-Signal, 825 points 2nd Place: Farmersville Times, 575 points 3rd Place: Tri County Leader, 550 points 4th Place: Lake Country Sun, 350 points
FEATURE PHOTO 1st Place: Crowley Star 2nd Place: Deport Times/Blossom Times 3rd Place: Chandler-Brownsboro Statesman 4th Place: Big Sandy/Hawkins Star
PAGE DESIGN 1st Place: Mineola Monitor 2nd Place: Winnsboro News 3rd Place: Pittsburg Gazette 4th Place: Mount Vernon Optic-Herald
GENERAL EXCELLENCE 1st Place: Mineola Monitor 2nd Place: Azle News 3rd Place: Wylie News 4th Place: Springtown Epigraph
SPORTS COVERAGE 1st Place: Tri County Leader 2nd Place: Pilot Point Post Signal 3rd Place: Glen Rose Reporter 4th Place: Farmersville Times
Division 6
NEWS PHOTO 1st Place: Chandler-Brownsboro Statesman 2nd Place: Big Sandy/Hawkins Star 3rd Place: Deport/Blossom Times 4th Place: Joshua Star
NEWS WRITING 1st Place: Mount Vernon Optic-Herald 2nd Place: Winnsboro News 3rd Place: Springtown Epigraph 4th Place: Mineola Monitor
SWEEPSTAKES 1st Place: Azle News, 750 points 2nd Place: Mineola Monitor, 675 points 3rd Place: Wylie News, 450 points 4th Place: Winnsboro, 375 points
FEATURE PHOTO 1st Place: Pilot Point Post-Signal 2nd Place: Lake Country Sun 3rd Place: Farmersville Times 4th Place: Muenster Enterprise
SPORTS COVERAGE 1st Place: Azle News 2nd Place: Springtown Epigraph 3rd Place: Mount Vernon Optic-Herald 4th Place: Mineola Monitor
Division 5
NEWS PHOTO 1st Place: Farmersville Times 2nd Place: Pilot Point Post-Signal 3rd Place: Lake Country Sun 4th Place: Olney Enterprise
ADVERTISING 1st Place: Dublin Citizen 2nd Place: Tri County Leader 3rd Place: Public I News 4th Place: Pilot Point Post Signal
FEATURE PHOTO 1st Place: Wylie News 2nd Place: Mineola Monitor 3rd Place: Azle News 4th Place: Mount Vernon Optic-Herald
COLUMN WRITING 1st Place: Pilot Point – David Lewis 2nd Place: Glen Rose Reporter – Amanda Kimble 3rd Place: Pilot Point – Richard Greene 4th Place: Tri County Leader – Suzanne Loudamy
NEWS PHOTO 1st Place: Mineola Monitor 2nd Place: Azle News 3rd Place: The Bee 4th Place: Winnsboro News
EDITORIALS 1st Place: Pilot Point – David Lewis 2nd Place: Lake County Sun – Mark Engebretson
SPORTS PHOTO 1st Place: Mineola Monitor 2nd Place: Azle News 3rd Place: Springtown Epigraph 4th Place: Wylie News
FEATURE STORY 1st Place: Lake Country Sun 2nd Place: Tri County Leader 3rd Place: Pilot Point Post-Signal 4th Place: Farmersville Times
SPECIAL SECTION 1st Place: Azle News 2nd Place: Springtown Epigraph 3rd Place: Wylie News 4th Place: Pittsburg Gazette JOURNALISTS OF THE YEAR 1st Place: Gary Edwards – Mineola Monitor 2nd Place: Bryan Giguere – Winnsboro News 3rd Place: Lillie Bush-Reves – Mount Vernon Optic-News PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 1st Place: Gary Edwards – Mineola Monitor 2nd Place: Ross Hunter – Winnsboro News 3rd Place: Chad Wilson – C-B Statesman
HEADLINE WRITING 1st Place: The Farmersville Times 2nd Place: Tri County Leader 3rd Place: Pilot Point Post Signal 4th Place: Glen Rose Record PAGE DESIGN 1st Place: Pilot Point Post-Signal 2nd Place: Glen Rose Reporter 3rd Place: Olney Enterprise 4th Place: Tri County Leader
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SPORTS PHOTO 1st Place: Farmersville Times 2nd Place: Tri County Leader 3rd Place: Lake Country Sun 4th Place: Muenster Enterprise SPECIAL SECTION 1st Place: Glen Rose Reporter 2nd Place: Pilot Point Post-Signal 3rd Place: Farmerville Times 4th Place: Muenster Enterprise JOURNALISTS OF THE YEAR 1st Place: Amanda Kimble – Glen Rose Reporter 2nd Place: Paul Gaudette – Dublin Citizen 3rd Place: Wyndi Veigel – Farmersville Times 4th Place: Mindi Kimbro – Olney Enterprise PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 1st Place: Mindi Kimbro – Olney Enterprise 2nd Place: Mac McKinnon – Dublin Citizen 3rd Place: Janie Hartman – Muenster Enterprise
GENERAL EXCELLENCE 1st Place: Chandler-Brownsboro Statesman 2nd Place: Sachse News 3rd Place: Joshua Star 4th Place: Gladewater Mirror ADVERTISING 1st Place: Big Sandy & Hawkins Journal 2nd Place: Sachse News 3rd Place: Chandler-Brownsboro Statesman 4th Place: Gladewater Mirror COLUMN WRITING 1st Place: Bullard Banner News 2nd Place: Princeton Herald 3rd Place: Big Sandy & Hawkins Journal 4th Place: Chandler-Brownsboro Statesman EDITORIALS 1st Place: Joshua Star FEATURE STORY 1st Place: Princeton Herald 2nd Place: Chandler-Brownsboro Statesman 3rd Place: Bullard Banner News 4th Place: Joshua Star HEADLINE WRITING 1st Place: Chandler-Brownsboro Statesman 2nd Place: The Princeton Herald 3rd Place: Joshua Star 4th Place: Big Sandy & Hawkins Journal PAGE DESIGN 1st Place: Princeton Herald 2nd Place: Chandler-Brownsboro Statesman 3rd Place: Joshua Star 4th Place: Murphy Monitor
COMMUNITY SERVICE 1st Place: Farmersville Times 2nd Place: Olney Enterprise
NEWS WRITING 1st Place: Big Sandy & Hawkins Journal 2nd Place: Joshua Star 3rd Place: Chandler-Brownsboro Statesman 4th Place: Sachse News
GENERAL EXCELLENCE 1st Place: Glen Rose Reporter 2nd Place: Tri County Leader 3rd Place: Dublin Citizen 4th Place: Olney Enterprise
SPORTS COVERAGE 1st Place: Chandler-Brownsboro Statesman 2nd Place: Sasche News 3rd Place: Murphy Monitor 4th Place: Gladewater Mirror
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SPORTS PHOTO 1st Place: Princeton Herald 2nd Place: Sachse News 3rd Place: Joshua Star 4th Place: Chandler-Brownsboro Statesman SPECIAL SECTION 1st Place: Sachse News 2nd Place: Chandler-Brownsboro Statesman 3rd Place: Joshua Star 4th Place: Princeton Herald JOURNALISTS OF THE YEAR 1st Place: Chad Wilson – ChandlerBrownsboro Statesman 2nd Place: Jay Hinton – Crowley Star 3rd Place: Seria Dassing – Big Sandy & Hawkins Journal PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 1st Place: Brian Porter – Joshua Star COMMUNITY SERVICE [no entries] GENERAL EXCELLENCE 1st Place: C-B Statesman 2nd Place: Sachse News 3rd Place: Joshua Star 4th Place: Gladewater Mirror SWEEPSTAKES 1st Place: Chandler-Brownsboro Statesman, 775 points 2nd Place: Princeton Herald, 450 points 3rd Place: Joshua Star, 450 points 4th Place: Big Sandy & Hawkins Journal, 375 points
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MESSENGER VOL 88 NO 6 JUNE 2013
Graham, Stas and Burnett honored for years of service FROM PAGE 1
going to be parents in September and took a job in Wheeler with the intention of returning to school after one year. His boss at The Hinton Record recently had purchased The Wheeler Times and a Linotype operator was needed. Their move to Wheeler lasted more than one year: Feb. 1, 2013, marked 54 years. In September 1962, the couple, now parents of two children, bought half interest in the Times with its Linotype, handset type, casting box, four-page press, folding machine for the paper and job presses. The most modern machine in the office was 1250W offset press that had been purchased rebuilt in 1961. The July 18, 1963, edition of The Wheeler Times listed Stas as owner and publisher. Stas has been a reporter for the National Weather Service for the past 30 or so years. He also was the local reporter and shot film for KVII-TV Channel 7 in Amarillo for a short time. Stas had interests other than the newspaper. There are several homes in and around Wheeler and elsewhere that he either designed completely or planned the remodeling. One office building and a
convenience store/gas station in Wheeler are his design. In 1975, Stas became an EMT and served the county for 23 years. Louis was a member of the first graduating class of paramedics in the Texas Panhandle. In April 1969, Stas was elected to the Wheeler City Council. He remained on the council and was elected mayor in 1992. In 2007, he was awarded a Lifetime Membership in the Wheeler Chamber of Commerce after more than 40 years of service and was named Wheeler’s 1981 Outstanding Man. WESLEY W. BURNETT
When Wesley W. Burnett died unexpectedly on March 28, 2013, it was the end of journalism career that started in the late 1950s. Burnett spent two years working on the staff of The Screaming Eagle, the student newspaper at Brownsville High School. Little did he know it would be a precursor of his life’s work. Burnett attended Texas A&M, where he majored in journalism. He joined the Air Force in 1961. After basic training, he was stationed at military bases in
Texas, California, Washington, Alabama, Nebraska and Oregon. Throughout most of his military career, he worked as an information officer and was heavily involved with the base newspapers. In 1973, Burnett left the military and took a job with the Bryan Daily Eagle. After a year with the Harte-Hanks paper, he transferred to the corporation’s Hamilton, Ohio, publication, The Journal-News. Burnett next took a job at a paper in New Iberia, La., and followed that by partnering with two acquaintances to start up a weekly newspaper. It would be another year before Burnett returned to Texas, moving to Sonora to be a part of WestCom Inc., which owned and operated weekly publications throughout the state. As West-Com added newspapers, Burnett was charged with revamping the struggling publications. He spent two and a half years at The Devil’s River News in Sonora and worked with both the Stephenville Star and The Dublin Progress for two years. That was followed by a stint at The Ballinger Ledger. “He enjoyed flipping papers; going in and taking a paper, building it up and making it successful,” his son, James
Burnett, said. “And he was really good at it.” While in Ballinger, Burnett decided it was time to strike out on his own. In 1982, the family moved to Post and took over The Post Dispatch. Burnett dedicated the next 26 years to the South Plains weekly publication. “He loved writing,” Kimberly Dolberry said of her father. “When he sold advertising, he was one of the best. He was a salesman, he did photography, he did darkroom work, but he loved writing.” While in Post, Burnett used local cable access to deliver live broadcasts of Post High School sports, as well as community news and rebroadcasts of local government meetings. “In a way, he was pioneering something that many other small communities weren’t doing at the time,” Burnett’s wife, Pat, said. “He was always looking ahead.” In 2008, Burnett decided he wanted a new challenge. The Dispatch was sold and the Burnett family moved to Rockwall, where he took over another weekly, the Rockwall County News. He remained active with the publication until his death.
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