2012 Better Newspaper Contest Results

2012 Better Newspaper & Advertising Contest Results & Judges’ Comments

Congratulations to the 2012 daily and weekly division winners!

Best Daily Division A: Green Bay Press-Gazette Best Daily Division B: The Janesville Gazette Best Daily Division C: Portage Daily Register Best Weekly Division D: Lake Country Reporter, Hartland

On the cover Clockwise from top left:

Table of contents Weekly Editorial............................................3 Weekly Advertising.....................................14 Daily Editorial.............................................17 Awards listing by newspaper.......................23 Daily Advertising........................................34 Collegiate winners.......................................38

Best Weekly Division E: Ripon Commonwealth Press

The 2012 Better Newspaper Contest included 3,003 total entries from 126 newspapers!

Best Weekly Division F: Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls

Entries were judged by members of the Missouri Press Association.

Branen Scholarships awarded to high school newspapers William E. Branen, former publisher of the Burlington Standard Press and a past president of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, died in 1988 but his legacy lives on. One way is through an annual scholarship presented by his wife, Nan, through the family foundation.

Initially awarded to a Burlington High School student, the Branen scholarships took a new focus in 1999. Since that time the scholarship has honored each school earning first place for General Excellence in the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation High School Better Newspaper Contest.

The William E. Branen Scholarships honoring excellence in high school journalism will be presented to three Wisconsin student newspapers for 2011-12. School newspapers receiving a $1,000 Branen Scholarship include:

• Webster High School, The Bridge (Group A – Fewer than 500 students);

• Wauwatosa East High School, Cardinal News (Group B – Extra Curricular Activity – more than 500);

• Homestead High School, Mequon, The Highlander (Group B – In-Class Activity – more than 500).

Weekly Feature Photo, Division D winner: News Graphic, Cedarburg, by Mark Justesen.

Daily Spot News Photo, Division A winner: The Journal Times, Racine, by Gregory Shaver.

Daily General News Photo, Division B winner: The Reporter, Fond du Lac, by Doug Raflik.

Need duplicate plaques or award certificates?

Additional plaques and certificates are available for purchase from the WNA Foundation. Plaques are $80 each and certificates are available for $6 each. Tax, postage and handling are included in the price.

Deadline to order is Monday, March 26.

Order forms are available at the convention registration desk or online at www.WNAnews.com.

Our special thanks to Capital Newspapers (Madison), WNA Board of Directors member Bill Johnston and Wisconsin State Journal Editor John Smalley for assistance with the 2012 BNC results tab!

General Excellence Division D First Award - Vilas County News-Review, Eagle River: (Staff): This paper has it all. Tons of local coverage, columns and commentary, the best outdoors/sports section in the class.

A terrific paper.

Second Award - River Falls Journal: (Staff): Very solid paper. Lots of local news, nice use of color, good Page 1 designs and local editorials with attitude.

Third Award - The Star News, Medford: Love the breadth of coverage and enthusiasm of this paper. It could use better editing and photography, but it really gets its nose to the ground on the local scene. Feisty.

General Comments: Some very good, locally focused papers in this class. Very close competition. At least half the entries were just a tick from placing.

Division E First Award - Lake Geneva Regional News: (John Halverson, Rob Ireland, Mike Ramcyzk, Jade Bolack, Chris Schultz, Lisa Seiser).

Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: Tim Lyke, Ian Stepleton, Aaron Becker, Jonathan Bailey, Tami Conlon, Kim Fischer, Kathy Ninneman, Kelly Schmude, Karen Stoeberl, Mindy Gellings, Lisa Lingafelt, Bob Chikowski, Steve Wendt, Todd Sharp).

Third Award - The Waunakee Tribune: (Roberta Baumann, Ryan Dostalek, Roger Hamilton).

Division F First Award - Reedsburg Times Press: (Staff): Strong overall quality from writing to design. Each edition contained a variety of news and feature stories with good, clear writing. Photos and composition were especially strong, starting with the front page presentation and mix of stories.

Editorial: Weekly Division General Comments: An impressive set of entries for general excellence -- many Wisconsin communities are being very well served by their local newspapers. It was very difficult to narrow the entries down to the top three.

Special Projects Division D First Award - Vilas County News-Review, Eagle River: (“Special project - World Championship Snowmobile Derby” Gary Ridderbusch, Anthony Drew, Kurt Krueger): Great job. Good stories, terrific art, editorials backed the project. Clearly the winner.

Second Award - New Richmond News: (“Vitality Initiative” - Jeff Holmquist): Impressive breadth of coverage. This paper obviously is very involved in this project.

Third Award - The Chronotype, Rice Lake: (“Progress” - Sam Finazzo, Gene Prigge, Eileen Nimm, Ryan Urban, Peter Davidson): Thorough. Did a good job of presenting both sides of a fractious issue.

General Comments: Wild West Days by Vernon County Broadcaster, Viroqua also was a strong entry and just missed placing.

Division E First Award - The Edgerton Reporter: (“Book and Film Festival” - Diane Everson).

Second Award - The Dunn County News, Menomonie: (“Security in an insecure age; Dawn’s early light; Readers remember 9/11” - Barbara Lyon, La Crosse Tribune copy desk , Karl Palmer, John Enger, Darlene Ramos, Christine Stratton, Rod Stetzer, Bruce Brantner, Sara Stout, Jackie Buss, Lynn Dickmann, Mary Klovning, Courtney Morgan, UW-Stout News Bureau).

Division F First Award - Westby Times: (“Westby Syttende Mai” - Dorothy Robson).

Second Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: A very close second, the Chronicle contains a great variety of news, features and sports. Writing is strong, but photography and design are more inconsistent. Good opinion and sports pages.

Second Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“9/11 10year Anniversary” - Matthew Perenchio, Cassandra Colson, Steve Rundio).

Third Award - Poynette Press: (Scott De Laruelle, James Debilzen, Sam Rodriguez, Judy Meredith, Amber Tyler): A solid third place finisher with a good mix of news and sports content, but short on features.

Editorial Award

(“Parking problems” - Steve Prestegard): Good, punchy writing on topics of local interest.

Second Award - The Country Today, Eau Claire: (“DNR should consider selling fringe properties; Leaders missed opportunity to tout ag’s importance; Conversion fee funds should be used for intended purpose” - Jim Massey): The writer uses well-reasoned arguments to deliver his message in a clear style. Nicely done.

Third Award - Vilas County News-Review, Eagle River: (“Our View -- Specialized handgun training is a welcomed requirement; Our View -- National forest managers are facing many obstacles; Our View -- Olson Memorial Library board made good choice going new” - Kurt Krueger): Well-written and topical. Good focus on local issues.

Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Sheltered Village shouldn’t be closing; Holidays provide school opportunities; Quest, MPES: Separate but not equal.” - Tim Lyke).

3 Third Award - New Richmond News: (“News gets the heave-ho; Hiring process important as search process begins; Accident serves as a reminder to stay attentive” - Jeff Holmquist).

Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Our Views/Your Views” - Tim Lyke, Ian Stepleton). Great layout. Loved the “hearts and darts” segment. GREAT local content and community involvement. Liked the weekly poll. Wonderful, easy to read, informative and surely appreciated by subscribers.

Second Award - Lake Geneva Regional News: (John Halverson) nice layout, solid writing.

Third Award - The Edgerton Reporter: (“Editorial Pages” - Diane Everson).

Second Award - Grant County Herald Independent, Lancaster: (“So long 2011; Many thoughts on ObamaCare; Stop the infighting” - David Timmerman).

Third Award - The Dunn County News, Menomonie: (“Rules of the road apply to all; Coming together for the common good; Whose responsibility is it?” - Barbara Lyon)

Division F First Award - Voice of Wisconsin Rapids: (“Decision to sue school district, District failed in wrestling case, Whole community on verge of victimization” - Jeff Williams).

Second Award - Westby Times: (“What’s the Point?” - Dorothy Robson).

Third Award - Living Kettle Moraine Index, Dousman: (“Sharing: It works in policing, too” - Scott Peterson).

Editorial Page(s) Division D First Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“Kettle Moraine fumbled on graffiti” - Debi Eimer, Scott Peterson, Matt Colby, Lisa Leonard).

Reedsburg Times-Press, First Division D Second Award - River Falls Journal: (Phil Award, Division F, General ExcelFirst Award - The Platteville Journal: Pfuehler). lence.

4 Division F First Award - Clintonville Chronicle: (“Opinions” - Tricia Rose, Greg Rose). Staff writers understand the value of brevity while at the same time addressing relevant and important LOCAL issues. Well written editorials. Page also included statewide contributors and design was consistent.

Very good mix. Well done.

Second Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls.

Third Award - Reedsburg Times Press: (Jason Maddux).

Special Section Editorial Division D First Award - The Chronotype, Rice Lake: (“City 125th” - Sam Finazzo, Gene Prigge, Ryan Urban, Diane O’donnell): Very good community history with good photos.

Made me keep reading even though I’m an outsider.

Second Award - The Chronotype, Rice

Editorial: Weekly Division Lake: (“Progress” - Sam Finazzo, Gene Prigge, Eileen Nimm, Ryan Urban, Peter Davidson): Excellent explanation of the frac sand technique and the status of this work in the region.

Third Award - Door County Advocate, Sturgeon Bay: (“Door County Advocate, Sturgeon Bay 150th Anniversary” Warren Bluhm, Jon Gast, Kristy Gnadt): An extremely interesting chronology of the newspaper’s history, featuring early personalities involved in ownership and staff work.

Division E First Award - Grant County Herald Independent, Lancaster: (“Lancaster 175” - David Timmerman, John Ingebritsen, AJ Gates, Jessica Brownell, Jane Lewis, James Hibbard, Jon Angeli, Kevin Kelly): Well done and very thorough section. Love the cover - what a clever idea! I’m sure your readers will hold on to this section for years to come.

Second Award - Grant County Herald Independent, Lancaster: (“Faces of Freedom” - David Timmerman, Dan Wackershauser, Dave Krier, Stephanie Pitzen, Dawn Kiefer,

Jessica Brownell, Jane Lewis, Dena Harris, Charley Preusser, Correne Martin): Very nicely done tribute. Great selection of features round out this special selection.

The layout and consistency in type style are appreciated. Good job!

Third Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“75 Years of Medical Memories” - Staff): Nice little section. Love the personal memories/stories from people in the community - that made the difference in your salute to a local institution.

Division F First Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“Jackson County Fair Preview” - Staff): The cover of this special section made it truly special - I’m a sucker for big pictures of little kids caught in the moment!! Good layout and information make this a valuable resource for anyone attending your community event.

Second Award - Westby Times: (“Syttende Mai” - Dorothy Robson): Again, a valuable resource for anyone attending this community celebration of heritage. Good treatment of color photos interspersed with the information on various events of the festival. Good job!

Third Award - Voice of Wisconsin Rapids: (“A season to remember” - Jeff Williams, Kathy Williams): Great section to wrap up a championship season.

Good use of photos from the photographers’ files to tell the story with the synopsis of the season. A great keepsake!

Open Records, FOI Award

Grant County Herald Independent, Lancaster, First Award, Division E, Special Section Editorial

Division D First Award - The Lakeland Times, Minocqua: (“Fired Vilas County jail administrator wants job back” - Joe VanDeLaarschot): A fascinating story that you provided good continuing coverage of. This story in particular was full of detail. I’m still not sure

whether this is really about the nepotism or the reckless driving of county cars, but you kept me wanting to read more. Good watchdog work.

Second Award - New Richmond News: (“News gets the heave-ho” - Jeff Holmquist): This breezy, accessible editorial upheld the importance of openness even among nongovernmental bodies. The chamber wanted to talk about a public event but it didn’t want a true public discussion. Nicely done.

Third Award - The Platteville Journal: (“Behind closed doors” - Steve Prestegard): This county board must be something to see in action. This is a strong editorial that reminds readers of the importance of accountability by government office holders.

Terrific job.

General Comments: This was a strong, strong category. I’m pleased to see the use of open records laws and the strong editorial voice on open government in these community papers. Well done.

Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Boca may have spent $50k-plus to lobby Congress (2 stories under this headline)” Ian Stepleton): Public/private development projects are ripe subjects for watchdog journalism and I’m glad to see you watching this project. Follow the money still rules.

Second Award - Living Sussex Sun: (“Kristensen denies accusation” - Joe Trovato): A good effort at showing how the Walker recall effects were trickling down into local politics.

Division F First Award - Crawford County Independent & The Kickapoo Scout, Gays Mills: (“Resident requests to view voting machine cartridge” Erin Martin): A good explainer on the tricky world of electronic voting. As more people vote electronically, it is imperative that those handling the process be held accountable.

More and more public records are being held through proprietary programs and it’s incumbent on the news media to ensure that the public’s right to review these records be protected.

Second Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“Student Suicide Investigation Open Records Battle” Matthew Perenchio, Cassandra Colson): Both the second- and third-place entries deal with the ever-more-secret world of

Editorial: Weekly Division public schools. Using privacy of student records as an excuse, school districts are keeping important issues from the public.

This was a solid story with a strong editorial.

Well done.

in the classroom-and beyond; Wild West Show comes to town” - John Russell): Awesome columns. Easy to read.

Second Award - Living Oconomowoc Focus: (“Pebbles in my pocket” - Rebecca Seymour): Good topics. Well written.

Third Award - Voice of Wisconsin Rapids: (“Newspaper sues school district; School district withheld emails, letters; Decision to sue school district not an easy one” - Jeff Williams, Kathy Williams): Both the secondand third-place entries deal with the evermore-secret world of public schools. Using privacy of student records as an excuse, school districts are keeping important issues from the public. This was a good story. It was edged out simply because much of the story came from the newspaper’s own lawsuit.

Good job.

General Comments: This was a tough category. I was impressed by the work going on in Wisconsin to protect the public’s right to know.

Breaking News Coverage Division D First Award - Vernon County Broadcaster, Viroqua: (“Readstown police chief charged” - Matt Johnson).

Second Award - Oak Creek NOW: (“Tragedy Shakes SIKH Community’s very foundation” - Peter Bukowski).

Third Award - Door County Advocate, Sturgeon Bay: (“Heroes’ Landing” - Ramelle Bintz).

Division E First Award - The Tribune-Phonograph, Abbotsford: (“A tragedy downtown” - Kevin O’Brien, Ben Schultz).

Second Award - Living Oconomowoc Focus: (“Welch said he did ‘right thing’” - Donna Frake).

Third Award - The Dunn County News, Menomonie: (“10 athletes suspended from play” - Brett Hart).

Division F First Award - Westby Times: (“Chaseburg teen dies in crash - Teens find silver lining Classmate was lost” - Dorothy Robson).

Second Award - Campbellsport News: (“Campbellsport Area Mourns The Loss Of

Third Award - The Valders Journal: (“What the Parrot Saw” - Gregg Novachek): Good recaps of everyday life.

Division F First Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“Feeling Out Loud” - Diane Skoug).

The Tribune-Phonograph, Abbotsford, First Award, Division E, Breaking News Coverage.

Three Of Its Own” - Andrea Abler).

Third Award - De Pere Journal: (“A community in ‘shock’” - Todd McMahon).

Local Column Division D First Award - Wisconsin State Farmer, Waupaca: (John Oncken): Easy to read, great story content. Amazing how fast things have changed.

Second Award - Superior Telegram: (“The third time has to be a charm, doesn’t it?; Last chance, Santa; What’s with the beard?” - Jed Carlson): Written well. Every hunter has had the same experiences.

Third Award - The Portage County Gazette, Stevens Point: (“Light of Day: Pit of Doom returns, bigger and deadlier than ever; Even Santa Claus has sarcastic side nowadays; Early and small, second child does well thanks to many caring people” - Scott Steuck): Enjoyed, witty and funny.

Division E First Award - The Dunn County News, Menomonie: (“A very Russell Christmas to all; Benefactor promoted art appreciation

Second Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“Quantum Retirement” - Dan McDonald): There is something so appealing in Dan’s columns - is it because he is 84? Maybe.

It was a joy to read each piece from start to finish. I could visualize each situation so clearly - good job!

Third Award - Voice of Wisconsin Rapids: (“Hotly contested mayoral race; Personal impact of recession spreading; With a little luck we can get back to the good old days” Jeff Williams).

Local Outdoor Column Division D First Award - Superior Telegram: (“Stalking turkeys just for fun; Fishing like a caveman; and What’s the fishing report?” - Darrell Pendergrass): Just a great moment, out on the water and facing down embarrassment in front of the family. You captured it well.

Good work.

Second Award - Vilas County News-Review, Eagle River: (“Fishing with Dad: An experience to cherish; An ode to Katie: the best dog I ever knew; Mentored hunting is about family bonding” - Kurt Krueger): You really gave the reader a feel for that day and who your father is - a story many of us sportsmen can relate to.

Third Award - The Lakeland Times, Minocqua: (“My lucky shirt” - Craig Turk): The entry was a bit long, but a great snapshot

5 of that safety-blanket known as superstition.

Let’s just hope she never finds that shirt.

General Comments: Tough division with a lot of informative columns. Those that made it to the top did a good job of balancing valuable information within a personal story that pulled the reader through the piece.

Sports Page(s) Division D First Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“Finding Favor” - JR Radcliffe, Matt Colby, Chuck Delsman, Chris Schuck, Todd Ponath, Scott Ash): By far the best of the best. Great use of layout and photos.

Headlines are solid. Stories are set apart well and should help sell a lot of newspapers.

Like the use of fonts and cut out photos to lay out the big story. Box scores are sharp.

Again, the best of the best.

Second Award - County Post West, Waupaca: (Greg Seubert): Careful not to layout photos with players looking off the page. Overall layout solid. Easy for reader to read and follow the flow. Creativity with headlines for photo illustration looks solid. Box scores are easy to read. Overall layout is solid and clean. This paper can be proud of the way their sports pages look.

Third Award - Door County Advocate, Sturgeon Bay: (Korey Mallien, Jon Gast): Main story headlines are solid. Like the color border around standings with stories.

Overall layout is strong. Need to be careful of using squeezed cutlines.

General Comments: A very solid contest.

Third place came between 3 papers and was hard to decide. The top two were nobrainers and were the best.

Division E First Award - The Verona Press: (“Cats skate to state; Record-breaking speed; Cats make waves at Sun Prairie” - Anthony Iozzo): Great use of cutout player. Awesome use of main photos for stories. By far, the tops of this category. Solid headlines.

Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (Jonathan Bailey): Overall layout is solid.

Some instances of too much white space around headlines and decks but overall a nice presentation. Something to be proud of. Solid headlines.

Third Award - Pierce County Herald: (Sean Scallon, Gail Dalzell): Good use of photos

6 in layout. Deck structure needs some work.

Nice incorporation of logos. Layout is clear.

Overall, solid work on pages.

General Comments: Really hard to not give The Dunn County paper an award for their issue featuring “Drew Otto.” But contest was for 3 sports pages. The top 3 chosen were solid.

Division F First Award - Sauk Prairie Eagle, Sauk City: (Adam Crowson): By far the best of the bunch. Beautiful looking pages excellent layout and design. Stories are well written, photography is excellent. Good coverage of a variety of sports. Obvious a lot of time and effort went into layout process.

Second Award - De Pere Journal: (Staff): Pages are attractive and the photography is well done. Stories are clear and concise of a large variety of sports. Excellent coverage of state championship.

Third Award - Crawford County Independent & The Kickapoo Scout, Gays Mills: (“Trojans remain in first” - Charley Preusser): Biggest complaint is that there is a lot of white and wasted space. Good looking crisp clear pictures make up a lackluster layout. Good coverage of multiple schools and multiple events.

General Comments: You have some great newspapers up there and it was neat to read about sports we don’t have here. (Hockey and black bear hunting) and the snow in a football pictures, something we do not see down here during the high school season.

Sports News Story Division D First Award - News Graphic, Cedarburg: (“Pro race delivers late drama” - Gary Achterberg): Pointed, well-written, and interesting. Creates a sense of the race for the reader, and builds the tension of the scene with great aplomb. Very nice job.

Second Award - Muskego-New Berlin NOW: (“Warrior duo strikes gold once again” John Rech): Clean, well-written story. Got a sense for the athletes and did a good job placing pertinent details throughout the story. Good work.

Third Award - The Portage County Gazette, Stevens Point: (“Miech reminisces on career with UW-SP football” - John Kemmeter): Touching stuff about the much adored head coach. Strong quotes, clear vision. Well done.

Editorial: Weekly Division Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Shooting for Gold” - Jonathan Bailey): Great story, great lede, nice stuff overall.

It was an inspiring subject matter, and the writer did a solid job with the wealth of information he was given.

Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Driver interception puts Ripon youth in worldwide spotlight” - Ian Stepleton): Real neat story. Lots of quotes, strong storytelling ability. Obviously took some research and some follow-up, which strengthened the piece as a whole. Solid journalism.

Third Award - The Dunn County News, Menomonie: (“Franseen pushes Boyceville to sectional finals” - Zach Kruse): Nice game story, good strong lede to get the reader drawn in.

Division F First Award - De Pere Journal: (“Tollefson stands out as Wisconsin’s best” - Todd McMahon): Enjoyable story about a hard working athlete that deserves the ink. Very well written and would even be appreciated by those that aren’t sports fans.

Second Award - Living Kettle Moraine Index, Dousman: (“KM wins wild finale, clinches C8 crown” - JR Radcliffe): Paints a clear story of what read like an exciting game.

Easy to ready and you do not have to be a baseball expert to understand.

Third Award - The Brillion News: (“Brillion boys squad wins first-ever state hoops title” - Andrew Pantzlaff): The story is great. A lot of information was covered and tells a complete story but there is almost too much information for one story.

Local Sports Column Division D First Award - North Shore NOW: (“Balloons and Baseball: Brown Deer’s Shaun Wild honored in touching ceremony” - Steven L. Tietz): Well-written column on a young man sacrificing his life. Multiple perspectives from different people give reader good idea of his character.

Second Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“Sports Scene” - Chuck Delsman): Nice piece on a successful high school athlete turned member of the military.

Third Award - Door County Advocate,

Sturgeon Bay: (“A special win for Clippers; Couple has their hearts in officiating; Girls game has changed since 1976” - Jon Gast): Good column in a competitive group earns third.

General Comments: A number of wellwritten columns. Shame only three can place.

Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Wurtz puts the student in student athlete; Team’s growth is quite impressive; Legacy of RC graduate lives on with Tom Brady’s success” - Jonathan Bailey). Great layout and feature quality to the sports coverage.

Local athletes, coaches, parents and the community should be proud of this paper’s efforts to cover sports.

General Comments: Difficult to select a top three out of a number of solid entries. The top three just had that something extra to separate them from the rest.

Division E First Award - The Waunakee Tribune: (“Quack attack” - Ryan Dostalek): Creative design helps reader want to read story with it.

Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Driver interception puts Ripon youth in worldwide spotlight” - Ian Stepleton): Good piece about an NFL player giving back. Not seen very often anymore in today’s society.

Second Award - Living Oconomowoc Focus: (Chris Schuck). Solid, positive, effective coverage of local athletes. Good layout and professional writing.

Third Award - The Oregon Observer: (“The Other Side of the Whistle” - Anthony Iozzo): Nice story on a side of sports seldom reported on. Interesting to see the life of an official on and off the court.

General Comments: Good entries all around. Very tough to pick just three.

Third Award - County Post East, New London: (“Full Throttle” - Bert Lehman).

Division F First Award - Sauk Prairie Eagle, Sauk City: (Adam Crowson). Solid, consistent writing, thorough sports coverage, great photos and good layout.

Division F First Award - The Brillion News: (“300: Coach Kittel reaches milestone victory mark” - Andrew Pantzlaff): Timely feature of a landmark accomplishment that readership was surely interested in. Best use of quotes and facts. Also kudos on the layout on the front page putting the story over the picture.

Second Award - Voice of Wisconsin Rapids: (“Hectic football weekend, Raiders show judgement should stop at individuals, Rivalries fade during Rafters run” - Jeff Williams). Solid sports reporting.

Second Award - Westby Times: (“The passion for pulling runs deep” - Dorothy Robson): A very interesting story. Even if a reader was not part of the cult following of tractor pulling they would definitely appreciate and read. Well written.

Sports Feature Division D First Award - Dodge County Pionier, Mayville: (“Three times a leader” - Katie Leb): Well-written piece about basketballplaying sisters. Good use of photos, text wrap and graphic information to help the story.

Second Award - Germantown-Menomonee Falls NOW: (“Falls’ soccer player Woodson thanks woman who helped her out of China” - Steven L. Tietz): Nice heartwarming story on soccer play adopted from China. Very close second.

Third Award - Greenfield-West Allis NOW: (“Course corrections” - JR Radcliffe): Cancer survivors coming back to compete in tough competition are few and far between. Nice piece on one of those athletes.

Third Award - Crawford County Independent & The Kickapoo Scout, Gays Mills: (“Seneca basketball coach started playing on school’s first girls team” - Charley Preusser): A good piece that combines a story of then and now.

Quotes are short but good job of working what you had.

Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting Division D First Award - The Chronotype, Rice Lake: (“Frac sand offers economic boom, but there’s a price” - Sam Finazzo, Gene Prigge, Eileen Nimm, Ryan Urban, Peter Davidson): Excellent use of maps and art to illustrate the depth of reporting, pulling readers in, engaging them and informing them seamlessly.

Editorial: Weekly Division Second Award - County Post West, Waupaca: (“Schools see more children in poverty; sidebar: Community responds to local poverty; Homeless children in Waupaca County; sidebar: Food pantries see more families in need; Finding shelter in a crisis” Robert Cloud, Angie Landsverk).

Third Award - The Star News, Medford: (“Tombstone celebrates 50 years of ‘serving up fun’” - Brian Wilson, Mark Berglund).

General Comments: Very strong category where the best incorporated maps, graphs and art to provide depth, clarity and background to stories. Engaging and interesting pieces from all entrants.

Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Boca Grande misses its first; Second Boca deadline missed; Boca may have spent $50k-plus; Mayor:Boca projects will be done; Boca Grande defaults; Debt troubles mount for Boca; Worst case? City still short $2M;Boca: Building coming, but plans pared” - Ian Stepleton): Impressive and persistent reporting. Very thorough.

Second Award - The Dunn County News, Menomonie: (“Cold Case Revisited” - Brett Hart): Fascinating story. Well done with the numerous sources included.

City challenges owner to step up” - Shelley Nelson): Highlight of package is story on hold-out homeowner in development area, with good sidebar on the legal issues. Dollar figures are consistently used and multiple sources make for interesting reading.

Second Award - Oconto County Reporter: (“A passion for pie; Riders recognize area ATV trails (and sidebar); Oconto Hospital expansion project begins to take shape (and sidebar); Northport completes MirroCraft acquisition” - Kent Tempus): Nice variety of topics. Use of sidebars to bring in interesting and related issues gave this entry a big boost.

Third Award - The Tomah Journal and Monitor Herald: (“Trucking company seeks annex” - Steve Rundio): Dueling open houses make for a good story; annexation story would have benefited from talking with the business in addition to the city administrators.

Division E First Award - The Sun, Osceola: (Phillip Bock): Really enjoyed the floating story. Best individual story on the contest. But sad to hear no more beer on the river.

Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Boca: Building coming, but plans pared; Debt troubles mount for Boca; Alliance growth will add 250 jobs; Acquisition means new jobs at Ripon Printers” - Ian Stepleton): Very nice mix of stories.

Third Award - The Verona Press: (“Florists jailed for their ‘reckless’ pre-trial behavior; Wanting to walk on; It’s only natural; Florists accused of $351K fraud” - Seth Jovaag): Good mix of stories.

Division F First Award - Sauk Prairie Eagle, Sauk City: (Jeremiah Tucker): Tucker’s writing style likely creates many conversations from its clear presentation. Stories are informative yet approachable. “Discount Smokes” and “Vintage Prairie” best examples. Worth a subscription.

Second Award - Crawford County Independent & The Kickapoo Scout, Gays Mills: (“Harvest looks good for local farmers; Warm weather causes concerns for growers; Composting can change game for all involved; Drought remains a concern” - Charley Preusser): Preusser clearly committed to beat. Stories weave data and perspective well. Composting a surprisingly engaging read. An easy pick.

Third Award - Voice of Wisconsin Rapids: (“Experts forecast bug cranberry harvest, File or sale’s easy choice, One year in Element poised for growth” - Jeff Williams): Williams knows how to take a local business in a major industry and inform readers about both.

General Comments: Competition very close among most pubs. Would advise some to find more stats and figures -- and compare those to competitors or averages -- to satisfy business audience and make clearer distinction between business coverage and features. Would also like some sought perspective in quote-less stories; while it’s great the writers round up varied information, even one source’s plain analysis can drive it all home. Overall, sound work by all.

Feature Division D First Award - The Country Today, Eau Claire: (“A countrywide following: Distant subscribers tell their stories of connections to the Midwest” - Staff): The idea was just clever and it was well-executed. I could see it appealing to every type of reader.

Second Award - River Falls Journal: (“Visitor brings gift of a lifetime” - Debbie Griffin): This was written by a skillful writer who kept the emotion of the story strong but didn’t drown in it. Everything was right on.

Third Award - The Valders Journal: (“Doctor’s departure changes clinic staff ” - Todd Bergmann): I selected this story because of how thoughtfully it treated something that might be overlooked in another community a doctor leaves a clinic. But it’s more than that, and this story showed that.

Division F First Award - Voice of Wisconsin Rapids: (“DA attempted to turn wrestlers against each other” - Jeff Williams).

Third Award - Door County Advocate, Sturgeon Bay: (“Williamsonville series, It sounded like judgement day; Conditions for 1871 disaster in place; A night or horror; Survivors of 1871 fire could never forget” - Bob Johnson): A potentially dry subject turned into something fascinating. Easy to read and left you wanting more.

General Comments: There were some wonderful entries in this category and it was a hard decision.

Second Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“Danger in the Medicine Cabinet” - Cassandra Colson, Matthew Perenchio).

Third Award - Reedsburg Times Press: (“Reviews lowered to save money?; Big risk, little return” - Alicia Abercrombie).

Business Coverage Division D First Award - Superior Telegram: (“Superior in running for aircraft facility; Superior in running for Magnetation pellet plant; Exodus machines fill Caterpillar product gap;

7

The Brillion News, First Award, Division F, Sports Feature.

Division E First Award - The Waunakee Tribune: (“In academy, citizens become responders” Ryan Dostalek): The writer chose a highly relevant subject and then fleshed it out in a manner that draws the reader in. This writer was able to show the community interaction.

Second Award - Republican Journal, Darlington: (“Hans Geissbuhler: Close calls were the order for the day for Hans” Dena Harris): We are bombarded daily with stories about those who serve. Most of those

8 stories are glitzy and polished and full of flag waving. This story was gritty and gripping.

It showed a side of soldiering that is usually not seen or talked about.

Third Award - Tribune Record Gleaner, Loyal: (“The circus life” - Dean Lesar): What a wonderful, in depth look at a traditional occupation. In this day of electronic entertainment, it is nice to see recognized some of the old, traditional ways and values.

General Comments: There are no losers in this competition, just various degrees of excellence. All of those writers that decided to enter this category are good writers. Some are excellent. As a fellow feature writer, I now have new insight to my craft thanks to these writers.

Division F First Award - Washington Island Observer: (“Trash and treasure at the Island Exchange” - Rich Shereikis): In today’s world, this is an incredibly relevant subject. The Reporter, Fond du Lac handled the information thoroughly and thoughtfully, fully engaging the reader. Yet The Reporter, Fond du Lac also made sure that the reader understood how important this subject is to the health of the community. Very well done.

Second Award - Lodi Enterprise: (“Surviving 9/11” - Jennifer Fetterly): The Reporter, Fond du Lac of this piece showed the still unhealed scar of a tragedy. What was written draws in the reader.

Third Award - Poynette Press: (“Gift of life helps healing” - Scott De Laruelle): The Reporter, Fond du Lac draws the reader into a world that he is aware of, but probably has never touched. The reader feels just how important organ donation is, how it goes beyond the emotions of death to continuing life. Well done.

Lifestyle Page(s) Division D First Award - The Country Today, Eau Claire: (“Chippewa County man finds later life calling as ... The Logsmith; With health restored, Buffalo County farmer is back to dairying with ... A new ring to it; Black River Falls Spotted Draft horse breeders are ... Smitten with spots.” - Danielle Endvick): Very good entries, I like the consistent theme and great photos of each.

Second Award - The Platteville Journal: (Steve Prestegard): Liked the story, certainly

Editorial: Weekly Division is a new one, but I don’t love the photo layout. Felt like it needed a dominant photo of the tree.

Third Award - The Country Today, Eau Claire: (“That’s Beer!; Dishing it out; Profit stream” - Sara T. Bredesen): Good story, nice use of photos.

Environmental Reporting

meeting in La Crosse” - Erin Martin): Indepth research is evident in articles. Layout was a little distracting with two articles surrounding football photos.

Second Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“Thinking Outside the Box” - Cassandra Colson): Relevant and timely story. A picture or drawing of a prototype would have been helpful, as it’s hard to picture a house out of this. I hope you write a follow-up when the home is finished.

Division D First Award - The Chronotype, Rice Lake: (“Is it progress?” - Sam Finazzo, Gene Prigge, Eileen Nimm, Ryan Urban, Peter Davidson): Nothing short of outstanding. A tremendous example of the importance of newspapers; you cut through the gossip and clearly defined an issue that will impact the area for decades to come.

Second Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“Lakes water quality ‘holding their own’”): Informative piece packaged extremely well.

All-Around Newspaper Photography

Third Award - New Richmond News: (“City Beautiful gets an upgrade; Tiny beetles, weevils lead battle against invasive species; Forest Voice hopes to take wind out of turbine plan” - Jeff Holmquist): Great commitment to environmental coverage.

The entire entry was informative and timely.

General Comments: This was a competitive division, but the top three stood out, and the first-place entry was head-and-shoulders above. Well done.

Second Award - Vilas County News-Review, Eagle River: (Staff): Great job of shooting nature scenes and hunting essays by your photojournalist. Nice use of color on inside pages and great “home town” feel for what interest the community !

Division E First Award - The Verona Press: (““Rise and shine”” - Jim Ferolie): This article was superior in research. Excellent photos and charts added strong visual impressions.

Second Award - Middleton Times-Tribune: (“Invasive Species Threatened Local Tradition” - Matt Geiger): Informative yet very entertaining article was easy and enjoyable to read.

Division D First Award - News Graphic, Cedarburg: (Mark Justesen): Good use of color on all pages. Great job of shooting individual environmental portraits at public events.

It gives readers a wide variety of who was there. Also great use of angles so images don’t all look as though they were shot from one vantage point.

Third Award - Door County Advocate, Sturgeon Bay: (Tina Gohr, Warren Bluhm, Korey Mallien, Christopher Clough, Door County Editorial Staff): Good job of making a not so interesting picture into a interesting one. It can be challenging getting good imagery from assignments concerning animals. Also liked the way photographers tried to keep the back grounds just as interesting. The “NOW” magazine carried good strong images off the front that makes the reader want to venture inside. Good job!

Third Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“How did it really affect us?” - Ian Stepleton): Exceptional design and visuals helped bring the articles together.

Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (Tim Lyke, Ian Stepleton, Aaron Becker, Jonathan Bailey): Good use of color off the front page. Strong engaging imagery!!! On all pages photographers do a great job of holding the reader! Also good use of photos for business and sports pages. Great home town look of inclusion!

Division F First Award - Crawford County Independent & The Kickapoo Scout, Gays Mills: (“Potential frac sand mining problems are discussed at

Second Award - The Oregon Observer: (Staff): Good front page art. A tabloid format can be some what restrictive when it comes to photos but well done. Engaging

photos all through the publication!

Third Award - The Stoughton Courier Hub: (Staff): Good use of color and horizontals to verticals on picture pages. Nice tight imagery and action of public events. It makes readers wish they had been there.

Great job of making readers turn the page!

Division F First Award - Reedsburg Times Press: (staff): Good images leading off the front pages.

Good use of color images all through publication. I like the page design for images.

Strong images on sports pages. Good job All around!!!

Second Award - The Brillion News: (Andrew Pantzlaff, Ed Byrne, Staff): Great use of color on all pages. Strong images on your “Youth and Schools” pages. Strong action in all sports pages...good job. You made me want to look at every page!!!

Third Award - De Pere Journal: (Staff): Nice use of images off front page, but wish you had stronger images. Nice work on sports pages. A few pages looking a little gray without photos.

General News Photo Division D First Award - Vilas County News-Review, Eagle River: (“Fire Prevention Week” Anthony Drew): Great expressions on the kids’ faces. Nice clean composition.

Second Award - Vilas County NewsReview, Eagle River: (“Veterans honored at Memorial Park” - Gary Ridderbusch): Nice variety of photos and a nice moment with vet holding little girl’s hand.

Third Award - Vilas County News-Review, Eagle River: (“Derby” - Kurt Krueger): Great peak action with snowmobiles in air.

General Comments: This category had clear winners that stood apart from the pack with good content in the images that were nicely composed and shot during peak action.

Division E First Award - Living Oconomowoc Focus: (“FACE TIME” - Todd Ponath): Very nice graphic qualities to this photo. Nice camera angle as well.

Second Award - Living Oconomowoc Focus: (“Wold upholds innocence” - Scott Ash): Photographer captured the wild intensity

Editorial: Weekly Division of the charged man. No easy task as he was being wheeled out. Good job on hanging with the subject, some photographers would have stopped shooting.

Third Award - The Valders Journal: (“Afternoon Snooze with Midnight” - Brian Thomsen): Very nice found moment.

Division F First Award - Crawford County Independent & The Kickapoo Scout, Gays Mills: (“Gays Mills orchards enjoy a bountiful harvest again” - Charley Preusser): Cleanly composed photo with a nice expression on subject’s face made this photo the first place choice.

Second Award - The Brillion News: (“BCC Dance program continues to thrive” Andrew Pantzlaff): Cute photo of all the girls onstage. Good timing on the photographer’s part as with this many kids the scene is always changing.

Press: (“Local victims recovering after crash” - Aaron Becker).

Third Award - The Edgerton Reporter: (“Woman injured in pedestrian vs vehicle accident” - Mark Scarborough).

Division F First Award - The Brillion News: (“Wet Wheels” - Andrew Pantzlaff): The joy on the young rider’s face was sure to catch the interest of readers. Technical quality also good.

Second Award - Reedsburg Times Press: (“Fire strikes CO-OP” - Brady Ambrose): Very good shot of a late night fire. All the elements to tell the story are in the picture.

Third Award - Reedsburg Times Press: (“Feeling the sizzle” - Kim Lamoreaux): Nicely composed weather photo.

Third Award - Voice of Wisconsin Rapids: (“Onlookers, responders save boy who falls through Wazeecha dam” - Kathy Williams): Photo captured the concern of those assisting the boy.

General Comments: There were several good photos which contended for third place, making this a hard category to judge.

Spot News Photo

Sports Photo

Division D First Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“Apartment fire claims life of woman” – Scott Ash): Blowback of debris makes this moment in firefighting a winner.

Good job getting in close with longer lens.

Nice, tight crop draws reader into firefighters close proximity to burning structure.

Division D First Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“Lean on me” - Scott Ash).

Second Award - North Shore NOW: (“Republican roar” - Peter Zuzga): Nice job getting up close and personal with wide angle. Expression makes the photo.

Arm is a little distracting but the State Rep’s expression makes this work in a news situation.

Third Award - The Portage County Gazette, Stevens Point: (“Search for Duffey ends at Wisconsin River” - Matthew Brown): Good use of high viewpoint for this dramatic photo. Solid news photo out in the elements.

Makes me wonder if you stayed for the recovery?

Division E First Award - The Tribune-Phonograph, Abbotsford: (“Carried to safety” - Kevin O’Brien).

Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth

Second Award - North Shore NOW: (““Splash Landing”” - Peter Zuzga).

Third Award - Living Mukwonago Chief: (“Mukwonago boys take second in Classic 8” - Todd Ponath).

Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Dust settles on Tigers’ season” - Jonathan Bailey): This photo has it all. It’s dynamic, emotional and composed well. You can almost feel the pain and disappointment the softball team felt after losing the game.

Really great photo!

Second Award - The Record-Review, Edgar: (“Getting the extra yard” - Kristen Marie Winter): This photo tells a great story and captures a unique moment. It has a lot of action. My only critique would be that it lacks a specific focus.

Third Award - The Valders Journal: (“Flying High” - Brian Thomsen): This photo is composed very well. It has an interesting dynamic and focal point. It really catches one’s attention.

General Comments: All the pictures in this category were very well done. It was difficult to choose the top three. I believe my top three choices, however, stood out on many levels. They tell great stories, have emotional appeal and can really grab one’s attention. I like photos that hold my attention for more than a quick glance. Again, this was a really great cross section of sports photos.

Division F First Award - Reedsburg Times Press: (“Now, that’s using your head” - Brady Ambrose): I like this photo because it really captures a unique moment and it hurts my nose just to look at it. It is composed well and captures the viewer’s attention. It tells a story and has emotional appeal.

Second Award - Clintonville Chronicle: (“54th Annual Mid-Western Rodeo” Lauren Lawson): This photo has a lot of human interest. You can sense what the bronc rider must have felt under that massive horse. It puts in a good perspective how small the rider is compared to the horse. It is an interesting photo to view.

Third Award - The Fennimore Times: (“Such sweet sorrow” - Robert Callahan): I like this photo for its story qualities. The composition is decent, but the girl sitting on the gym floor crying really captures the moment.

General Comments: The photos in the category were great. My top three choices stood out for their storytelling and human interest appeal. They were the ones that really captured my attention. Congratulations to the winners and good luck to the everyone else.

Feature Photo Division D First Award - News Graphic, Cedarburg: (“Are you for real?” - Mark Justesen): Fun moment. Great expression on fan’s face.

Second Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“Extrication training” - Scott Ash): Good seeing to make an interesting image at and otherwise mundane training session. Good use of long lens.

Almost missed you but found you twice.

Third Award - Hudson Star-Observer: (“Can

9 I leave you some surprises” - Margaret Ontl): Good job getting down to the little people’s level. Nice little moment.

Division E First Award - Brookfield-Elm Grove NOW: (“Hunting for some practice” - Peter Zuzga): Great picture! It is a difficult shot, but it captures the moment very well. Interesting composition and visual appeal.

Second Award - Living Sussex Sun: (“Goetz: Free scoops at social next year” - Scott Ash): Very cute photograph. The colors are great and the look on the child’s face is priceless.

A lot of human interest!

Third Award - Lake Geneva Regional News: (“Stay cool during heat wave” - John Halverson): This is an interesting photo for its composition. It is also humorous and tells a story.

General Comments: All the pictures in this category were great. I had a hard time narrowing it down to just three. The top three choices stood out for their visual appeal, storytelling and human interest.

This was a great cross section of feature photographs.

Division F First Award - The Brillion News: (“Wet Wheels” - Andrew Pantzlaff): What a great picture! It captures the moment and is fun.

Good composition and visual appeal.

Second Award - Living Kettle Moraine Index, Dousman: (“Poll visit” - Todd Ponath): This is a neat picture for its composition and storytelling. It really captures a great moment. Voting pictures are typically mundane, but this one gives a unique perspective.

Third Award - Living Kettle Moraine Index, Dousman: (“Walking on water” - Scott Ash): This is an interesting picture. It has good composition and tells a good story.

General Comments: The photographs in this category are well done. The top three, I felt, told really good stories, had emotional and visual appeal and captured unique moments. Good job to everyone. This was good category of pictures.

Editorial: Weekly Division

10 Photo Essay Division D First Award - Oak Creek NOW: (“United in Grief ” - Peter Zuzga).

Second Award - Vilas County News-Review, Eagle River: (“Spring Show” - Kurt Krueger).

Third Award - Living Mukwonago Chief: (“Schools OUT!” - Carol Spaeth-Bauer).

General Comments: A large majority of the entries in this category needed a serious edit on the number of images played per page.

I think we all want to put as many images of our readership on a page but most times “less is more better.”

Division E First Award - Living Oconomowoc Focus: (“Mud bath...scene in Cooney” - Todd Ponath).

Second Award - The Waunakee Tribune: (“Woosh, go the water rockets” - Roger Hamilton).

Third Award - Living Oconomowoc Focus: (“Play ball!” - Chris Kuhagen).

Division F First Award - Jackson County Chronicle,

Black River Falls: (“Ear-resistible!” - Scott Carey).

Second Award - Living Kettle Moraine Index, Dousman: (“Leaps and loads of fun was had at Derby Days” - Carol Spaeth-Bauer).

Third Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“Donkey Drama” Cassandra Colson).

Second Award - Lodi Enterprise: (“No show snow; A whole lot of shaking going on; Beer for breakfast in city?” - Jennifer Fetterly, Rachelle Blair).

Third Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“Hair today, gone tomorrow; Fruit of the Bloom; Fire-starter business starts on fire” - Matthew Perenchio, Cassandra Colson).

Headlines

Front Page

Division D First Award - The Country Today, Eau Claire: (“Capturing the market; Profit stream; Permanent position: Pittsville woman still styling at 91” - Sara T. Bredesen): These were all fun and clever.

Division D First Award - Oak Creek NOW: (“Focused on Healing; Remembering the Fallen; The Creek keeps rising” - Matt Newman).

Second Award - News Graphic, Cedarburg: (“The plight of the bumblebee; OMG!; A strawberry jam” - Kay Dahlke): I especially loved “The plight of the bumblebee.”

Third Award - The Platteville Journal: (“Road Work Ahead(ache)” - Steve Prestegard).

Division E First Award - The Dunn County News, Menomonie: (“He fought the lawn, but the lawn won; Fire in the hall; Out of the ‘Firefly’ into the frying pan.” - Deb Anderson): I especially liked “Out of the ‘Firefly’ into the frying pan.”

Second Award - The Verona Press: (“It’s Only Natural; Apartment plan upsets neighborhood harmony; Scrapping the script” - Jim Ferolie, Seth Jovaag): I especially liked “Scrapping the script.”

Third Award - The Edgerton Reporter: (“Paranormal talk ooky and spooky; Santa doesn’t give pets and neither should you; Twelve more tails will wag soon in Busseyville” - Diane Everson): I especially liked “Santa doesn’t give pets and neither should you.”

Oak Creek NOW, First Award, Division D, Front Page.

Division F First Award - Sauk Prairie Eagle, Sauk City: (“Wild swan chase; Pizza’s no vegetable in Sauk schools; ‘Gator, Gator, Gator!’ the crowd chants” Michael Thompson).

Second Award - North Shore NOW: (“Act 10: Pass or Fail?; Living Strong; Do You Hear What I Hear?” - Christina Johnson).

Third Award - The Platteville Journal: (Steve Prestegard).

Division E First Award - The Verona Press: (Victoria Vlisides).

Second Award - Brookfield-Elm Grove NOW: (“Profile pic called form of bullying; Mark Hansen named new Elmbrook chief; Traffic control debate lingers” - Scott Rieser).

Third Award - The Stoughton Courier Hub: (Victoria Vlisides).

Division F First Award - Reedsburg Times Press: (Staff): Lots of nice color and entry points to draw readers into the paper.

Second Award - The Brillion News: (“Chester’s Gift, Wet Wheels, Electric Parade” - Darcy Zander-Feinauer, Andrew Pantzlaff).

Third Award - Clintonville Chronicle: (Tricia Rose).

Overall Page Design Division D First Award - The Chronotype, Rice Lake: (“Readers’ Christmas Memories” - Peter Davidson).

Second Award - Muskego-New Berlin NOW: (“City’s first high school hits new milestone; Glad grads; Blooming business” - Dan Polley).

Third Award - Vilas County News-Review, Eagle River: (Jean Drew, Gary Ridderbusch).

Division E First Award - The Oregon Observer: (Victoria Vlisides).

Second Award - Brookfield-Elm Grove NOW: (“Act 10: Pass or Fail?” - Scott Rieser).

Third Award - Living Sussex Sun: (“Harvest fall fun” - Lisa Leonard).

Division F First Award - Reedsburg Times Press: (Art Kabelowsky).

Second Award - The Brillion News: (Andrew Pantzlaff).

Third Award - Sauk Prairie Eagle, Sauk City: (Michael Thompson).

Page Design - Feature Division D First Award - The Country Today, Eau Claire: (“The wheels on the bus go round and round: National tour promotes the next generation of organics; Chain saw carver: If at first you don’t succeed, Try, try again; Deck the stalls: Restored barn brims with local crafts and holiday gifts.” - Danielle Endvick): Drop quotes are song. Great use of blending a main photo with mix in headline colors/appearance. This is by far the top of the competition. I could see all three pages submitted placed in frames on a wall somewhere to show off this strong layout technique to others. Just a solid overall presentation.

Second Award - The Country Today, Eau Claire: (“Seeing the forest for the trees; Moos and melodies; Smitten with spots” Jenn Stirmel): This paper really knows how to present feature stories in a way nobody else can. Great layout of pics, great use of headlines, etc.

Third Award - Oak Creek NOW: (“Ballet at 30,000 feet; 3 Cheers; The Creek keeps rising” - Matt Newman): A little too much white space but layout of photos is solid and so are the quality of photos. Headlines are strong in context and appearance.

Overall quality is strong and something the newspaper should take pride in.

General Comments: The Country Today is elite in how they present features.

Editorial: Weekly Division

Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (Ian Stepleton): Has a magazine layout feel and it works. Keeps reader wanting to go from story to story to learn more.

Division F First Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (Cassandra Colson): Headlines strong. Layout clear. Nice use of main photos. It’s a consistent layout but it works. Nicely done. The clear winners with a clean layout.

Second Award - Lodi Enterprise: (Rachelle Blair): Too much white space in one column headlines. Nice illustration/image look on main story. Overall solid look. Text/column layout for stories look too small.

Third Award - The Brillion News: (“WHS senior issues CD; County dive team continues training; Brillion seniors shine in Beauty and the Beast” - Darcy ZanderFeinauer): Unique use of sidebar. The header needs some work as the left justified look and an off centered header look strange.

Page Design - Sports Division D First Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“Plotting the course” - Matt Colby).

Second Award - The Chronotype, Rice Lake: (Dave Greschner).

Third Award - Superior Telegram: (“Sports: Tiger girls advance to sectional golf tournament” - Ken Olson).

Division E First Award - Grant County Herald Independent, Lancaster: (A.J. Gates).

Second Award - Living Sussex Sun: (“Chargers bruise Falls with second-half surge” - Matt Colby).

Third Award - Lake Geneva Regional News: (Mike Ramczyk).

Division F First Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (Cassandra Colson).

Second Award - Sauk Prairie Eagle, Sauk City: (Adam Crowson).

Third Award - The Brillion News: (Darcy Zander-Feinauer).

Reporting on Local Government

Division D First Award - The Chronotype, Rice Lake: (“New gun laws start Tuesday” - Gene Prigge): Clear, straightforward writing carried the day for this entry. The CCW story anticipated and answered reader questions.

The human touch was a great point of entry for Indian Mounds.

Second Award - County Post West, Waupaca: (“Protecting vulnerable adults; County must pay deputy $141,640 for discrimination; Nurses stressed by overtime” - Robert Cloud): These stories provided good context on an interesting array of topics. The elder abuse story gets too far -- to 7th paragraph -- before hinting at its news hook.

Third Award - Superior Telegram: (“PFC considers officer’s future with police department; City cop keeps job after theft; Cop faces court, remains on payroll; City pays officer after crime; La Lor denies perjury allegation; Charges against ex-Superior cop not substantiated” - Shelley Nelson): A strong effort that would have benefited from a little more pointed exploration of the dichotomy between a cop’s stealing money and keeping his job.

General Comments: These entries, like those in other size categories I judged, reinforce for me the bond between smalltown readers and their journalists. All these communities are fortunate, indeed, to have access to such detailed and even-handed reporting.

Division E First Award - The Verona Press: (“Apartment opponents lose battle; Documents show case for firing clerk; After further review...”

- Jim Ferolie): A winning job in each case, providing detailed analysis of the apartment controversy and Verona engineer stories, and offering an honest look at a delicate personnel story involving the clerk. (I was surprised to find it on P.5, not on P.1) Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Boca Grande defaults on developer’s agreement; Debt troubles mount for Boca; Council mitigates Boca concerns” - Ian Stepleton): Nice job of keeping abreast of a moving target as the default story evolved.

Some papers are too quick to write a story introducing a subject and just move on, when follow-ups can be just as important.

Third Award - The Oregon Observer: (“Committee endorses bigger payments; Officials at fire district’s big meeting get emotional; Cable staff: We don’t need to be rescued” - Bill Livick): Good work in fleshing out cable story beyond what happened in meeting. Likewise a strong effort to look at the nuts-and-bolts financing of emergency services.

General Comments: Wisconsin is well served by all these reporters and newspapers.

They provided fact-packed reporting on important local issues, although sometimes I wished for more context. The differences among the entries were largely incremental.

Not one lent itself to quick elimination.

Division F First Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“JCC Cassie Government Reporting” - Cassandra Colson).

Second Award - Lodi Enterprise: (“City alcohol ordinances gets mixed response; City needs to reduce phosphorus; Lodi Utilities misses payment” - Rachelle Blair).

Third Award - Reedsburg Times Press: (“Reviews lowered to save money?; RECALL RILEUP; Administrative issues persist” Alicia Abercrombie).

Reporting on Local Education Division D First Award - Superior Telegram: (“Partnership makes tax delinquency green for students; Head start for the whole family; Teachers, board talk weighty decisions; Projects with a purpose take seniors to diploma” - Maria Lockwood): Great stories on interesting topic -- not just your runof-the-mill education beat reporting. Great writing.

Second Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“Charting a new educational path” - Carol Spaeth-Bauer): Exciting educational opportunities at this high school. Good writing.

Third Award - County Post West, Waupaca: (“More time for open enrollment; Local twins choose different schools; Breaking down the numbers” - Angie Landsverk): Good clear writing on topics that can be confusing. The second story is a terrific tie to the first story on moving districts. The third story is really long, but covers a lot of ground

11 for several districts and the info graphic helps give the details at a glance. Good job!

Division E First Award - The Waunakee Tribune: (Ryan Dostalek): Great overall entry. A lot of thought was put into this and it shows.

Good reporting and good layout. What’s not to like.

Second Award - Middleton Times-Tribune: (“Union Triumphs; School Board Challenges Ruling; Court Rules With MEA” - Matt Geiger): It was really a tough choice between the top entries. Just overall excellent.

Third Award - The Edgerton Reporter: (“Chamber singers touch many lives; Girl’s world opened by gift; Edgerton High School reading Olympics starts;”): There was a personal touch to this entry that made it easy to read. Students and staff are well-represented.

General Comments: This was a tough one to judge because the top five entries were so good. I wouldn’t have any trouble changing the positions of the top four entries. These papers do an excellent job of covering their schools.

Division F First Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“JCC Cassie Education Reporting” - Cassandra Colson): Overall above the rest. Good reporting. Enjoyed it as an entry and was well-handled.

Second Award - Freedom Pursuit: (“Band room bursting at the seams; Doctor pushing for local charter school; Teachers give glimpse of classroom technology; Charter school idea dropped” - Angie Griepentrog): Easily could have been the winner. The total package.

Third Award - Lodi Enterprise: (“Tale of two schools; Lodi High School expands smart phone; cell phone use; Survey highlights youth risk behavior” - Jennifer Fetterly): Good old fashioned reporting.

General Comments: Your local schools are lucky to have such good coverage.

Most Improved Newspaper Division D First Award - The Platteville Journal: (“Platteville Journal Aug. 15-22-29, 2012” Staff): Changes very noticeable, especially the Flag, Rail and front page in general. Deleting

12 the down rules gave it an overall better look.

You might try that on some of your inside pages also, especially when you use a color background screen. Examples: The Week, Inside and Briefs. Criticism: Subheadings on Society pages. Overpowering. Very newsy and well designed newspaper.

Second Award - Dodge County Pionier, Mayville: (“June 21, June 28, July 5” - Staff): Very little visible changes. Lots of newspaper that really needs to improve. The best thing going for your paper is lots of news and information. That’s about it. According to your cover letter, news writing and consolidation of area coverage has improved.

That is your call. If your staff is satisfied with it, that’s what is necessary. But overall the paper needs lots of work . Full page color pages look like photos were put together by first graders (a little harsh, but not eye appealing at all). Where’s the editorial page?

Surely someone has something to say about something? Anything! Did find a letter to the editor on an inside page placed above a salad recipe. Some simple improvements in layout and design could make this good newspaper a great newspaper. In this day of technology there is absolutely no reason to produce something ugly. Have your staff self-evaluate and enter again next year.

You can do much better. And, could easily place first.

Third Award - Oconomowoc Enterprise: (“Oconomowoc Enterprise” - Bill Yorth): A good case for bigger isn’t better. To this judge, it appears a much cleaner product could be produced according to appearance of better than average advertising revenue.

Changes were hardly noticeable and the Flag on the October 20, 2011 edition borders on terrible. I would have thought the Flag could have gone above the news promotions. I’m a cranky old judge, but I believe self-evaluation will concur that this was not improvement.

Lots of good news content, but layout and design overall is lacking. With that, you could be a winner next year. News content makes this a very good newspaper.

Division E First Award - Tribune Record Gleaner, Loyal: Transition from broadsheet to tabloid is not an easy change, but the TBG did it nicely.

The reduction in page size had to cause concern over news content. It did however improve the overall appeal of the paper.

Your new-look newspaper is clean and well designed. Congratulations on being chosen first place.

Second Award - Lake Geneva Regional News:

Editorial: Weekly Division (John Halverson): The Flag was the most notable change. Your supplements had little to no changes, but are nicely done. Lots of area coverage and improvements were not obvious. This isn’t criticism of the content which is excellent.. Your product covers such a large area it will be hard to improve it especially layout and design. A very good newspaper. Enter again next year.

Investigative Reporting

Division F First Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (Staff): Changes were enough to give the nod for a first place finish. Very consistent layout and headlines.

Improvement in these areas were subtle but noticeable. Some inside pages still a little gray. Maybe some screened boxed copy would help break it up, but usually, if it isn’t broke don’t fix it. Very nice paper.

Second Award - Vernon County Broadcaster, Viroqua: (“Good faith mistakes or something else?” - Matt Johnson): Good bulldogging a story to get the truth. Good to see use of open records requests, and citizen involvement.

Second Award - The Courier, Waterloo: (Tyler Lamb, Alyssa Skiba, Addie Krosschell).

Third Award - Washington Island Observer: (Staff): The crisp, updated flag on the front page makes a better first impression. There seems to be a greater variety of topics in shorter stories and briefs, as well as more straight news reporting mixed in addition to the first-person commentary.

Special Pages Division D First Award - The Country Today, Eau Claire: (“Fur farming; Might as well have 100; Hums and faith” - Sara T. Bredesen).

Second Award - Vernon County Broadcaster, Viroqua: (“People Pages” - Angela Cina).

Third Award - The Star News, Medford: (“Your Money” - Brian Wilson, Mark Berglund, Donald Watson).

Division F First Award - Westby Times: (“In a Glance Memorial Day; WWAM Antique Tractor & Engine Show; Chaseburg ACS Walk/Run” Dorothy Robson).

Second Award - Lodi Enterprise: (“Remember When” - Terri Jozwiak).

Third Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“Home & Garden and Go Green” - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls).

Division D First Award - Wisconsin State Farmer, Waupaca: (“Farm Bill” - Jan Shepel): Well written series detailing aspects of farm bill.

Good information on the snags, and the need for such a measure.

Third Award - The Star, Sun Prairie: (“Repeal of MOE dealing a crushing blow to Wisconsin libraries” - Tyler Lamb): Story does well to present the case for the libraries and their need for the state funds.

Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Boca may have spent $50k-plus to lobby Congress (2 stories under this headline)/ Debt troubles mount for Boca” - Ian Stepleton): Way to keep pressuring for resolution and answers to the issue.

Second Award - The Dunn County News, Menomonie: (“10 athletes suspended from play” - Brett Hart): Good job developing a thorough story when there were plenty of obstacles to overcome.

Third Award - The Valders Journal: (“‘Don’t do it’: Boy warns others after drug close call” - Todd Bergmann): Nice use of multiple resources to bring this necessary warning to your community and all communities. I don’t usually like anonymous sources, but you handled this in a good way that protects an identity, but gets the word out, and going through the police, adds to your credibility.

Division F First Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“Bully-provoked Student Suicide” - Cassandra Colson, Matthew Perenchio): Remarkable diligence of the newspaper to keep the story in the forefront of the public. Remarkable too is the apparent innocence of the authorities.

Second Award - The Brillion News: (“Brown County issue: no justice so far” - Ed Byrne): Nice work using the open meetings requests to try to get answers for what should have been a public event - from day one.

Third Award - Voice of Wisconsin Rapids: (“Witnesses recant in wrestling case” - Jeff

Williams): I’m surprised the names were not hidden by juvenile authorities. Story has intrigue in determining the truth. Nice use of police information.

Entertainment Pages Division D First Award - Door County Advocate, Sturgeon Bay: (“Door County Now; Your key to the Door Weekly” - Christopher Clough, Advocate Editorial Staff): Heads above the other entries -- a clear winner.

Second Award - Hudson Star-Observer: (“Now Playing” - Carole Rieg): Easy choice for runner up in this category. Good job!

Third Award - The Star News, Medford: (“Ask Ed” - Brian Wilson): Good potential evident, but too many instances where details and care are being dropped.

General Comments: Not very many entries overall in this category, and probably newspaper size ($$$) created lopsided advantages and disadvantages between those that did enter.

Graphics Division D First Award - Wisconsin State Farmer, Waupaca: (Jamie Baumann): Great use of space and tying the graphics into the content.

Text run-around on the elbow really pulled the reader into that segment.

Second Award - Wisconsin State Farmer, Waupaca: (Penny Schmidt): Creative background, did well to make lots of content pleasing to the eye. Nice package.

Third Award - The Star News, Medford: (“Take 5 with . . .” - Brian Wilson): Tight space to work with, package seemed crowded and direction of cutlines were hard to read. Great idea, just needed better layout.

Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“The day Ripon made history; That happens when a tornado strikes?; How did it really affect us?” - Ian Stepleton): Very well done and appears organized. The bulletin board was great!

Second Award - The Dunn County News, Menomonie: (“STRIKING ‘EM OUT; Drew Otto; Neico Stokke” - Brett Hart): The first two are wonderful, the second was

Editorial: Weekly Division my favorite. Great use of photo and color. I didn’t like the one with the moon. Overall nice job.

Third Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Road to Redemption; Team’s growth is quite impressive; Seeing Double” - Jonathan Bailey): The Road to Redemption was my favorite, attractive way to show schedule and contain the content. Keep up the good work.

Division F First Award - The Brillion News: (“300, State Champs, High School football season begins” - Darcy Zander-Feinauer): The 300 graphic won this grouping. It’s very professional and clean...great job.

Second Award - Clintonville Chronicle: (“Poverty; Spotlight on Your Neighbors; From Truckers to Sox” - Tricia Rose): Nice selection of small graphics. Good creative for the content.

Third Award - Westby Times: (“Nisse / Cartoon” - Evelyn Larson): What a wonderful asset to have an artist in-house.

Great cartoons for your area.

General Web Excellence Division D First Award - Wauwatosa NOW: (“WauwatosaNOW.com” - Matt Newman, NOW Staff): Nicely designed with a good sense of hierarchy. I don’t feel overwhelmed by the information on the page. Top photo slider gets a lot of information into a limited amount of screen real estate.

Second Award - New Richmond News: (Jeff Holmquist, Jackie Grumish, Gretta Stark, Dave Newman, Judy Monette, Lisa Woletz, Steve Dzubay, Tom Lindfors): Good mixture of local news and other information that’s relevant to your audience. Site is clean and easy to read.

Third Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“LivingLakeCountry.com” Cynthia Luksich, Entire Staff).

Group E First Award - Lake Geneva Regional News: (Rob Ireland): Good variety of content even with the limited resources available in a small newsroom. The personality of the paper and the town came through.

Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“RiponPress.com” - Tim Lyke, Ian Stepleton, Aaron Becker, Jonathan

Bailey, Tami Conlon, Kim Fischer, Kathy Ninneman, Kelly Schmude, Karen Stoeberl, Mindy Gellings, Lisa Lingafelt, Bob Chikowski, Steve Wendt, Todd Sharp): Excellent focus on the local community.

Division F First Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls Website” - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls): Eye-catching website with a strong focus on local news.

Excellent use of photography and strong writing.

Second Award - The Brillion News: (“WWW. MYBRILLIONNEWS.COM” - Andrew Pantzlaff, Darcy Zander-Feinhauer, Kris Bastian): Site does a great job of capturing what’s important to its readership.

Third Award - Voice of Wisconsin Rapids: (“www.voiceofwr.com” - Jeff Williams).

Web Special Project Group D First Award - Wauwatosa NOW: (“AllSuburban Football Team” - Matt Newman): Football and high school sports in general are ripe for expanded online coverage.

Loved the idea and execution of the online timeline. Great feature! Player profiles and photo galleries were a nice touch as well.

Second Award - Wauwatosa NOW: (“Act 10” - Matt Newman, Dan Polley): Storify feature a great addition to the online coverage. Great to see all stories on a given subject in a single page with a nice clean simple layout.

Third Award - Germantown-Menomonee Falls NOW: (“Battle of the Burbs” - Matt Newman): Clever idea for the contest.

Wished there had been a longer/more comprehensive info page on each community. Ability to login with Facebook a handy feature.

Division E First Award - Brookfield-Elm Grove NOW: (“All-Suburban Girls Basketball Team” Matt Newman, Scott Rieser): Great use of mapping to show area scoring leaders.

The Prezi graphic was nice but a regular downloadable pdf version would have been nice as well. Photo galleries were quick to load and responsive. Overall excellent presentation.

Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“RiponPress.com” - Ian Stepleton):

Very comprehensive. The one thing missing was a page to tie it all together and link to all the various stories, photo galleries, and video elements.

Division F First Award - The Brillion News: (“Special Coverage: Brillion’s State Championship” - Andrew Pantzlaff): Great coverage of the team. Videos are always a nice extra touch.

Would have liked to see a single page linking all stories and videos to make easy browsing and story discovery. Photo galleries seem to be offline/missing. Otherwise a great presentation.

Continuing Web Coverage Division D First Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“Molly Seidel through the years” JR Radcliffe, Matt Colby): The photo gallery is very nice. Good images. It’d be great to see these images used well in print, too. The embedded video of the 2011 FLCC Girls National was smart to identify as important related content. The Mollywood page is fun and gives you a nice way to display the times. This amount of content is exciting to see on a person’s achievements. You get to some of the emotion and real human spirit through the event coverage. The conflict with her body on the last run of her last meet is certainly one of the important moments in the coverage. It is good to let us worry about her health for those few sentences.

Second Award - South Shore NOW: (“Chill on the Hill” - Dan Polley): Fun! This captures the flavor of a chilled event in very candid and relaxed form. Using good and inexpensive tools to build community around an event. This whole package seems so appropriate in tone and presentation.

Third Award - North Shore NOW: (“Preserving Our Past” - Matt Newman): This is very comprehensive on the subject.

Each vignette has such nice detail about the architecture and the history. I loved learning about Warren Buffett’s son owning one of the homes. This collection of photos and stories becomes an important element of the historical record of your town. I want to see a thumbnail with each property. Rather than using the standard Google map this story demands a more designed presentation for the map. This is a fun and interesting subject to focus some time on and it pays off.

13 Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“RiponPress.com (Ripon Commonwealth Press)” - Ian Stepleton): You spent quite a bit of time and effort on the localized coverage about your downtown. Your poll question illustrates how important this story has been. The saga you outline highlights just how difficult and intricate real estate and development stories can be. Seeing the downloadable documents, especially the press release that in hindsight allows readers to see how the renewal project was proceeding, could only reinforce feelings against the company. Good job.

Second Award - Grant County Herald Independent, Lancaster: (“Saluting our veterans - Veterans Project” - David Timmerman): Nice collection of 15 vignettes. Great history lesson and good to get these stories preserved now. Your timing is good. The extra work getting a current photo and using several historical photos makes a big difference. It would be empty without the visuals.

Division F First Award - The Brillion News: (“Brillion’s run to a state basketball championship” Andrew Pantzlaff): It was all game when it came to the videos you produced the day of the state final and the parade. That is quite a bit of content and devoted resources smartly to what appears to the be the talk of the town. Great collection of video. And the amount of photography is impressive.

There are times when 300 images are just what the audience wants, and this event is it. Normally one would hope to edit the work down. Just like the prolific number of videos, you are filling the demand from your audience. Another great reporting tool was your use of the live score updates. I enjoyed the story about Coach Kittel having won state in both football and boys’ basketball.

That’s an impressive feat to recognize. You boldly direct folks to your print edition several times for other content. That brand reinforcement is important.

14 Bill Payne Award Division D First Award - The Star News, Medford: (“Down on the Farm with Medford Motors” - Kelly Schmidt, Pat Durham): This was a very beautiful ad. Great use of color. It must have sold a lot of cars.

Second Award - Vilas County News-Review, Eagle River: (“Northernaire Villas” - Betsy Bleicher, Kurt Krueger): Very attractively designed for real estate ad. Did a good job of using pictures of the property.

Third Award - Hudson Star-Observer: (“Hudson County Market” - Mary Beth Kremer, Creative Staff): Great way to reach the younger generation and probably was a hit with some of the older Facebookers as well.

Division E First Award - The Tribune-Phonograph, Abbotsford: (“Double, Double, Toil & Trouble” - Karen Gebelein): Very clever use of staff in house ad. Like the Halloween theme.

Second Award - Wisconsin Dells Events: (“Focus on Efficiency” - Dusty Zajda): Lots of information in this car ad. Great display.

Third Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Town Square” - Tami Conlon): Nice and clean look in this black and white ad.

Harrison MacDonald Division E First Award - Burnett County Sentinel, Grantsburg: (“Burnett County Sentinel’s Christmas Celebration Card” - Ashleigh Olson, Stacy Coy): Great idea !!

Well thought out and one that can be repeated year after year.

Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Father/Son look Alike” - Tami Conlon, Bob Chikowski, Steve Wendt): nice twist on the normal pet look alike or mother/ daughter look alike !!

Third Award - The Record-Review, Edgar: (“Mirror Mirror On the Wall...Who has the best deal of them all?” - Karen Gebelein).

Best Adv Idea (Series)

Best Adv Idea (Series) Division D First Award - The Star News, Medford: (“Congratulations” - Pat Durham): Very

Advertising: Weekly Division consistent layout and design. Clean ad. Each “winner” and why they won stood out. Well done. Original layout.

Second Award - Door County Advocate, Sturgeon Bay: (“Best Ad idea Series - T Simon Jewelers - Chamilia” - Melinda Johnson): consistent tag on the bottom makes the “template” easy to identify the advertiser Third Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“Wine Maniacs” - Michele Flanders): Small space with a consistent look !!

Division E First Award - The Tribune-Phonograph, Abbotsford: (“No Grownups Allowed” - Jami Kloth, Delores Kilty, Chelsea Bunkleman): Nice twist on the usual Kids page which is not localized. I loved that the puzzles had the subject of the sponsors in them. Well laid out. Is it on line as well?

Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Save A Lot” - Bob Chikowski, Kim Fischer, Tami Conlon): Sometimes multiple grocery items in an ad get small and jammed up. This is fresh, clean and easily identifiable as a Save A Lot ad. Nice Layout !!

Third Award - The Brillion News: (“Meet my ...” - Darcy Zander-Feinhauer): Very clever copy treatment on a very sensitive subject.

Well thought out.

Best Advertising Special Section Division D First Award - New Richmond News: (“Local Heroes 2012” - Mary Beth Kremer, Judy Monette, Creative Staff): Good cover. This is a fresh idea that any newspaper could use. I would like to see a banner ad at the bottom of each photo page.

Second Award - Waushara Argus, Wautoma: (“Picture Perfect Wedding” - Marge Williams, Mary Kunasch, Ron Felten, Nadine Miller): A wedding section though is nothing new. But this section had the best individual ads that I saw. That being said I don’t like how the ads are placed. On page 13 the two ads at the bottom are too close together and on page 12 it looks like you float the ads. It looks like those are two twocolumn ads placed on a five-column page.

Another example would be the Oakwood ad on page 7. This is easy to fix, move the ad to

The Star News, Medford, First Award, Division D, Bill Payne Award. the right, place the artwork for the story at the top of the page, then make it bigger so the type fills the editorial hole.

- Pat Durham, Kelly Schmidt): Good color throughout, font colors complement the images they are on. Easy to read.

Third Award - The Star, sun Prairie: (“Protecting Our Children” - Sue Spahn): This is a wonderful idea, but it lacks advertising. If this section would have had 30% advertising it could have won on the basis of being original.

General Comments: Only a couple of these entries were original. Most of them are what we do year in and year out. There is nothing wrong with that. But a big part of the scoring is on its originality.

Second Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“All About Learning” - Michele Flanders): Even though it is a small space, the color usage fits well for greater impact. Restraint in using color, and allowing whitespace also helps.

Third Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“Gary’s Auto Repair” - Michele Flanders): Colors are vibrant and easy to read.

Division E First Award - Grant County Herald Independent, Lancaster: (“Faces of Freedom” - Staff).

Second Award - Pierce County Herald, Ellsworth: (“Portraits In Pierce County” - Victoria Howe, Tracy Webb, Creative Designs).

Third Award - The Edgerton Reporter: (“Hospital Special Section” - Staff).

Best Use of Color Division D First Award - The Star News, Medford: (“Down on the Farm with Medford Motors”

Division E First Award - Pierce County Herald, Ellsworth: (“Ellsworth Creamery” - Tracy Webb): Like the overall cohesiveness of the color use in the ad. Nothing overpowers any other part, it all just works together.

Second Award - Grant County Herald Independent, Lancaster: (“The Gift That Works For Everyone” - Jessica Brownell, Kevin Kelly): Lots of color use, nothing obnoxious though. Good use of color to keep everything distinct.

Third Award - Tri-County Press, Cuba City: (“Cuba City Greenhouse” - Jessica Brownell, Brian Muldoon): The red really pops. There were a lot of ads in this category, but this one ad really stood out among the rest.

Best Multiple Advertiser Spread Division D First Award - Waushara Argus, Wautoma: (“Spooktacular Savings” - Marge Williams, Mary Kunasch, Ron Felten, Nadine Miller): Good heading. I like the “coupon” ads in place of what typically can be sig ads; giving advertisers a return on their advertising investment.

Second Award - Waushara Argus, Wautoma: (“This Year Step Up To Good Health” Marge Williams, Mary Kunasch, Ron Felten, Nadine Miller): Very nice layout with good looking ads surrounding just enough editorial.

Third Award - Waushara Argus, Wautoma: (“Friday Fish Fry” - Marge Williams, Ron Felten, Mary Kunasch, Nadine Miller): Great way to have the fish fry ads together in one spot for the ease of consumers.

Division E First Award - Grant County Herald Independent, Lancaster: (“First Baby of 2012” - Jessica Brownell): Good looking ad and a great way to get ad dollars for something that many times is only published as a photo w/cutline.

Advertising: Weekly Division Third Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“Andrew’s” - Paddy Kieckhefer, Kelly Ambrose): A basic ad made very nice with simple artwork and good use of color.

Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“No Lip” - Tami Conlon): That little face immediately draws your attention to the ad.

Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Farrells Red Tag Sale” - Tami Conlon, Steve Wendt).

Third Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“Al Muth HarleyDavidson” - Kim Adair).

Best Use of Local Photography Division D First Award - Vilas County News-Review, Eagle River: (“Best Photos in Nation” - Betsy Bleicher, Kurt Krueger, Gary Ridderbusch): The showing of the variety of events and topics thy report on.

Second Award - Hudson Star-Observer:

Second Award - The Tribune-Phonograph, Abbotsford: (“Alumni Basketball Weekend Tourneys” - Chelsea Bunkleman, Karen Gebelein, Lori Graff): Good eye-catching heading and I like the idea of making the coupons similar in offerings.

Third Award - The Star News, Medford: (“Oh Baby” - Sarah Biermann): Well thought out and full of life.

Division E First Award - Grant County Herald Independent, Lancaster: (“City of Lancaster...

Where You Belong - Celebrating 175 Years” - Jessica Brownell, Kevin Kelly, David Timmerman): Good use of color in the numbers.

Second Award - The Tribune-Phonograph, Abbotsford: (“Congratulations Colby 2012 Div. 2 State Track Participants” - Karen Gebelein): The blending of the three shots with the layout is well done.

Third Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Benched” - Tami Conlon): Cute!

Best Advertising Sales Tool Division D First Award - The Star, Sun Prairie: (“Sun Prairie Blues Fest” - Addie Krosschell): That’s a fun rate card!

Division E First Award - The Tribune-Phonograph, Abbotsford: (“Double, Double, Toil & Trouble” - Karen Gebelein): Great play on words to promote an even better offer.

Third Award - Sauk Prairie Eagle, Sauk City: (“Witwen 4th of July” - Melissa Klang): The overall ad really caught my attention with the individual ads slanted to draw the eyes to them.

Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Give Mom - Subscription Insert” - Tami Conlon): Good time to give a subscription offer - give mom something she’ll really use.

Best Use of Art Service

Third Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Green Laker Flyer” - Tami Conlon, Kim Fischer): The color scheme and layout on this is fantastic.

Division D First Award - The Star, Sun Prairie: (“Clausius Blues Fest” - Dana Derber): Creative use of a simple photo and background to make a statement.

Second Award - The Star News, Medford: (“Down on the Farm with Medford Motors” - Pat Durham, Kelly Schmidt): This is a very creative ad; however, it’s a little busy and I started looking for Waldo instead of remembering I was car shopping.

(“Hudson Wisconsin 2012 Wall Calendar” Mary Beth Kremer, Rebecca LaMar, Creative Staff): The use of past published photo’s for a calendar works well for the readers.

Best Newspaper Promotion Waushara Argus, Wautoma, First Award, Division D, Best Multiple Advertiser Spread.

Division D First Award - Hudson Star-Observer: (“The Winners Are...” - Steve Dzubay, Rebecca LaMar): I like that you included what the winning entries looked like. We never do

15 that on our awards, I think it gives relevance to your achievement.

Second Award - Door County Advocate, Sturgeon Bay: (“A part of the community” Tina Gohr, Jaime Witt, Matt Erickson, Ruth Johnson): I like the human face you put on your paper. The community frequently gets to know the reporters at a paper, but often graphics and other “behind the scenes” persons don’t get the recognition.

Third Award - The Star News, Medford: (“Wisconsin Newspaper Association” Mandi Ploeckleman): Your use of white space made this an easy to read and eye catching entry.

Division E First Award - Clintonville Chronicle: (“Bingo” - Tricia Rose): This is a really creative way to involve the community and get them reading the newspaper! I love it!

Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“No Lip” - Tami Conlon): Strong use of graphic. Really makes the ad jump off the page.

Third Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Do U Like” - Tami Conlon): I like the nontraditional aspect of this ad. Very creative.

Best Niche PublicationIn Paper Division D First Award - Hudson Star-Observer: (“Healthy Lifestyle” - Mary Beth Kremer, Rebecca LaMar, Steve Dzubay): Extremely well done. Great layout that is really attention-getting. Exceptional ad content as well.

Second Award - New Richmond News: (“2012 St. Croix County Fair” - Judy Monette, Mary Beth Kremer, Creative Staff): Very well done from cover to cover. A great local piece with a lot of local content. Simply put, this is well done.

Third Award - Hudson Star-Observer: (“Discover Hudson” - Mary Beth Kremer, Rebecca LaMar, Creative Staff): Very nice piece. Like the small format, which makes it a definite keepsake.

Division E First Award - The Oregon Observer: (“Your Family Magazine” - Jim Ferolie, Angie Roberts): Exceptional layout. Some of the

16 pages are absolutely gorgeous. I would suggest a better cover design next year, but this is absolutely great!

Second Award - Wisconsin Dells Events: (“102 Things To Do 2012” - Creative Team): Extremely well done. Cover is great, content is laid out very well. Very close to a first place winner. Good stuff.

Third Award - The Platteville Journal: (“Exploring the Tri States” - Ann Rupp, Carol Tyson): This is very well done.

Impressive section with a lot of content, and a lot of ads. (more color would have bumped this up to at least second place, maybe first)

Advertising: Weekly Division Best Niche PublicationOut of Paper

Division E First Award - Juneau County Star-Times, Mauston: (“2012 Juneau County” - Creative Team).

Division D First Award - The Star News, Medford: (“11Sep” - Composing Staff , Sales Staff).

Second Award - Milton Courier: (“Koshkonong Camper’s Courier” - Staff).

Second Award - Hudson Star-Observer: (“Willow River State Park Visitor” - Mary Beth Kremer, Meg O’Keefe Andrea, Creative Staff , Melissa Peloquin).

Third Award - Hudson Star-Observer: (“St. Croix Business Review 2012” - Steve Dzubay, Patty Steele, Rebecca LaMar).

Third Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Waupun Truck-N-Show” - Steve Wendt, Tami Conlon, Bob Chikowski, Kim Fischer).

Best Circulation Promotion Division D First Award - The Star News, Medford: (“Subscribe Black Friday” - Pat Durham).

Division E First Award - Burnett County Sentinel, Grantsburg: (“Reward Yourself ” - Ashleigh Olson, Randi Smith, Stacy Coy, Terry Nordrum).

Second Award - The Sun, Sun Prairie: (“Perks Club” - Randi Smith, Carrie Larson, Teresa Holmdahl, Eric Buelow, Phillip Bock).

Best Online Advertising-Single AdStatic Division D First Award - County Post West, Waupaca: (“Stormin’ Norman” - Staff).

Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Mascoutin” - Tami Conlon, Bob Chikowski).

Best Online Advertising Single Ad- Animated Division D First Award - Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland: (“Hartland Chamber’s Annual Street Dance” - Donna Dorau).

Division E First Award - DeForest Times-Tribune: (“Take a Bite Out of Cancer - Relay For Life of DeForest Fundraiser” - Amber Tyler).

Third Award - Campbellsport News: (“Campbellsport Incredible Deals” Rebecca Van Beek, Andrea Abler, Andrea Steger, Jess Petri).

Innovative Online Advertising Division D First Award - Lake Geneva Regional News: (“ReelLifeTV.net” - Phil Bonyata, Jessica Franzene, Rob Ireland).

Online Revenue Builder Division D First Award - Lake Geneva Regional News: (“ReelLifeTV.net” - Phil Bonyata, Jessica Franzene, Rob Ireland).

Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“FREE” - Tami Conlon): Second Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Do U Like FB” - Tami Conlon):

Hudson Star-Observer, Division D, Best Niche Publication-In Paper.

Burnett County Sentinel, First Award, Division E, Best Circulation Promotion.

General Excellence

Editorial: Daily Division Editorial Award

Division A First Award - Wisconsin State Journal, Madison: (WSJ Staff): Elegant design, impact headlines, diverse story selection and great reproduction. I like the “Print first” reward for print readers. The State Journal was in the eye of the political storm for much of the year, and it acquitted itself well.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (Staff): The second and third place entries were very close, with the Post-Crescent prevailing on strength of coverage important to its readers.

Division A First Award - Wisconsin State Journal, Madison: (“Farm checks to city folks highlight excess; Stop the summer slide; A missing link for jobs” - Scott Milfred): Very good map showing location of recipients.

Good graphics. A well written comment on an important problem.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Staff): Great newspaper with veteran staff and, I’m guessing, a loyal readership. The PG pays attention to its community.

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Issue of guns, cameras in Capitol comical; Keep it accessible: Capitol access policy stifles free speech; Kids at risk deserve better” Sarah Riley): The issue of access to public proceedings is well explored.

General Comments: The editorial comments from the larger Wisconsin newspapers are well crafted and deal with meaty subjects.

Wisconsin readers are well served.

Second Award - The Capital Times, Madison: (John Nichols, Judie Kleinmaier, Dave Zweifel, Lynn Danielson): An intelligent evaluation of an important election. Full of detail about the challengers.

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (Staff): Unquestionably the top of its class. Thorough and compelling coverage of the Ryan VP announcement was typical of the fine reporting and care in editing. Design and typography are elegant, clean and readable.

The Gazette distinguished itself in every judging criterion, right down to the display of legal notices.

Second Award - Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire: (“Will Social Security lifeline be cut?” - Don Huebscher): Clearly among the leaders in this class. Good enterprise reporting, imaginative design and reader-friendly organization.

Efficient use of interior pages with roundups.

Too many gray pages, though, need some graphic relief. Not fond of the wimpy cutline font. Reproduction doesn’t compete with the winner’s. But this is clearly a solid newspaper that cares about its readers.

Third Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (Staff): This is well-executed coverage, especially enterprise projects. Like most entries, headlines could use more pop.

Good design and organization. Overall, though, an excellent newspaper.

General Comments: The entries in this category all offer a lot to like and serve their communities well. The top three distinguished themselves with the extra care and effort it takes to be great.

Division C First Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (Staff): Good design. Needs more local news.

Wisconsin State Journal, Madiosn First Award, Division A, General Excellence Second Award - Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids: (“Fight against addictions; Dairy’s economic impact lauded; Decades-old windmill gets new home” - Allen Hicks, Deb Cleworth, Casey Lake, Mystique Macomber, Karen Madden, Tara Marcoux, Mark Massoglia, Jamie Rokus, Nathaniel Shuda, Chris Schulte): Nice story on local problem of painkiller addiction.

Third Award - Baraboo News Republic: (Staff): Good layout.

General Comments: The layouts in this category were nice and there was some good photography, but all these entries lacked deep local coverage and a local editorial voice.

Sports was thin, too, with the exception of Marshfield’s coverage of the state champs in football.

Division B First Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (“AntiGalloway activist can’t be believed/No one should have to pay for right to vote/On transit, Weston sees input as nuisance”): These are good examples of strong editorials that are thought provoking and provide information that needs to definitely be known by voters; editorial 3 would get my juices going as a reader, that’s for sure. Good job.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“5 reasons why board should reject pay raises; War’s sacrifice hits home; City can’t let SHINE chance pass” - Greg Peck): Editorial 1 - wow, this really hits home, a national topic with a local connection, very well written and brings a little bit of tear to one’s eyes; editorial 2 - nice support of a critical economic took for the city, how did it come out? Very well written; editorial 3 - good job of addressing situation and giving readers something to think about.

That’s what a good editorial does.

Third Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“Redistricting Trial Could Have Been Avoided; Ziegelbauer Proved His Critics Wrong; Use Social Media Wisely” - Pat Pankratz): Editorial 1 - this must have taken place in a lot of states, it happened in ours.

You addressed it well; editorial 2 - obviously this is a gentleman you either like or not, but you did a good job hitting both sides of the

17 issue; editorial 3, good job of addressing a current concern by using a local example.

Division C First Award - Daily Jefferson County Union, Fort Atkinson: (“ACS way off track; No county jailer switch; A tragic twist of fate” - Christine Spangler): Wow...what a great writer. In reading these editorials, I have to think this person must have an impact in his/ her community, which is what community journalism is all about. Very good writing on three very diverse topics.

Second Award - Baraboo News Republic: (Staff): I don’t know who the editorial writer is for this newspaper, but he/she are great. It is obvious that these topics are ones of great concern for local residents and the writer does a great job in pointing out what is going on and what should be happening. Kudos to this newspaper.

Third Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“EPA has time to kill” - Chris Thompson): Another good set of editorials involving local issues. Written well and raises good, valid points, causing the reader to have to think.

Like that.

General Comments: Strong competition. The top three were definitely top of the class.

Editorial Page(s) Division A First Award - Wisconsin State Journal, Madison: (“Sunday Opinion” - Scott Milfred, Kris Crary, Phil Hands): Solid local opinions displayed prominently. Reader submissions are plentiful. An engaging section that starts and continues meaningful conversations.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (Larry Gallup).

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Peter Frank).

Division B First Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (Pat Pankratz): Good use of both newspaper commentary, letters to the editor and reader comments.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Juvenile justice nurturing hope in young lives; Legislature should reconvene mining” Greg Peck): Liked the use of a picture on the editorial page.

Third Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (Robert

18 Mentzer, Cathy Emerson): Nice balance of commentary and use of reader input with the questions of the week and results from the previous week.

Division C First Award - Portage Daily Register: (Jason Maddux): Good page with editorial, columns and reader input.

Second Award - Baraboo News Republic: (“Opinion” - Todd Krysiak): Attractive page with local comment and lots of readers writing in

Editorial: Daily Division undoubtedly scores a lot of points with its readers with this collection of the best local photos from 2011.

Division C First Award - Daily Jefferson County Union, Fort Atkinson: (“First Faces of Fort Atkinson” - Christine Spangler): What a massive undertaking, but the results were well worth it. This section will be treasured by generations of readers and will help instill pride of place. Fantastic!

Third Award - The Chippewa Herald, Chippewa Falls: (Staff): Attractive layout with opinion and local commentary.

General Comments: Many good entries in this category and all were well-done.

Second Award - Marshfield NewsHerald: (“You magazine” - Jeff Engel, Liz Welter, Laura Hiller, Casey Lake, Deb Cleworth, Keith Uhlig, James Hoslet): Excellent graphics and design, good editorial content and full of practical, interesting reading. Some of the ledes could be more compelling.

Special Section Editorial

Third Award - Watertown Daily Times: (“Family & Friends (Fall 2012)” - Staff): Good original content that lives up to its title.

Division A First Award - Kenosha News: (“Crowning of Miss America Special Section, Jan. 31, 2012” - Jessica Stephen, Brian Sharkey, Sean Krajacic, Matthew Olson, Bill Guida, Deneen Smith, Jon Olson, Joe Potente, Division A Elizabeth Snyder, Kevin Poirier, Brian First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: Passino): The Kenosha News pulled out Kenosha News, First Award, Division A, (“Testing errors” - Patti Zarling). all the stops with this beautiful salute to Special Section Editorial. the hometown girl who made good -- as Second Award - Wisconsin State Miss America. The 32-page special report Journal, Madison: (“At least 10 doctors included a great mix of stories and photos, from Janesville” - Andrew Beaumont, not disciplined” - Matthew DeFour, and obviously tapped into the excitement of Bill Olmsted, Greg Little, Shawn Sensiba, David Wahlberg). local advertisers about her success. First class Andrew Reuter): Five-star effort by the staff of The Janesville Gazette, giving their readers Third Award - The Journal Times, Racine: effort. a real treat on the day after Paul Ryan was (“Vote to reopen chief search; Journal Times Second Award - The Journal Times, Racine: tabbed to be Mitt Romney’s vice presidential to sue for records of Racine police chief (“Positively Racine County” - Daniel Talsky, nominee. The section showed evidence of search; Editorial: PFC stumbles in chief The Journal Times, Racine Editorial Staff): good advance work, combined with pure search” - Christine Won, The Journal Times, The Journal Times, Racine went above and hustle on a very tight weekend timetable. Racine Editorial Board). beyond with its special section on “everything Congratulations!

that is good” about Racine. A fun mix of Division B Second Award - The Reporter, Fond du Lac: First Award - Wausau Daily Herald: stories and contributed content. (“A Measure of Success” - Staff): I can see why (“Highway costs double” - Kathleen Foody): Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: readers have not tired of this special section This series reignited my love for investigative (“Annual Report” - Staff): The Post- now in its 7th year. The second includes an journalism. Foody clearly made a painstaking Crescent’s annual report showed no signs of inspiring mix of stories about local people effort to get to the bottom of this issue and the tiredness that often accompanies these making a real difference in the community when journalists get their hands dirty like sections. In particular, I enjoying tying in a -- and the section is nicely designed as well. this I feel like standing up and starting a slow “business of the year” and “small business” clap. I must also give my propers to the paper recognition, plus little features like “on the Third Award - The Reporter, Fond du Lac: for prominently featuring the series and (“Revue, a collection of the best local photos getting some great visuals in there to boost rise” and “keep an eye on” elements. in 2011 from The Reporter, Fond du Lac” the story. And I must definitely give Gannett

- Patrick Flood, Aileen Andrews, Justin a salute for getting this type of coverage on Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Journey Connaher): The Reporter, Fond du Lac transportation funding in other states. I

Open Records, FOI Award

certainly hope their Springfield, Mo. outfit is following suit. If not, I’m going to get my open records request templates updated the minute I get back into the newsroom.

President Obama has promised that he is going to divert war spending into projects like this, which means that journalists working in the coming years need to start circling their wagons around the federal and state departments of transportation and start digging through records if more federal support for transportation projects does indeed start pouring in. The people of Wisconsin are well-served with this caliber of reporting and I hope parallel journalistic efforts in other states turn out this well.

Second Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“Public notices” - Eric Litke): This work speaks to the essence of investigative reporting -- the protection of transparency for governmental bodies, regardless of the number of people over which it presides. Democracy dies behind closed doors and this series and the way it was presented in this publication’s print copy helps to emphasize the importance of governmental transparency and the public’s right to know how their money is being spent.

Third Award - Beloit Daily News, West Bend: (“Records detail Kosier scam” - Shaun Zinck).

General Comments: These entries are certainly very worth the consideration of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and I am honored to have been given the chance to weigh in on the quality of their work. Clearly the people of Wisconsin are well-served by their newspapers.

Division C First Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (“Open government laws shine the light on inner workings” - Ben Jones, Nick Paulson, Brian Kowalski, Jeff Engel, Ashley Smith): This entry showed readers the importance of Freedom of Information and its direct relevance to their lives, giving clear examples and a good overview of the issue.

Second Award - Portage Daily Register: (“Daily Register sues Portage for records; City, Daily Register settle lawsuit” - Daily Register staff): It’s one thing to write a story about transparent government, but entirely another to actually stick your neck out to defend the need for it. Good job!

Third Award - Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids: (“Council member blasts panel; City Council weighs utility oversight; City utility OK’d pay raises of up to 14 percent; Special meeting to focus on utility; City to utility:

Keep us informed” - Nathaniel Shuda): This newspaper stayed on this story like a dog with a bone, and it paid off. Just the newspaper scrutiny alone, never mind the whistleblower, was a good example of fulfilling a journalist’s mission and keeping the public informed of what is happening with tax dollars.

Breaking News Coverage Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Pipeline break” - Scott Williams): Great reporting and following a tip that led to a major story. What breaking news is all about - a story that broke through the work or a reporter.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Appleton soldier killed in Afghanistan; Questions linger: Eppinger died at Afghanistan airbase, but worked desk job; Fallen soldier mourned; Family, friends honor Garrick Eppinger Jr.; Military confirms death inquiry” - Duke Behnke): It would have been easy to have reported the death and then covered the funeral. Following up on the investigation, and confirming that one was ongoing made this entry a winner.

Third Award - The Journal Times, Racine: (“Man Rescued from Burning Balcony” Cara Spoto): Compelling photos, and a hold your breath story put this story ahead of some more complicated stories. This is the stuff that grabs readers.

Division B First Award - The Reporter, Fond du Lac: (“Campbellsport copes after tragic crash” Sharon Roznik): I felt like I knew these girls after reading the series of stories. Seeing them in the third segment at the top of the page was heartbreaking. Hats off to the newspaper for spending the time and efforts to tell their stories.

Editorial: Daily Division

General Comments: Some excellent entries.

Difficult to choose. If there is an honorable mention it would go to the Holy Family parish stories about the priest. Again, a very competitive category.

Division C First Award - Portage Daily Register: (“Multiple days of coverage of downtown Portage fire” - Daily Register staff): An excellent example of the way to cover a breaking news story. The staff quickly put up news, features, timelines and referred to their web for additional photos. Big news covered in a big way. Thank you for interviewing the people of the community and telling me how they were affected.

Second Award - The Chippewa Herald, Chippewa Falls: (“A ‘Mega’ Loss For City: Competition, financial woes forced decision; Neighbors going to miss store” - Rod Stetzer): Here’s the story of the delicate balance of the economy told through the closing of a grocery store. The sidebar that included interviews with residents was best part of package.

Third Award - Baraboo News Republic: (“Feathered fugitive captured” - Tim Damos): I’m not sure that this technically qualifies as breaking news, although The Reporter, Fond du Lac covered it as it happened. But, it’s the kind of news that readers like, and it often gets dismissed. Nice job. I read it right down to the last goose line.

General Comments: Many of these entries focused on the type of news that could go from “just the facts” to brilliant if reporters would seek sources outside of officialdom.

That is why the three winners stood out from the rest.

Local Column Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Thomas Rozwadowski).

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Let’s write: Readers invited to finish our Christmas tale; A Christmas tale of lost and found; Pain and suffering on the road to a midlife crisis” - Ed Berthiaume).

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Support system; Telling the story of their people; A career worth of memories” - Kathy Nufer).

Division B First Award - The Reporter, Fond du Lac: (“Veterans share insights the rest of us don’t have; Deaths of young people defy our comprehension; A day and a story to celebrate second chances” - Michael Mentzer).

Second Award - The Freeman, Waukesha: (Darryl Enriquez).

Third Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“The

human toll of war: Parents honor fallen sons; Forever Valentines; Teacher spent life helping others” - Anna Marie Lux).

Division C First Award - Baraboo News Republic: (“DMV job would be OHSOGR8” - Ben Bromley).

Second Award - Portage Daily Register: (“Now I have a comment ...; No ducking this goose fun; Who’s in charge here?” - Jason Maddux).

Third Award - Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids: (“Columnist falls for community theater; What’s in a name?; Names” (jump) and “Lifelong learning -- you’re never too old; Out there (jump)” - Deb Cleworth).

Local Outdoor Column Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Patrick Durkin): Great information presented in a conversational style that puts the reader right in the boat or tree stand with the writer.

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Daniel Higgins).

Sports Page(s) Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Staff): The breadth and depth of local content sets this section apart. Pages are loaded with meaningful local content, including some terrific wrestling photographs. Outstanding work.

Second Award - The Journal Times, Racine: (Sports Department).

Division B First Award - The Freeman, Waukesha: (Lee Fensin): What a great looking sports section... good use of color and graphics; great writing; nice combination of local, state and national sports. Layout is just super.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Ryan answers call” - Staff): Obviously the paper was ready when this story broke. But, that is the key to breaking news. Being prepared to tell the story. Wonderful job.

Third Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (“Mill to close” - Staff): Judges selected this piece over some that perhaps were more horrific crime stories only because of the complete picture of how the closing of this mill will impact so many lives.

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The Reporter, Fond du Lac, First Award, Division B, Breaking News Coverage.

Second Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (Staff): This is a good example of featuring local sports, which I feel is what the smaller newspapers are all about; great use of color and graphics and just a super layout all around. Wish I would have had the jumps to the stories so I could have finished them. The writing is great. Don’t have much negative to say about this entry.

20 Third Award - Daily News, West Bend: (“On to the playoffs; Brewers’ sloppy play forces Crew to brink of elimination; Chargers lose control quickly; Owls getting hot; Philbin hired to coach Dolphins; Aoki happy to join Brewers; West Bend loads up for state final; Slinger girls play tough defense” - Nick Dettmann): Nice layout and use of color photos on the front of the section; when having a runover on a different page, there needs to be some other identifier (from page 1, etc.) I had a hard time finding the connecting stories. Good writing and nice use of graphics. Doesn’t look cluttered.

General Comments: Nice sports pages. The Freeman, Waukesha entry was the top of the list for sure. Wausau was a strong entry as well.

Division C First Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (Staff): This is a nice looking news section; good use of color and black and white. Local writing is well done and it just has such a clean look to it. It is easy to read and has something to appeal to all readers. Good Job. Second Award - Portage Daily Register: (Dan Larson, Travis Houslet): What a nice newspaper. Really good use of photos, whether they are black and white or color.

The layout is easy to read and I am a lover of big pictures. The photos you have chosen are very good. Nice combination of local and national news. Good job.

Third Award - The Monroe Times: (“The Monroe Times” - Mark Nesbitt): Great use of photos. Strong writing and a nice layout. I like the fact that you feature a lot of local sports.

Would like to have read the rest of the stories that were jumped to another page. Writing was good of what I read, though. Nice sports section.

General Comments: Great local sports coverage in all of these entries. Good Use of pictures and easy to read.

Sports News Story Division A First Award - The Journal Times, Racine: (“Survive and Advance” - Peter Jackel): Story well-done with greater context than merely a sporting event. Clear winner.

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Green Bay Packers”): Comprehensive coverage, well-written on deadline.

Editorial: Daily Division Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Regrets, rumors dog rival schools” - Mike Woods): Thorough look at a high school sports controversy that had a major impact in state playoffs.

General Comments: Van Berkel’s work for the Post-Crescent on following up the triathlon death also was very strong.

Division B First Award - Daily News, West Bend: (“Dream comes true” - Nick Dettmann).

Second Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“Running Across Time” - Scott Hansen).

Third Award - Oshkosh Northwestern: (“Out of the fog” - Steve Clark).

Division C First Award - Daily Jefferson County Union, Fort Atkinson: (“Stagg Bowl Coverage” - Josh Smith): Good feature on Coppage in the entry, plus a good story on Gagliardi Trophy winner.

Second Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (“Concussions in focus” - Jeff Engel).

Third Award - The Chippewa Herald, Chippewa Falls: (“Chi-Hi softball survives late rally, wins first state title” - Sam Oleson).

Local Sports Column Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Mike Vandermause): Columns combine solid writing and opinions that are thought out.

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Scott Venci): Venci’s work is solid collection of feature writing.

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“WIAA, Madison marriage broken; New London worthy of the hype; Resch, PMI got played” - Ricardo Arguello).

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“All in the family; Big series sweet; Still going strong” - Ken Veloskey).

Second Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“Heart transplant can’t slow Howards Grove runner; After 50 years, Moyer still a kid at heart; Pretty in pink: Oostburg supports mother”” - Adam Thompson).

Third Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“Turn 5 was a wreck; Falls won’t back down despite size difference; Romps sisters a big part of Panthers’ success”” - Garrett Renzelmann).

Division C First Award - Daily Jefferson County Union, Fort Atkinson: (“WIAA football fiasco frustrating; Hey NFL teams, take a chance on Division III; American Legion baseball on the decline” - Jeff Seisser).

Second Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (“Pre-Christmas health scare an eye-opener; Exclusive company; Region’s top coaches succeed in style” - Chris Schulte).

General Comments: Winning entry offered some opinion and not just feature stories, although I never like to see a sports reporter say they are just a sports reporter and in this case not a courts reporter. With sports as they are these days, reporters should be able to handle lawsuits, business, crime or find another line of work. Runner-up offers interesting insight with health scare but could say more about what actions people should take to prevent or discuss process of getting back to work, any insights gained.

Sports Feature Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Kotal laid groundwork” - Pete Dougherty).

Second Award - La Crosse Tribune: (“Family tragedy and glory help shape Onalaska’s Matt Thomas” - Todd Sommerfeldt).

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Grand Avenue” - Michael King).

Division B First Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“Straight As” - Garrett Renzelmann).

Second Award - Oshkosh Northwestern: (“Speed of life” - Steve Clark).

Third Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“Still going strong” - McLean Bennett).

Division C First Award - Daily Jefferson County Union, Fort Atkinson: (“Public Defender” - Josh Smith).

Second Award - Portage Daily Register: (“Still in the game” - Dan Larson).

Third Award - Watertown Daily Times: (“Softball team plays historic game” - Adam Burdsall).

Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting Division A First Award - Wisconsin State Journal, Madison: (“Behind the name, a complex figure” - Doug Erickson): Great work that gives a sensitive but intriguing spin on the failings of the mental health system. It takes what could be a sensationalized story and turns it into a real examination of a societal problem.

Second Award - Wisconsin State Journal, Madison: (“Officials investigate rehires” Deborah Ziff, Nick Heynen, Dee J. Hall): Good investigation that made a difference.

Well-written and clearly explained.

Third Award - Kenosha News: (“(4-day) Rethinking Downtown Series: The downtown dilemma; Success story: Dubuque; timeline; Reinvented on the river; Success story: Appleton; ‘A metropolitan Mayberry’; School, river...; City’s entertainment...; timeline; Developing downtown” - Matthew Olson): This series shows good enterprise, with the analysis of other towns’ success and how it could apply. Well executed.

Division B First Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (“‘We had enough’” - Amanda Seitz, Dan Young): Wonderful story that tells of a real community impact. Clearly written and wellsourced, even with the difficulty of reluctant neighbors. A unique circumstance that made a difference -- good job conveying their story.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Changing Face of America” - Anna Marie Lux): Impressive volume of topics covered on an important issue. I appreciated all the stories of immigrants and how their circumstances varied. Wonderful work.

Third Award - The Reporter, Fond du Lac: (“Special Report: Flying under the radar” Colleen Kottke): Nice work getting all sides of this and also reporting the aftermath of the loophole being closed. I felt like you explained the issues and revealed the unusual circumstance while remaining fair.

Editorial: Daily Division Division C First Award - The Monroe Times: (“Reaching an epidemic; The heroin spiral; How can heroin issue be stopped?” - Katjusa Cisar): Good sourcing, well-written. This is a topic that’s been hard to quantify around the Midwest, but you did a good job getting as many specifics as possible.

Second Award - Portage Daily Register: (“Multiple days of coverage for 10th anniversary of 9/11” - Daily Register staff): This is impressive on the strengths of parts 4 and 5. Great way to incorporate readers’ stories. I especially liked the truthers story -- a more unique angle than the norm, and well-written.

Third Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Stripped house spurs search for answers; House loses historic tag” - James Briggs).

Business Coverage Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Nathan Phelps): Fascinating coverage of recent developments in veterinary medicine.

A great series of stories and photographs.

Nathan Phelps shows his versatility, as well, reporting on a range of topics. Excellent coverage overall, with a balance of local, regional and national reporting.

Second Award - La Crosse Tribune: (“Down on Fifth: Once great merchandise destination struggles even as downtown rebounds” Chris Hubbuch): Good in-depth coverage of a particular center city neighborhood, its history, present and possibilities for the future. Excellent insight and photographs of individual businesses and business owners.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Richard Ryman): Interesting coverage of topics of particular local interest in Green Bay, medicine and the paper industry.

Insight and analysis helpful to older, as well as younger readers, consumers as well as professionals. Balanced coverage of local, regional and national issues. Excellent feature photography.

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Plant ‘is next in line; Sparking growth; Shining a light on safety; Plugging the skills gap” Jim Leute): Info boxes, graphics, stats place this entry above all others for value and readability.

Second Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (“City

wins 200 jobs; Mill to close; Double whammy; Out-of-state investor takes Wausau Paper by storm” - Staff): Excellent analysis and balanced coverage. Some good news, some bad news.

Third Award - Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire: (“All in the family; Veterans for hire; Learning under fire; Funding opportunities” - Liam Marlaire): Especially good coverage of small business.

Division C First Award - Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids: (“Nose to the grindstone; Workers get second chance; NewPage files Chapter 11; Renaissance Learning remains mired in bidding war” - Nathaniel Shuda): Photography and info boxes set this entry apart from all the others. The timeline and bankruptcy explanation in the NewPage story provide excellent analysis and readability for any audience.

Second Award - The Chippewa Herald, Chippewa Falls: (Mark Gunderman): The cheesy story is well told. Interesting, in depth and inspiring history of the entrepreneur with excellent info boxes. Gunderman is competent, as well, with interviews of developers and other traditional business stories.

Third Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (“Local produce finds its way to restaurant menus; Economy focus of new board; Frac sand deal deadline extended; Four-lane freedom” - Liz Welter): Liz Welter does a nice job explaining the importance of the local food movement. She is also competent with wider economic stories, as well as the sand and highway project pieces.

Feature Division A First Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“9/11 10 years later: Still standing” - Ben Jones): An unpredictable story for the 9/11 anniversary, told in an unpredictable fashion.

In particular, The Reporter, Fond du Lac’s work on the ground in NYC, showing us the “life” of the truck and its importance, set this story apart.

Second Award - Wisconsin State Journal, Madison: (“Madison without borders: Improving global health” - David Wahlberg): A powerful and emotional story about the life-changing work of these medical professionals.

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Third Award - La Crosse Tribune: (“Older & on their own” - Chris Hubbuch): A fresh and interesting topic, well researched and well written.

opportunities by not getting the stories loaded correctly or in focus.

Division B First Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (“Remembrances mark day” - Jeff Starck): This was the most unique coverage of Memorial Day I’ve come across, one that I hope to copy many times over. Well done.

Great stories within the story.

Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Lifestyle pages Oct. 16, Feb. 19, May 13” Kendra Meinert): This was the second one I read, and it was absolutely great. Stories make sense, are well laid out and very informational.

For me, this was an obvious first place.

Second Award - The Journal Times, Racine: (“The Long Haul; Music that heals; I didn’t feel a pulse” - Ann M. Walter, Lee B. Roberts, Kristen Zambo, Gregory Shaver): The third one I read of the four, this was a very well planned and made newspaper. I LOVED the stories and information. However, the pictures (which added a great feel for the article being read) got in the way sometimes and made the text a little bit harder to follow.

Other than the picture placement this was a great selection.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Still reeling ‘em in: Owner’s vast inventory, insight lend to bait shop’s atmosphere” - Neil Johnson): This is a feature story. Very well done, a can’t miss read for readers of that newspaper. There was a lot of good writing in this category, but some of the entries were border line when it comes to features versus what would be good news stories of the day.

This was feature all the way.

Third Award - Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire: (“FROM HELL TO HERO” - Eric Lindquist): A very good job with this timeless story of service above self.

General Comments: There were no bad or even weak entries in this competition. As noted with the second-place entry, though, some of the stories were what any good newspaper would have been doing as lead news articles of the day. Yes, they had feature flair to them, but they had to be the news of the day. The winners are the ones who really put “feature” into the category.

Division C First Award - Portage Daily Register: (“TITANIC” - Craig Spychalla): Great detail and presentation to an old, old story made local and current. Great work with the art.

Second Award - Portage Daily Register: (“Portrait of Patriotism” - Shannon Green): Great read. Good structure and organization on this story about a person who made a tough decision.

Third Award - Watertown Daily Times: (“Rebuilding hope: After tragedy, local congregation helps family heal with new garage” - Samantha Christian): Good work with a touching story. Third among many outstanding entries. Be proud.

General Comments: This was tough competition, as many did outstanding work with features that had to be of great interest to local readers. I loved the art used with many of them as well. A couple did blow

Lifestyle Page(s)

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (Staff): This was the first one I read, and was a very good bar-setter. The ONLY reason this is third and not second (or possibly first) is due to the Packers page layout. It’s a GREAT page (Not even a football fan, but I love their enthusiasm) I got a great feel for the Packers fan lifestyle especially after reading the article on the Fan-made movie. However the layout was overly confusing and difficult to follow.

The information was there, but the use of the fan-favorite colors made it hard to see. The bullseye thing was a great idea, but it was hard to see where everything was and where it was supposed to be. Although I will say, The sight of that guy in green-n’-gold front page MADE me want to pick that one first. Its a really goofy but good attractant. If it had been done in a similar but less befuddling manner, it would have been my number one choice.

I still say though, it was an AMAZING read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

General Comments: I picked the three I felt best exemplified what a newspaper was supposed to be. Informative, helpful, entertaining, and a darn good read. Each of my three choices were based on those factorials plus how well it drew me in and made me want to keep reading.

Division B First Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (“12 For ‘12 section” - Carrie Hutton, Amy Kimmes, Carolyn Tiry, Keith Uhlig, T’xer Zhon Kha, Elissa Holtmeier): Nice spin in the usual New Year’s resolutions weight loss story. Great

22 photos and layout, especially liked the cutout of the participant’s head on the model’s body.

Second Award - Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire: (“Stronger Than Steel; Snapshots of a Year; Close Calls” - Andrew Dowd, Blythe Wachter, Shane Opatz, Dan Reiland, Christena O’Brien, Eric Lindquist): Loved the entire package for “Steel.”

Third Award - The Sheboygan Press: (Bob Farina): Good layout.

Division C First Award - Portage Daily Register: (“Brewtown; Everybody knows his name; Next horizon” - Craig Spychalla): Nice photos, story packages. Not a big fan of the off-kilter photo for Brewtown, but story made up for it.

Environmental Reporting Division A First Award - The Capital Times, Madison: (“In their backyards” - Pat Schneider): A well-written, superbly organized damnation of crass indifference by government and industry, told through the now-open eyes of the people living with it.

Second Award - The Capital Times, Madison: (“Accelerating Mother Nature” - Mike Ivey): This is an excellent article about an exciting hometown company exploring a technology with the potential to transform energy production. Excellent piece that hits all the bases.

Third Award - Gannett Wisconsin Media: (“Mired in muck” - Kathleen Foody): Solid overall reporting, but this story pushes the agricultural responsibility far down in the article when it is arguably the biggest cause.

That assertion, however, is unverified by talking to anyone but a municipal water official. Instead the article focuses on the speed of permits and does not examine whether the reduction from permit process will be enough.

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Small bug, big problem; Officials: Still time to fight ash borer” - Gina Duwe, Catherine W. Idzerda, Frank Schultz): An excellent presentation that combines in-depth reporting with real-world impact. Very readable and clear reporting.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“A battle of inches: Fight over Lake Koshkonong water levels hits state Supreme Court” - Neil

Editorial: Daily Division Johnson): A well done report on the tension between the environment and profits. A little more emphasis on how much economic impact the wetlands have for hunting, etc. could have made this better.

Third Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“THE DREDGE REPORT: Bringing life back to the river”; “Public gets update on Sheboygan River dredging”; “DOT opposes airport landfill”” - Dan Benson): Good, solid report on a situation that has clearly been an issue for years. It could have explored the question of whether anyone is skeptical of the success of this plan.

Division C First Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Franklin’s Ryan Creek Interceptor” Kirsten Klahn): This is excellent work raising serious questions about the activities of local, state and federal governments. Well-rounded reports from a writer who has a clear grasp of the subject matter.

Second Award - Watertown Daily Times: (“Gitto Grown” - Samantha Christian): A very well written and paced report on a family’s aspirations for independence and a sustainable life. Good explanation of the challenges involved in organic farming without drowning the reader in governmentspeak.

Third Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Dairies go solo on plant” - Amy Karon): This story does a good job of examining the collapse of a cooperative agreement over sewer expansion and raises important issues about the permitting process involved.

All-Around Newspaper Photography Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Staff): Great for having lots of LOCAL art! The Packers are bit overdone...but we understand that’s the nature of the town!

Photo pages from games are great, though.

The design is a bit odd with the repeated use of grids. Strong front page design with dominant art and supporting secondary images. Don’t rely too much on the flag/ skybox.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (Staff): Nice design and display of photography. Great 9/11 piece. In other sections the local art is hard to notice and the paper relies on wire quite a bit. Good

features and section fronts, though.

Third Award - The Journal Times, Racine: (“All Around Photography” - Gregory Shaver, Scott Anderson, Jason O’Connell, Tom Farley, Brenda Poppy, Ann Walter, Alan Nunn, Peter Jackel, Greg Giesen, Stephanie Jones, John R. Bornor, Robb Luehr, Pete Wicklund, Gery Woelfel, Susan Shemanske): Strong images. They would be improved with fewer secondary images on section fronts. Don’t take away from a great image with several lesser images. Fire rescue front is a good example of that. The cover flag/skybox is too busy/distracting. LOCAL Section has strong images and is really good.

General Comments: Nice work. We thought that this category was overly sports-laden. It seems to be taking away from some of the news fronts with busy flags/skyboxes. All paper had some good feature photography.

Unfortunately, all of them also relied heavily on wire content.

Division B First Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (Sue Pischke, Matthew Apgar, Benjamin Wideman): Local images on every section front! Keep it up! Good image quality, nice print production, nice features.

The photo section front on Sundays is great!

It can probably be edited a little tighter. Maybe play images a bit larger and only use 3-4. The camera as an instrument for additional online galleries is a bit distracting. Perhaps another, smaller reference could be used. Great job!

Second Award - Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire: (Steve Kinderman, Dan Reiland, Shane Opatz, Andi Stempniak): Good job! A few really good photos. The print quality and/or reproduction could be improved a bit. Good feature images.

Third Award - Oshkosh Northwestern: (Joe Sienkiewicz, Shu-Ling Zhou, Adam Jungwirth): Lots of really good attempts.

Faces of Foreclosures fails to give any of the faces of the people, though. Headline and art didn’t work well together. At a glance it also looked like the Realty section! Nice sports photos. Good photos overall. Cover design and photo display is probably the weakest thing I noticed.

General Comments: Strong options. We felt that in general the print quality was slightly less than we expected. Taking more care with toning and sharpening images might help improve this shortfall, though. Kudos to the Herald Times Reporter for the photo section front on Sundays. Visuals were strongly

presented inside, too. And almost all section fronts of the HTR were local art.

Division C First Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (“State Champs” - Laura Hiller, Dan Young): Nice images with strong impact. Good sports coverage. Nice print quality, too! Design and overall content could be improved with fewer secondary images and tighter editing. Fun features as well.

Second Award - Baraboo News Republic: (Staff): Quite a few nice images. Section fronts can be improved with tighter editing.

Choose a more dominant image and play secondary images smaller. Also, make sure the secondary image is not too close to the lead photo (the clown is a good example).

Third Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Modern Marvel; Got your back; Bird(air) watching” - Kevin Harnack): Great cover photos...but the photography ends there! The 3 lead photos were good, technical images that carry the page wonderful. But for overall photo content it ends there.

General Comments: Most of the newspapers in Category C could be improved with tighter photo editing and cleaner design. More is not always better. Relying on a dominant image to carry the page rather than 3 or 4 equally small-sized images generally improves the content flow and display.

General News Photo Division A First Award - The Capital Times, Madison: (“Althea Miller - Affirmative Action” - Mike DeVries): This image is close and personal, which really helps the reader focus in on the tears and emotion pouring from this woman -- it helps the reader relate to what she’s going through. It’s hard to be a dramatic photo that’s tightly composed. In addition, the news impact for the photo is important to the readers. I look at this image and I feel for that woman -- it strikes me, and that makes it a strong image. This image tells a powerful story. I am a bit confused as to why it only ran on the website but didn’t run in the print edition (unless this is an online-only newspaper). Editors, when you’re given a gem, don’t leave it on the cutting room floor.

I’m glad it at least ran on the newspaper’s website.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Oh, the drama!” - Sharon Cekada): Great body language, whimsical emotion, and a

The Tribune-Phonograph, Abbotsford First Award.......................................Spot News Photo First Award.......................................Bill Payne Award First Award..............................Best Adv Idea (Series) First Award.....................Best Advertising Sales Tool Second Award.......Best Multiple Advertiser Spread Second Award.........Best Use of Local Photography The Record-Review, Edgar Second Award......................................... Sports Photo Third Award.............................Harrison MacDonald The Post-Crescent, Appleton First Award........................................................ Feature First Award.................................Overall Page Design First Award.............................. Page Design - Feature First Award................................ Page Design - Sports First Award.................... Creative use of Multimedia First Award................................. Web Special Project First Award..................... Continuing Web Coverage First Award............................ Best Use of Art Service First Award..............Best Use of Local Photography First Award....................Best Newspaper Promotion First Award........... Best Niche Publication-In Paper First Award.............. Innovative Online Advertising Second Award..............................General Excellence Second Award...................................Editorial Page(s) Second Award...................Breaking News Coverage Second Award.......................................Local Column Second Award....................................... Feature Photo Second Award...........................................Photo Essay Second Award............................................. Front Page Second Award..........Reporting on Local Education Second Award...........................Entertainment Pages Second Award.....................General Web Excellence Second Award............... Creative use of Multimedia Second Award.............................Web Special Project Second Award..................................Bill Payne Award Second Award..........................Harrison MacDonald Second Award................Best Advertising Sales Tool Second Award...............Best Newspaper Promotion Third Award...................................... Editorial Award Third Award...................... Special Section-Editorial Third Award..........................................Local Column Third Award.................................. Sports News Story Third Award..........................................Sports Feature Third Award...................................... Lifestyle Page(s) Third Award.................................... Spot News Photo Third Award............................................ Sports Photo Third Award..............................................Photo Essay Third Award....... Reporting on Local Government Third Award......... Best Multiple Advertiser Spread Third Award.......................... Best Use of Art Service Third Award...................Best Advertising Sales Tool Third Award............ Innovative Online Advertising Third Award........................Online Revenue Builder Third Award.......Best Online-Single Ad-Animated Third Award.............................Local Sports Column Gannett Wisconsin Media, Appleton First Award........................... Investigative Reporting Second Award.......................Investigative Reporting Third Award......................... Investigative Reporting Third Award.................... Environmental Reporting

Awards listing by newspaper

Baraboo News Republic First Award........................................... Local Column Second Award....................................Editorial Award Second Award...................................Editorial Page(s) Second Award....... All-Around News Photography Third Award ................................General Excellence Third Award..................... Breaking News Coverage Third Award.............................................. . Front Page Third Award.................................. . Best Use of Color Third Award........................ . Best Use of Art Service

Daily Citizen, Beaver Dam First Award........................... Investigative Reporting First Award......... . Best Niche Publication-In Paper Second Award.............................Web Special Project Beloit Daily News Second Award........................... General News Photo Third Award................... Open Records/FOI Award Third Award............................. Entertainment Pages Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls First Award........................ Special Section-Editorial First Award........................................... Local Column First Award.............................. . Page Design - Sports First Award......... Reporting on Local Government First Award.............. Reporting on Local Education First Award................... Most Improved Newspaper First Award........................... Investigative Reporting First Award......................... General Web Excellence Second Award..............................General Excellence Second Award.....................................Special Projects Second Award...................................Editorial Page(s) Second Award.................Open Records/FOI Award Second Award.......................................Local Column Second Award... Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting Second Award..................Environmental Reporting Third Award............................................. Photo Essay Third Award................................................. Headlines Third Award........................................... Special Pages Third Award........................ . Best Use of Art Service The Brillion News First Award........................................... Sports Feature First Award...................................... Spot News Photo First Award.......................................... . Feature Photo First Award................................................... . Graphics First Award................................. Web Special Project First Award................... . Continuing Web Coverage Second Award....... All-Around News Photography Second Award........................... General News Photo Second Award.......................Investigative Reporting Second Award.....................General Web Excellence Third Award................................ . Sports News Story Third Award.......................... . Page Design - Feature Third Award............................ . Page Design - Sports Third Award........................... Best Adv Idea (Series) Brookfield-Elm Grove NOW First Award.......................................... . Feature Photo First Award................................. Web Special Project Second Award............................................. Front Page Second Award............................Overall Page Design

Campbellsport News Second Award...................Breaking News Coverage Third Award............... . Best Circulation Promotion News Graphic, Cedarburg First Award.................................. . Sports News Story First Award.......... . All-Around News Photography First Award.......................................... . Feature Photo Second Award...............................................Headlines The Chippewa Herald, Chippewa Falls First Award.............................. Harrison MacDonald First Award.......................... . Best Use of Art Service Second Award...................Breaking News Coverage Second Award...............................Business Coverage Second Award..................................Spot News Photo Second Award.........................Best Adv Idea (Series) Third Award..................................... Editorial Page(s) Third Award................................ . Sports News Story Third Award....... Reporting on Local Government Clintonville Chronicle First Award................... Best Newspaper Promotion Second Award................................................ Graphics Third Award.............................................. . Front Page Tri-County Press, Cuba City Third Award.................................... Best Use of Color Republican Journal, Darlington Second Award................................................... Feature De Pere Journal First Award.................................... Sports News Story Second Award.......................................Sports Page(s) Third Award......................Breaking News Coverage Third Award.......... All-Around News Photography DeForest Times-Tribune First Award.........Best Online-Single Ad-Animated Living Kettle Moraine Index, Dousman Second Award............................... Sports News Story Second Award....................................... Feature Photo Second Award...........................................Photo Essay Third Award.......................................Editorial Award Third Award.......................................... Feature Photo Vilas County News-Review, Eagle River First Award...................................General Excellence First Award..........................................Special Projects First Award................................ General News Photo First Award..............Best Use of Local Photography Second Award......................Local Outdoor Column Second Award....... All-Around News Photography Second Award........................... General News Photo Second Award...........................................Photo Essay Second Award..................................Bill Payne Award Third Award.......................................Editorial Award Third Award.............................. General News Photo Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire First Award....................................................Headlines Second Award..............................General Excellence

23 Second Award................................... Lifestyle Page(s) Second Award....... All-Around News Photography Second Award........................... Page Design - Sports Third Award..................................Business Coverage Third Award...................................................... Feature Third Award................................................ Front Page The Country Today, Eau Claire First Award........................................................ Feature First Award........................................ Lifestyle Page(s) First Award....................................................Headlines First Award.............................. Page Design - Feature First Award..............................................Special Pages Second Award....................................Editorial Award Second Award......................... Page Design - Feature Third Award. .................................... Lifestyle Page(s) The Edgerton Reporter First Award..........................................Special Projects Third Award......................................Editorial Page(s) Third Award.................................... Spot News Photo Third Award..................................................Headlines Third Award.............Reporting on Local Education Third Award......... Best Advertising Special Section Pierce County Herald, Ellsworth First Award...................................... Best Use of Color Second Award...... Best Advertising Special Section Third Award..........................................Sports Page(s) The Reporter, Fond du Lac First Award........................................... Local Column First Award................................ General News Photo First Award........... Best Multiple Advertiser Spread Second Award....................Special Section-Editorial Second Award...... Best Advertising Special Section Second Award................Best Advertising Sales Tool Second Award....... Niche Publication-Out of Paper Third Award.......................Special Section-Editorial Third Award...... Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting Third Award..........................Investigative Reporting Third Award............................ Harrison MacDonald Daily Jefferson County Union, Fort Atkinson First Award........................................ Editorial Award First Award........................ Special Section-Editorial First Award.................................... Sports News Story First Award.............................. Local Sports Column First Award............................................Sports Feature First Award............................................ Feature Photo First Award..........................General Web Excellence First Award..........................Online Revenue Builder Second Award......................................... Sports Photo Second Award.......Best Multiple Advertiser Spread Third Award.............................. Page Design - Sports Third Award..............................Entertainment Pages Freedom Pursuit Second Award..........Reporting on Local Education Crawford County Independent & The Kickapoo Scout, Gays Mills First Award..................... Open Records/FOI Award Second Award...............................Business Coverage

24

Awards listing by newspaper

Third Award..........................................Sports Page(s) Third Award..........................................Sports Feature

Greenfield-West Allis NOW Third Award......................................... Sports Feature

Germantown-Menomonee Falls NOW Second Award.......................................Sports Feature Third Award................................Web Special Project

Living Lake Country Reporter, Hartland First Award....................................... Editorial Page(s) First Award........................................... Sports Page(s) First Award...................................... Spot News Photo First Award............................................ . Sports Photo First Award.............................. . Page Design - Sports First Award................... . Continuing Web Coverage First Award.......... Online Ad-Single Ad- Animated Second Award..........................Local Sports Column Second Award..................Environmental Reporting Second Award....................................... Feature Photo Second Award..........Reporting on Local Education Second Award................................. Best Use of Color Third Award........................General Web Excellence Third Award........................... Best Adv Idea (Series) Third Award.................................. . Best Use of Color

Burnett County Sentinel, Grantsburg First Award...............................Harrison MacDonald First Award................... Best Circulation Promotion Green Bay Press-Gazette First Award......................Open Records/FOI Award First Award........................Breaking News Coverage First Award............................................Local Column First Award...........................Local Outdoor Column First Award............................................Sports Page(s) First Award...............................Local Sports Column First Award............................................Sports Feature First Award....................................Business Coverage First Award........................................ Lifestyle Page(s) First Award.......... . All-Around News Photography First Award................................................... Headlines First Award............................................. Special Pages First Award................................................... . Graphics First Award...................................... Bill Payne Award First Award.............................. Harrison MacDonald First Award............................. Best Adv Idea (Series) First Award.......... . Niche Publication-Out of Paper First Award................. . Best Circulation Promotion Second Award......................Local Outdoor Column Second Award............................... Sports News Story Second Award..........................Local Sports Column Second Award......................................... Sports Photo Second Award........................... Page Design - Sports Second Award.....Reporting on Local Government Second Award.........................................Special Pages Second Award................................................ Graphics Second Award................ Continuing Web Coverage Second Award...... Best Niche Publication-In Paper Second Award....... Niche Publication-Out of Paper Second Award.............. Best Circulation Promotion Second Award......... Innovative Online Advertising Second Award.....................Online Revenue Builder Second Award............Best Online-Single Ad- Static Third Award................................ General Excellence Third Award..................................... Editorial Page(s) Third Award................................. Business Coverage Third Award.............................................. . Front Page Third Award.............................. Overall Page Design Third Award.......................... . Page Design - Feature Third Award............................ . Page Design - Sports Third Award........................................... Special Pages Third Award............................. Entertainment Pages Third Award....................... General Web Excellence Third Award............................ Harrison MacDonald Third Award........................... Best Adv Idea (Series) Third Award....... . Best Advertising Special Section Third Award.................................. . Best Use of Color Third Award........... Best Use of Local Photography Third Award................. Best Newspaper Promotion Third Award....... . Best Niche Publication-In Paper Third Award........ . Niche Publication-Out of Paper Third Award............... . Best Circulation Promotion

Hudson Star-Observer First Award......... . Best Niche Publication-In Paper Second Award...........................Entertainment Pages Second Award.........Best Use of Local Photography Second Award....... Niche Publication-Out of Paper Third Award........................................ . Feature Photo Third Award.................................... Bill Payne Award Third Award. ....... Best Niche Publication-In Paper Third Award........ . Niche Publication-Out of Paper The Janesville Gazette First Award...................................General Excellence First Award.........................Special Section-Editorial First Award...............................Local Sports Column First Award....................................Business Coverage First Award.......................Environmental Reporting First Award.............................................. Sports Photo First Award.............. Reporting on Local Education First Award......................... General Web Excellence First Award.................... .Continuing Web Coverage First Award...............................Harrison MacDonald First Award............................. Best Adv Idea (Series) First Award........... Best Advertising Special Section First Award.................................... . Best Use of Color First Award.......................... . Best Use of Art Service First Award............. Best Use of Local Photography First Award.................... Best Advertising Sales Tool First Award................... Best Newspaper Promotion Second Award....................................Editorial Award Second Award...................................Editorial Page(s) Second Award...................Breaking News Coverage Second Award... Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting The Janesville Gazette Second Award................................................... Feature Second Award..................Environmental Reporting Second Award....................................... Feature Photo Second Award...........................................Photo Essay Second Award.....Reporting on Local Government Second Award................................................ Graphics Second Award..................................Bill Payne Award Second Award..........................Harrison MacDonald Second Award................................. Best Use of Color

Second Award.......Best Multiple Advertiser Spread Second Award....................... Best Use of Art Service Second Award...... Best Niche Publication-In Paper Second Award......... Innovative Online Advertising Second Award............Best Online-Single Ad- Static Third Award......................................... Local Column Third Award.......................... . Page Design - Feature Third Award............ Reporting on Local Education Third Award.................................... Bill Payne Award Third Award....... . Best Advertising Special Section Third Award......... Best Multiple Advertiser Spread Third Award........................ . Best Use of Art Service Third Award....................... Online Revenue Builder Third Award..................... . Online-Single Ad- Static Kenosha News First Award........................ Special Section-Editorial First Award............................... Entertainment Pages First Award........... Best Advertising Special Section First Award.................................... . Best Use of Color First Award........... Best Multiple Advertiser Spread First Award.....................Best Advertising Sales Tool Second Award...............................................Headlines Second Award.........................Best Adv Idea (Series) Second Award...... Best Advertising Special Section Second Award................................. Best Use of Color Second Award.......Best Multiple Advertiser Spread Second Award....................... Best Use of Art Service Second Award.........Best Use of Local Photography Third Award.... . Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting Third Award............................ . General News Photo Third Award........................................ . Feature Photo La Crosse Tribune First Award......... Reporting on Local Government First Award..........................Online Single Ad- Static Second Award.......................................Sports Feature Second Award...............................Business Coverage Second Award.............Online Single Ad- Animated Third Award.................................................... . Feature Third Award............ Reporting on Local Education Lake Geneva Regional News First Award......................... Online Revenue Builder First Award.................................. General Excellence First Award......................... General Web Excellence Second Award...................................Editorial Page(s) Second Award...............Most Improved Newspaper Third Award.......................................... Feature Photo Third Award............................ . Page Design - Sports Grant County Herald Independent, Lancaster First Award.........................Special Section-Editorial First Award.............................. . Page Design - Sports First Award........... Best Advertising Special Section First Award............Best Multiple Advertiser Spread First Award............. Best Use of Local Photography Second Award....................................Editorial Award Second Award....................Special Section-Editorial Second Award................ Continuing Web Coverage Second Award................................. Best Use of Color

Lodi Enterprise Second Award................................................... Feature Second Award...............................................Headlines Second Award......................... Page Design - Feature Second Award.....Reporting on Local Government Second Award.........................................Special Pages Third Award............ Reporting on Local Education Tribune Record Gleaner, Loyal First Award................... Most Improved Newspaper Third Award.................................................... . Feature Wisconsin State Journal First Award.................................. General Excellence First Award...... . Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting First Award............................................ . Sports Photo First Award............................................... Photo Essay First Award................................................ . Front Page Second Award.................Open Records/FOI Award Second Award.......................... Enterprise Reporting Second Award................................................... Feature Second Award..................................Spot News Photo Second Award............................Overall Page Design Second Award......................... Page Design - Feature Third Award................................................. Headlines The Capital Times, Madison First Award...................... Environmental Reporting First Award.............................. . General News Photo First Award.............. Reporting on Local Education Second Award....................................Editorial Award Second Award..................Environmental Reporting Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc First Award....................................... Editorial Page(s) First Award.......... . All-Around News Photography First Award.................................................. Front Page First Award.................................Overall Page Design First Award............................ . Page Design - Feature First Award............................................. Special Pages First Award................................Entertainment Pages First Award.................... Creative use of Multimedia First Award................................. Web Special Project Second Award......................................... Sports Photo Second Award...............................................Headlines Second Award................ Continuing Web Coverage Third Award................................ General Excellence Third Award...................................... Editorial Award Third Award.................................... Spot News Photo Third Award............................................. Photo Essay Third Award....... Reporting on Local Government Third Award.................................. . Best Use of Color Third Award........... Best Use of Local Photography EagleHerald, Marinette First Award...................................... Spot News Photo Third Award........................................ . Feature Photo Marshfield News-Herald First Award.................................. General Excellence First Award..................... Open Records/FOI Award First Award........................................... Sports Page(s) First Award.......... . All-Around News Photography

Awards listing by newspaper First Award............................................... Photo Essay First Award.............. Reporting on Local Education First Award............................................. Special Pages First Award................................. Web Special Project Second Award....................Special Section-Editorial Second Award............................... Sports News Story Second Award..........................Local Sports Column Second Award............................................. Front Page Second Award..........Reporting on Local Education Third Award................................. Business Coverage Third Award................................................. Headlines Third Award...............................Overall Page Design Juneau County Star-Times First Award............ Niche Publication-Out of Paper Dodge County Pionier First Award........................................... Sports Feature Second Award.............. Most Improved Newspaper The Star News, Medford First Award...................................... Bill Payne Award First Award............................. Best Adv Idea (Series) First Award.................................... . Best Use of Color First Award.......... . Niche Publication-Out of Paper First Award................. . Best Circulation Promotion Second Award....................... Best Use of Art Service Third Award................................ General Excellence Third Award.... . Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting Third Award........................................... Special Pages Third Award............................. Entertainment Pages Third Award................................................. . Graphics Third Award............Best Use of Local Photography Third Award..................Best Newspaper Promotion The Dunn County News, Menomonie First Award............................................Local Column First Award................................................... Headlines Second Award.....................................Special Projects Second Award... Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting Second Award.......................Investigative Reporting Second Award................................................ Graphics Third Award................................ . Sports News Story Middleton Times-Tribune Second Award..................Environmental Reporting Second Award..........Reporting on Local Education Milton Courier Second Award....... Niche Publication-Out of Paper The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee First Award...................... Environmental Reporting First Award................................ General News Photo First Award....................................................Headlines First Award..........Reporting on Local Government First Award....................Most Improved Newspaper First Award..................... Continuing Web Coverage First Award.......................................Bill Payne Award First Award............ Niche Publication-Out of Paper Second Award...........................................Photo Essay Second Award......................... Page Design - Feature Second Award.....................General Web Excellence

Second Award...... Best Advertising Special Section Second Award....... Niche Publication-Out of Paper Second Award.....................Online Revenue Builder Third Award...................................... Editorial Award Third Award...... Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting Third Award.....................Environmental Reporting Third Award.......... All-Around News Photography Third Award.............................. General News Photo Third Award..........................Investigative Reporting Third Award......... Best Advertising Special Section The Lakeland Times, Minocqua First Award..................... Open Records/FOI Award Third Award........................ Local Outdoor Column The Monroe Times First Award...... . Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting First Award................... Best Newspaper Promotion Second Award........................... Page Design - Sports Second Award...... Best Niche Publication-In Paper Third Award......................................... Sports Page(s) Third Award.......................................... . Sports Photo Third Award............................................. Photo Essay Third Award............ Reporting on Local Education Third Award............................Best Adv Idea (Series) Third Award........................Online Revenue Builder Living Mukwonago Chief Third Award............................................ Sports Photo Third Award..............................................Photo Essay Muskego-New Berlin NOW Second Award............................... Sports News Story Second Award............................Overall Page Design County Post East, New London Third Award............................ Local Sports Column New Richmond News First Award......... . Best Advertising Special Section Second Award.....................................Special Projects Second Award.................Open Records/FOI Award Second Award.....................General Web Excellence Second Award...... Best Niche Publication-In Paper Third Award..................................... Editorial Page(s) Third Award.................... Environmental Reporting North Shore NOW First Award.............................. Local Sports Column Second Award............................................. Front Page Third Award................. . Continuing Web Coverage Oak Creek NOW First Award............................................... Photo Essay First Award................................................ . Front Page Second Award.................. Breaking News Coverage Third Award............................ Page Design - Feature Living Oconomowoc Focus First Award................................ General News Photo First Award................................................Photo Essay Second Award...................Breaking News Coverage Second Award.......................................Local Column Second Award..........................Local Sports Column

Second Award........................... General News Photo Third Award..............................................Photo Essay Oconomowoc Enterprise Third Award..................Most Improved Newspaper Oconto County Reporter Second Award...............................Business Coverage The Oregon Observer First Award.................................Overall Page Design First Award........... Best Niche Publication-In Paper Second Award....... All-Around News Photography Third Award..........................................Sports Feature Third Award........Reporting on Local Government The Sun, Osceola First Award....................................Business Coverage Second Award.............. Best Circulation Promotion Oshkosh Northwestern First Award................................................Photo Essay First Award............. .Innovative Online Advertising First Award......................................................................

Online Revenue Builder Second Award..........Reporting on Local Education Second Award.........Best Use of Local Photography Second Award.....................Online Revenue Builder Second Award............Online-Single Ad- Animated Third Award.................................. Sports News Story Third Award.......... All-Around News Photography Third Award.............................. General News Photo Third Award.............. Online-Single Ad- Animated The Platteville Journal First Award........................................ Editorial Award First Award................... Most Improved Newspaper Second Award................................... Lifestyle Page(s) Third Award....................Open Records/FOI Award Third Award................................................. Headlines Third Award.............................................. . Front Page Third Award......... Best Niche Publication-In Paper Portage Daily Register First Award....................................... Editorial Page(s) First Award....................... Breaking News Coverage First Award...................................................... . Feature First Award........................................ Lifestyle Page(s) First Award............................................ . Sports Photo First Award................................................ . Front Page First Award.............................. Page Design - Feature First Award................................ Page Design - Sports First Award................................Entertainment Pages First Award........... Best Advertising Special Section Second Award.......................................Sports Page(s) Second Award.......................................Sports Feature Second Award.......................... Enterprise Reporting Second Award................................................... Feature Second Award...............................................Headlines Second Award............................Overall Page Design Third Award.....................................Spot News Photo Third Award....................... General Web Excellence Third Award................................Web Special Project Third Award.......... Niche Publication-Out of Paper

25 Poynette Press Third Award................................ General Excellence Third Award...................................................... Feature The Journal Times First Award.................................... Sports News Story First Award.......................................Spot News Photo First Award............................................ Feature Photo First Award......................... General Web Excellence Second Award....................Special Section-Editorial Second Award.......................................Sports Page(s) Second Award................................... Lifestyle Page(s) Third Award....................Open Records/FOI Award Third Award......................Breaking News Coverage Third Award......... .All-Around News Photography Reedsburg Times Press First Award...................................General Excellence First Award............ All-Around News Photography First Award............................................ . Sports Photo Second Award..................................Spot News Photo Third Award......................................Editorial Page(s) Third Award............................. Enterprise Reporting Third Award.............................. General News Photo Third Award........Reporting on Local Government The Chronotype, Rice Lake First Award.........................Special Section-Editorial First Award...... . Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting First Award...................... Environmental Reporting First Award................................ Overall Page Design First Award......... Reporting on Local Government Second Award....................Special Section-Editorial Second Award........................... Page Design - Sports Third Award....................................... Special Projects Ripon Commonwealth Press First Award........................................ Editorial Award First Award....................................... Editorial Page(s) First Award..................... Open Records/FOI Award First Award.................................. . Sports News Story First Award.............................. Local Sports Column First Award............................... Enterprise Reporting First Award............ All-Around News Photography First Award.............................................. Sports Photo First Award.............................. Page Design - Feature First Award............................Investigative Reporting First Award..................................................... Graphics First Award..................... Continuing Web Coverage First Award.................Best Online-Single Ad- Static Second Award..............................General Excellence Second Award.......................................Sports Page(s) Second Award............................... Sports News Story Second Award.......................................Sports Feature Second Award...............................Business Coverage Second Award..................................Spot News Photo Second Award.....Reporting on Local Government Second Award.....................General Web Excellence Second Award.............................Web Special Project Second Award..........................Harrison MacDonald Second Award.........................Best Adv Idea (Series) Second Award....................... Best Use of Art Service Second Award................Best Advertising Sales Tool

26 Second Award...............Best Newspaper Promotion Second Award.....................Online Revenue Builder Third Award...................... Special Section-Editorial Third Award.................... Environmental Reporting Third Award................................................... Graphics Third Award.....................................Bill Payne Award Third Award.....

Best Use of Local Photography Third Award.................. Best Advertising Sales Tool Third Award................. Best Newspaper Promotion Third Award.......... Niche Publication-Out of Paper River Falls Journal Second Award..............................General Excellence Sauk Prairie Eagle, Sauk City First Award........................................... Sports Page(s) First Award.............................. Local Sports Column First Award................................... Business Coverage First Award................................................... Headlines Second Award........................... Page Design - Sports Third Award......... Best Multiple Advertiser Spread Third Award...............................Overall Page Design The Sheboygan Press First Award........................................... Sports Feature First Award......... Reporting on Local Government First Award......... . Best Niche Publication-In Paper First Award............ Niche Publication-Out of Paper Second Award.................Open Records/FOI Award Second Award..........................Local Sports Column Second Award...........................Entertainment Pages Second Award.........................Best Adv Idea (Series) Second Award...............Best Newspaper Promotion Third Award............................ Local Sports Column Third Award......................................... Sports Feature Third Award...................................... Lifestyle Page(s) Third Award.....................Environmental Reporting Third Award............................Best Adv Idea (Series) Third Award...................Best Advertising Sales Tool Third Award.......... Niche Publication-Out of Paper Third Award............ Innovative Online Advertising South Shore NOW Second Award................ Continuing Web Coverage The Portage County Gazette, Stevens Point Third Award.................................. Sports News Story Third Award.................................... Spot News Photo The Stoughton Courier Hub Third Award......... .All-Around News Photography Third Award................................................ Front Page Door County Advocate, Sturgeon Bay First Award................................Entertainment Pages Second Award.........................Best Adv Idea (Series) Second Award...............Best Newspaper Promotion Third Award.......................Special Section-Editorial Third Award......................Breaking News Coverage Third Award..........................................Sports Page(s) Third Award.............................Local Sports Column Third Award...................................................... Feature Third Award.......... All-Around News Photography

Awards listing by newspaper The Star, Sun Prairie First Award............................ Best Use of Art Service First Award.....................Best Advertising Sales Tool Third Award..........................Investigative Reporting Third Award....................... Best Adv Special Section Superior Telegram First Award.......................... Local Outdoor Column First Award....................................Business Coverage First Award...............Reporting on Local Education Second Award.......................................Local Column Third Award............................. .Page Design - Sports Third Award....... Reporting on Local Government Living Sussex Sun Second Award.................Open Records/FOI Award Second Award....................................... Feature Photo The Tomah Journal and Monitor Herald Third Award..................................Business Coverage The Valders Journal Third Award......................................... Local Column Third Award...... Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting Third Award.............................. General News Photo Third Award............................................ Sports Photo Third Award..........................Investigative Reporting The Verona Press First Award............................................Sports Page(s) First Award.......................Environmental Reporting First Award.................................................. Front Page First Award......... Reporting on Local Government Second Award...............................................Headlines Third Award..................................Business Coverage Vernon County BroadcasterI, Viroqua First Award........................Breaking News Coverage Second Award.........................................Special Pages Second Award.......................Investigative Reporting Washington Island Observer First Award........................................................ Feature Third Award................. Most Improved Newspaper The Courier, Waterloo Second Award...............Most Improved Newspaper Watertown Daily Times First Award..............................Best Adv Idea (Series) First Award..................................... .Best Use of Color First Award............Best Multiple Advertiser Spread First Award..............Best Use of Local Photography Second Award..................Environmental Reporting Second Award........................... General News Photo Second Award..................................Bill Payne Award Third Award......................................... Sports Feature Third Award...................................................... Feature Third Award.................................... Bill Payne Award The Freeman, Waukesha First Award............................................Sports Page(s) First Award........................................... .Feature Photo

Second Award.......................................Local Column Third Award............................. .Page Design - Sports The Waunakee Tribune First Award............................................Sports Feature First Award....................................................... .Feature First Award.............. Reporting on Local Education Second Award...........................................Photo Essay Third Award.................................General Excellence Wisconsin State Farmer, Waupaca First Award............................................Local Column First Award........................... Investigative Reporting First Award..................................................... Graphics Second Award................................................ Graphics County Post West, Waupaca First Award......................... Online-Single Ad- Static Second Award.......................................Sports Page(s) Second Award... Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting Second Award.....Reporting on Local Government Third Award............ Reporting on Local Education Wausau Daily Herald First Award........................................ Editorial Award First Award..................... Open Records/FOI Award First Award............................... Enterprise Reporting First Award........................................................ Feature First Award........................... Investigative Reporting First Award..................................................... Graphics Second Award.......................................Sports Page(s) Second Award...............................Business Coverage Second Award..................................Spot News Photo Second Award............................................. Front Page Second Award......................... Page Design - Feature Third Award......................................Editorial Page(s) Third Award......................Breaking News Coverage Third Award................................................. Headlines Third Award...............................Overall Page Design Waushara Argus, Wautoma First Award........... Best Multiple Advertiser Spread Second Award........Best Advertisng Special Section Second Award.......Best Multiple Advertiser Spread Third Award......... Best Multiple Advertiser Spread Wauwatosa NOW First Award..........................General Web Excellence First Award..................................Web Special Project Second Award.............................Web Special Project Daily News, West Bend First Award.................................... Sports News Story Second Award............................Overall Page Design Second Award.......................Investigative Reporting Second Award............... Creative use of Multimedia Third Award..........................................Sports Page(s) Third Award............................................ Sports Photo Third Award.......................................... Feature Photo Westby Times First Award........................Breaking News Coverage First Award..............................................Special Pages

Second Award....................................Editorial Award Second Award....................Special Section-Editorial Second Award.......................................Sports Feature Third Award................................................... Graphics Wisconsin Dells Events Second Award................................. Bill Payne Award Second Award.... . Best Niche Publication-In Paper Daily Tribune存Wisconsin Rapids First Award....................................Business Coverage First Award........Best Online-Single Ad- Animated Second Award..............................General Excellence Second Award....................................... Feature Photo Second Award.....Reporting on Local Government Second Award.......................Investigative Reporting Third Award................... Open Records/FOI Award Third Award......................................... Local Column Voice of Wisconsin Rapids First Award........................................ Editorial Award First Award............................. . Enterprise Reporting Second Award..........................Local Sports Column Third Award.......................Special Section-Editorial Voice of Wisconsin Rapids Third Award................... Open Records/FOI Award Third Award......................................... Local Column Third Award..................................Business Coverage Third Award.................................... Spot News Photo Third Award..........................Investigative Reporting

Editorial: Daily Division fun photo. While this photo might be more of a feature than news, it helped it stand out from the many tearful images entered in the category. The photo is also composed very well. This is the kind of photo you don’t see very often -- finding images that are out of the norm but yet still tell a strong story is an important skill in photojournalism.

Third Award - Kenosha News: (“Man guilty of killing UW-P student” - Brian Passino): The anxious family awaiting the final verdict is a strong image and important to the readers, especially on a murder trial. It tells a strong visual story and their emotions give you a glimpse into what they’re feeling at that moment. Good work.

General Comments: There seemed to be a lot of trial and political photos, as to be expected of a general news class. What surprised me were about 4-5 entries were features with little to no news value. I judged by strong storytelling ability -- photojournalism is about telling a story with a camera instead of a pen, strong composition, human emotion, body language, and news value.

Division B First Award - The Reporter, Fond du Lac: (“Memorial Day 2012 NEVER FORGET” Doug Raflik): This is not an easy casket photo to get -- strong composition, good faces, solemn, with news value. I love how large the page designer ran the image, helping with the image’s impact. Displaying the work big helps it do its job of telling the story, especially when the image is already doing a great job of that.

Second Award - Beloit Daily News: (“Riverfest Rockin’ Downtown” - Erica Pennington): While I wasn’t sure if this image actually was a feature or news, I couldn’t pass it up -- the emotion and hair play is pretty cool. I think the photographer did a great job of capturing the feeling of riding on a coaster.

Third Award - Oshkosh Northwestern: (“Grounded, abused and abandoned” - ShuLing Zhou): A nice low-angle image. I haven’t seen many of those in the competition. It’s great to see the photographer looking from different angles and perspectives, as long as that helps tell the story of what’s happening.

This photo certainly does that. Normally, I prefer tighter photos but this wider shot does a great job of showing the teenagers room and giving you a glimpse of who she is -that’s good storytelling. The composition is solid too.

General Comments: Overall, some pretty

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good entries. There were a few that probably should have been features rather than news.

There seemed to be more variety of photo coverage represented among the newspapers in this division than the others in this contest.

right in the middle of it to get the action shot of the deer running around indoors. That’s a cool image that shows the photographer was on his/her toes. Good storytelling and a great capture.

the background. The motorcycle adds to the storytelling of this image and brought the image up into the finalists.

General Comments: Lots of firefighters in this category and class.

Division C First Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Morning Light” - Kevin Harnack): Great sunset image, silhouette, with workers working. Tells the story of construction and draws you in to wonder what building this is -- the shape is intriguing. Strong image with strong composition.

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Storm damage” - Ron Page): Seeing a tree split in two is impressive as it is but by itself not an award winner. Having the person there admiring the tree, photographing it, and just as in awe of it as the readers most likely were, helps tell the story of what happened. The composition is good and having that person there gives you the perspective to see just how big that tree is. This is one of those rare images that should garner some respect for mother nature.

General Comments: This was a lighter category on number of entries but there were some pretty strong images among those entered. Everything here was actual spot news coverage. All of these photographers were definitely out there in the midst of some hectic news events.

Division C First Award – EagleHerald, Marinette: (“Dog bites man” - Michael Desotell): Fantastic capture at peak action! Kudos to the photographer for keeping a camera ready and jumping on the gun to be able to snag such a cool photo. A true photographer keeps a camera with them always and this is the perfect example of that. Dog attacks are a concern with residents across the country and has resulted in the ban of some dog breeds in certain urban areas. This certainly has news value that goes beyond just the people involved. This is one of those rare images that makes your jaw drop. Excellent work!

Second Award - Watertown Daily Times: (“A hero’s homecoming” - Samantha Christian): At first glance, I thought, nice angle on a funeral procession of a political or military figure. On closer inspection, the reader sees the people in the background and the impact of the image grows. The composition of this image is strong, it fills the frame with storytelling elements and then kicks it up a notch with some emotion.

Third Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Tavern on the Lean” - Kevin Harnack): This was a nice way to show the leaning building as well as having a person in the photo so it’s not just a “building mug.” The person helps tell the story of the building, give it size and perspective. The angle and composition are both good. Those are some tall windows.

Intriguing images like this draw in readers.

General Comments: Good category with several strong entries. There were a few others that were so close to making the top three. First was a standout because it was so dramatic and unlike the other photos in this class and category.

Spot News Photo Division A First Award - The Journal Times, Racine: (“Man rescued from fire” - Gregory Shaver): This was easily the standout in this category and class. Photojournalists get plenty of images of firefighters putting out fires but it’s much rarer and comes with much greater impact to get an image of them actually saving someone’s life. Great news value, strong photo, good moment. Seeing the smoke and the fire just makes it all the better.

Good composition too.

Second Award - Wisconsin State Journal, Madison: (“I’ll Be Leaving Now” - John Hart): It’s rare enough to actually hear about these events to get stories on them let alone to be

Division B First Award - Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire: (“Carried to safety” - Steve Kinderman): When a photojournalist gets sent to a fire, they can pretty much always expect to get an image of firefighters with hoses battling a blaze. Rarely do they get to photograph a firefighter saving someone’s life. This makes for a great image, it’s shot tight, good composition with a cute kid. The reader should feel a sense of relief and joy that this child was saved. It’s a strong photo that tells the story of the value of human life.

Second Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (“Firefighters rescue dog from burning home” - Dan Young): Sometimes perseverance pays off as it did for this photographer. Photojournalists don’t get to shoot images of a dog’s life being saved every day. The composition and angle on this image are good. I even like the grass in the foreground that emphasizes the reality of what’s happening. If the dog would have been more visible, this might have been the first place image. Unfortunately, spot news doesn’t always lend itself to being able to get the angles you need. Despite that, I think the photographer did great work in capturing what was possible.

Third Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“Motorcyclist Injured In Crash” - Matthew Apgar): Good job of getting there while things were still happening and getting the motorcycle under the truck in

Second Award - The Chippewa Herald, Chippewa Falls: (“Pilot crash-lands sputtering plane” - Candice White): This is one of those images that makes you say, “ouch” yet makes you laugh too (the cows). The crashed plane alone is a strong image but the addition of the cows tells you its in a rural area and also gives you the humor element (why is it that cows are so funny?). The cows are just minding their own business like a plane didn’t just topple out of the sky and crash nearby. The many elements the photographer has included all help tell the story of what happened. This is a rare capture.

Third Award - Portage Daily Register: (“Blaze Devastates Downtown Building” - Ken Leiviska): The emotion is what made this stand out above the remaining entries in this category and class. The building ablaze sets the scene but the real story is how it affects the lives of those who lived or frequented that location. Too often, photographers think of the action (the fire) and forget the reaction (how it affects people). This is the work of a photojournalist who understands the need for human emotion in good storytelling and strong images.

General Comments: This was a tough decision between the first and second place entries. The sheer impact of both of these images as well as their rarity made them sure winners. For third place there were two contenders but in the end, emotion won out. Photojournalism is, at its core, about storytelling and there’s rarely a more powerful way to tell a story than with human emotion.

It is our greatest tool (aside from the camera itself).

28 Sports Photo Division A First Award - Wisconsin State Journal, Madison: (“Untimely Finish” - Michael P. King): This is an alert, heads-up photo that captures the moment really well. You can feel the immediacy and emotion of the sideline.

It’s a great sports photo that communicates the story beyond the action on the field.

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Green Bay Packers” - Evan Siegle): This photo is a terrific peak action shot on a touchdown play. Everything comes together perfectly for composition and timing.

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Volleyball tears” - Dan Powers): This photo is a nice take on the typical trophy shot. There is a good, clear range of emotion and the photo tells the story well.

General Comments: This was a tough category to judge, with several strong entries at the top. There was a good mix of feature and action sports photography. The feature photos showed good emotion, and ultimately were stronger than the action shots.

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“High Drama” - Bill Olmsted): When you judge the sports category in these kinds of contests, you look for photos that offer you something you haven’t seen before. This is one of those photos. It has great emotion of anticipation and goes well beyond a typical golf photo. I’d like to see the foreground a little sharper, but all in all a great first place photo.

Second Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“Heartbreaker” - Matthew Apgar): This photo is a solid loss reaction shot.

The composition and isolation of the player makes it better than a typical shot and elevates it to second place.

Third Award - Daily News, West Bend: (“Boys of spring” - John Ehlke): This photo stood out from similar peak action shots in this category because of its effective crop, angle and depth of field.

General Comments: The top tier of this category really stood out from the rest of the field. Overall, there were good action and reaction photos. The best separated themselves by using depth of field and composition effectively. You could tell a lot of thought went into anticipating the top photos, and that’s what distinguished them in this category.

Editorial: Daily Division Division C First Award - Portage Daily Register: (“Having a devil of a times” - Dan Larson): The emotion and story telling of this photo put it on top in this category. It captures the emotion of the moment very well. Its technical and composition aspects are clean and they let the emotion shine through.

Second Award - Daily Jefferson County Union, Fort Atkinson: (“Paul Hill Swim Photo” - Josh Smith): This is the best action shot, by far, in this category. A strong technical quality distinguishes it from the rest of the photos here. It’s done well in a difficult lighting situation.

Third Award - The Monroe Times: (“Golf tournament brings out the best” - Anthony Wahl): This photo shows a good visual awareness by a photographer looking for a unique point of view during a typical situation. I’m torn because the effect was achieved by flipping the camera (which, I appreciate the notation in the caption) and to me it becomes more of a photo illustration because of that. Still, it’s eye-catching photo, and it deserves to be awarded.

General Comments: There was in interesting mix of action and feature photography in this category. What made the top photos stand out were their good technical qualities that helped them communicate their message clearly to the reader. Photos that either took a chance or did the normal things very well rose to the top here.

Feature Photo Division A First Award - The Journal Times, Racine: (“Weather” - Gregory Shaver): Really a delightful moment captured by the photographer.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Frosty face” - Dan Powers): Great face. Tells the story of how cold it is and the grimace adds a lot to the photo.

Third Award Kenosha News: (“Chomping into ChocolateFest: Heroic effort” - Bill Siel): Nice composition and captured a good moment.

Division B First Award - The Freeman, Waukesha: (“‘God’s never going to let you down’” Charles Auer): Powerful emotion captured by the photographer.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Crops Move On” - Bill Olmsted): Very nice graphic qualities to the photo.

Photographer chose a strong angle on a typical assignment.

Third Award - Daily News, West Bend: (“The kid probably isn’t for sale” - John Ehlke): Very nice slice of life shot of two young entrepreneurs .

Division C First Award - Daily Jefferson County Union, Fort Atkinson: (“Keeping their cool.” - Pam Chickering Wilson): Nice found moment and use of dramatic lighting conditions.

The photographer’s timing was perfect catching the child with feet in the sprinkler.

Second Award - Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids: (“For grads, drug court presents new beginning” - Casey Lake): Photographer did a great job of anticipating what could The Janesville Gazette, First Award, Division happen and getting in the right B, Sports Photo. position to get this photo.

Third Award – EagleHerald, Marinette: (“Looking for a view” - Michael Desotell): This was another General Comments: Overall a very strong strong photo. Very visual. A little more group. The Post-Crescent seems to really predictable place for a good photo than the have photo essays down. Kudos to them for first place winner. continually pushing visuals as a major piece of the story-telling puzzle. Other papers can certainly strive to make small, yet strong photo essays a more regular occurrence.

Photo Essay

Division A First Award - Wisconsin State Journal, Madison: (“Madison Without Borders Improving Global Health” - John Hart): Wonderful job on a large, difficult package.

Good, creative editing to show the progression and impact of the story. Very impressive!

Division B First Award - Oshkosh Northwestern: (“Buckstaff remains” - Shu-Ling Zhou): Very unique with nice angles. Could have used light better: time of day, dramatic shadows, etc. Overall nice editing with details and overall shots. Well done.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“In the moment” - Dan Powers): Very good job on a difficult subject. Nice tight edit brought forth strong images. Great lead.

Perhaps she was always in a good mood, but it would have been nice to glimpse more of the angst and difficulties for the subject, too.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Welcome Home Ben/ Neal/Orfordville community honors soldier, his family” Dan Lassiter): Very nicely edited, emotive package. The tightly selected images convey the scope of the event as well as the impact of it. Well done.

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Still standing” - Wm. Glasheen): Interesting national story. Could have been edited a little tighter, but nice package. Wonderful to see a paper send a staffer off for this!

Third Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“Learning Blossoms In The Woods” - Sue Pischke): Nice images. I think too much was attempted within a single page. Take out a photo or two and have more

Editorial: Daily Division consistency. The 2 cut-outs take away from the overall photographic presentation.

General Comments: Very nice entries. In general, they could have been more tightly edited. Several of the entries placed way too many images on a single page. More is not always better. 3 great images works much better than 8 average photos!

Division C First Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (“A Taste of Summer” - Laura Hiller): Clean, diverse edit! Well done. Nice design enhances the photography.

Second Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Give ‘em credit” - Kevin Harnack): Nice photography. The dilapidation is a little repetitive. The random extreme flash is awkward with the other photos. But very nice overall package.

Third Award - The Monroe Times: (“Green County Fair 2012” - Anthony Wahl): Edit tighter! Several great pics. Too much on 1 page. Could have easily been about just the rides or just the animals.

General Comments: Some very nice photo essays. Almost across the board can be improved with tighter editing and fewer images per page. Don’t try to crowd tons of photos into an essay. Pick a dominant, lead image and build the essay around that.

Headlines Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Julie Larson): Clever headlines that are easy to grasp at first glance.

Second Award - Kenosha News: (“He tires on the job; Hurt and Ernie; Franklin mints gold” - Paul McKillip, Dave Marran): Clever and witty headlines take a bit of reading to fully comprehend.

Third Award - Wisconsin State Journal, Madison: (“Fecal position: Nurse takes matters into her own hands; It’s on, Wisconsin; Austin’s power” - Dean Witter): Funny, if gross, first headline. Nice play on words.

General Comments: First place, with three strong headlines, rose above the rest, although Kenosha was a close second.

Division B First Award - Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire:

(William Foy): All three headlines stand out as superior. They’re clever and interesting without being corny, and they work well with the art Second Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“Ferry Tale Wedding: Couple Who Met on E-Harmony Marries Inside S.S. Badger Car Ferry Ticket Office; On Everyone’s Radar: USS Cobia Submarine Attracts Visitors From Around the World; The Fruits Of Their Labor: Homegrown Himmelgarten Vineyard” - Benjamin Wideman): Solid headlines that do the stories justice Third Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (“Tipple topples Gale; Playing it forward; BABY ON BOARD” - Elissa Holtmeier): Nice alliteration and play on a common phrase.

Division C First Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Odor in the court; Lien machines; Tavern on the lean” - Daily Reporter staff): These were fun, clever headlines that easily engaged my interest.

Second Award - Portage Daily Register: (“A million signs of unhappiness?; Calculating the value of pie; Kindness is in the (baseball) cards - Couple donates 5,000 to boy who lost his” - Jason Maddux): I especially enjoyed “Calculating the value of pie,” but these were all well done.

(Daniel Higgins): Nice, simple layouts. Fonts are a bit clunky, but the fading “Go Pack go” headline is a nice effect.

Division B First Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“Titanic: 100 Years Later; Right On Target; Sentimental Souvenirs” Benjamin Wideman): Nice Titanic package; visually appealing; ditto on Veterans Day package -- interesting stuff to look at.

Second Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (“Biggest local events brought CHEERS, JEERS, TEARS; Those who served; Highway costs double” - Elissa Holtmeier): Strong, interesting layouts. The two-column ad really bugs me though. Gotta pay the bills!

Third Award - Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire: (“Downtown dilemma; Will your Social Security lifeline be cut?; Tossing the recall coin” - Tom Gunderson): Nice job with infographic on Part 1; page could use a more dominant headline; Social Security package nicely done in Part 2; Part 3 looks nice, but a bit too much reverse text.

Division C First Award - Portage Daily Register: (staff).

Second Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (“State champs; Helping was his mission; Four-lane freedom” - Staff).

Third Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (“The K-9 nose knows best; Oh the things they’ll create; Kids in stitches over creations” - Elissa Holtmeier): These were all great examples of the value of having a little fun with a headline.

Third Award - Baraboo News Republic: (Todd Krysiak).

Front Page

Division A First Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (Sean McKeown).

Division A First Award - Wisconsin State Journal, Madison: (“One Million Signatures; Walker vs. Barrett: The Rematch; Re-Affirmed” David Dombrowski, Jonathan Kleinow): Clean, clear design. Nice use of white space and color. Strong headline size and contrasts.

Fonts also work well together and aren’t all over the place Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Still standing; Faces of the recall; Unsafe practices” - Staff): Nice design with a lot to look at, although all the ads and teasers at the top of the 9/11 page are a bit much -- a lot much, in fact. Really detracts from the page.

“Faces of the Recall” is the strongest layout.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette:

Overall Page Design

Second Award - Wisconsin State Journal, Madison: (“Memories that Never Fade; One Million Signatures; Walker vs. Barrett: The Rematch” - Jonathan Kleinow).

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Daniel Higgins).

Division B First Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“A Flair For Fashion; Titanic Disaster: 100 Years Later; The Amazing Race” - Benjamin Wideman).

Second Award - Daily News, West Bend: (“State of the Unions; A sad, unhappy “Kodak moment’; Who is this guy?” - Ken Merrill).

29 Third Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (Tim Langton).

Division C First Award - Stevens Point Journal: (“Drinking culture tough to heal: Tragedies spur new preventative action; Rooted in history: Boston School forest celebrates 75 years of fostering love of nature” - Elissa Holtmeier).

Second Award - Portage Daily Register: (Craig Spychalla).

Third Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (Elissa Holtmeier).

Page Design - Feature Division A First Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (Ed Berthiaume): First: The Packers cover is over the top and I loved it. Headline and art worked together, and it was an unusual approach to a Top list. But the most moving was the prison hospice piece. It showed great restraint, letting powerful photos speak. It also demonstrated great range in the designer.

Second Award - Wisconsin State Journal, Madison: (“Creature comforts; All under 1 roof; Modern traditions” - Dean Witter): I was particularly struck by the designer’s use of color. He uses it liberally. But unlike many entries, it’s color use with a purpose and a certain elegance, particularly with the Taiwanese dancers, who seem to flow into the page. Halloween was expected, but the organization of the information was clear and quick.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Daniel Higgins): One test of a good idea: whether others will steal it. I hope others take the simple, fun and creative idea of taking fans head shots to show off their fashion fanaticism. Other pages were done well, with effective use of cutout photos, although dialing back a bit on use of color would help.

Division B First Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“A Flair For Fashion / Titanic Disaster: 100 Years Later / The Amazing Race” - Benjamin Wideman): This package demonstrates the versatility and creativity a design can bring to the work. The Titanic anniversary was outstanding, from the yellowed newspaper look to the old-time vertical columns, while modern design elements peak through. The Fashion cover

30 jumps the other way, with a big, splashy design, and the doubletruck car design had lots of entry points with type size large enough to survive white on black treatment.

Second Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (“It’s a blast!; Big summer lineup; Makin’ a splash” - Elissa Holtmeier, Amy Kimmes): More newspapers should really step out the way Gateway to the North does. A magazine-style cover jumps out from other entries, as I’m sure it jumps out from other sections of the newspaper. Integrating text better into the photos would help make these pages really pop.

Third Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Much ado about Marx; Let the haunting begin; Drum roll, please.” - Ann Fiore): The designer took two subjects everyone has to do at some point; Halloween and a seasonal entertainment list; found attractive ways to illustrate them.

Division C First Award - Portage Daily Register: (“Barn raising; Screaming good time; Your ticket ...”

- Craig Spychalla): The runaway hit of this category. In Sync pages show great creativity with great respect and understanding of the content’s design with a purpose. The common film reel, a Halloween knife comes alive in new ways. Great work.

Second Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Focus on Commercial Real Estate: Retail/Hospitality” - Jayne Laste): Designs are clean and competent. There’s nothing flashy here appropriate for the content but concepts such as hierarchy and white space are used well.

Page Design - Sports Division A First Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (Mike Sherry).

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Julie Larson, Daniel Higgins).

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Julie Larson).

Division B First Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (Jared Macarin): Love the bold page design and the use of the left rail.

Second Award - Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire: (Joe Ziemer): Page design draws in the reader, as well as the pullouts with schedules.

Editorial: Daily Division Third Award - The Freeman, Waukesha: (Lee Fensin).

Division C First Award - Portage Daily Register: (Dan Larson).

Second Award - The Monroe Times: (Mark Nesbitt).

Third Award - Daily Jefferson County Union, Fort Atkinson: (Jeff Seisser).

Reporting on Local Government Division A First Award - La Crosse Tribune: (“Mayor Harter brushes aside criticism, says he kept his promise on property taxes; Image problem, La Crosse planners’ biggest challenge: Reversing blight near downtown; How should we govern?” - Betsy Bloom, Chris Hubbuch): Excellent reporting and writing. Loved the profile of the mayor. The blight story was good. The city administrator story was a strong setup for a vote. A valuable service to voters. Wonderful voices throughout. Sometimes it’s hard to keep governmental coverage from becoming too bureaucratic or inside baseball. These stories showed the right way to cover government.

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“City of Green Bay” - Scott Williams): Good package of stories. The developer story was by far my favorite. Great quote from the mayor about a dreamer with no money. The competition between Appleton and Green Bay convention centers also was strong.

An important issue, well covered. Good information for taxpayers. Homeless story should have had a voice of a homeless person.

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Private domain; Bartender applicant arrested at meeting; Neenah explores ˜pay as you throw” - Duke Behnke): The bartender arrest story and the pay as you throw story were both lively, interesting, well done stories.

I wasn’t sure about the fire story. What was the point exactly? That fire departments should be able to come in to private homes?

General Comments: The first-place winner definitely shows how governmental coverage should be done. The stories were fun to read and still had the context needed to understand what was going on. Some of the entries would have benefited from talking to people affected by the decisions being made.

Division B First Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“Casino plan goes public; Casino opponents speak out; Casino project stalls” - Josh Lintereur): Strong and comprehensive coverage of the casino issue. I particularly liked the email reporting and the Wells Fargo lawsuit reporting. Smart context to do the how the process works box.

The only thing this lacked were voices from regular citizens of the community.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“We don’t have the resources:” Communities struggle with the monetary, emotional costs of picking up strays; These are our ancestors: Abandoned cemeteries challenge communities to provide care; What’s old is new again Economic support system change” - Catherine W. Idzerda): The cemetery story and the stray animal story were both good choices of topics in the face of budget issues, and both were well told with good quotes and context. The what’s old is new story was a little hard to get through. It seemed bureaucratic.

Third Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“Car Versus Pedestrian Showdowns / Manitowoc City Shakeup / The Right Thing For The Community” - Charlie Mathews): The budget issues obviously are incredibly important and I thought you did a good job with the roundup showing changes in city employment because of the shortfalls.

A very helpful story for citizens. All three of these stories provided excellent context, from the comparison of pedestrian/vehicle tickets and warnings to the fire department comparisons to other communities. Good job.

General Comments: Another strong category. Local citizens have very good sources of information during these turbulent times. Strong local government reporting all around.

Division C First Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Franklin’s Ryan Creek Interceptor” Kirsten Klahn): Infrastructure is important, expensive and often boring to the public.

These stories brought life to important news, and clarity to issues not so easy to explain.

I especially liked the honesty in explaining things that were not known, rather than trying to write around it.

Second Award - Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids: (“City Council weighs utility oversight; City rejects park location for stage; Panel to tackle safety ideas” - Nathaniel Shuda): Well-done explanations in each case.

I especially liked use of meaningful factoids in utility and pedestrian safety stories.

Third Award - The Chippewa Herald, Chippewa Falls: (Rod Stetzer): Good breadth of reporting, from “City’s Vision” with a great lede and property-by-property details, to a deft handling of the fire chief controversy.

General Comments: These entries speak to the importance of local news and the good fortune of communities lucky enough to have aggressive, honest reporting at the grassroots level.

Reporting on Local Education Division A First Award - The Capital Times, Madison: (“Campus Connection” - Todd Finkelmeyer): Excellent explanations of complex material.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Modern Learning; A Big Boost; Neenah wants grades to reflect knowledge” - Duke Behnke): Interesting, unique story topics.

Third Award - La Crosse Tribune: (“After the cuts: Students aren’t learning like they used to in Tomah; After the cuts: Not enough desks, textbooks in some Bangor classrooms; After the cuts: Fewer teachers, fewer sections, bigger classes” - Patrick Anderson): Great detail.

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Special tech; Students behaving badly: Is it worse?; Bee-ing there” - Frank Schultz): Interesting topics; great writing-especially spelling bee story.

Second Award - Oshkosh Northwestern: (“Too much room?; Road to Oaklawn vote took turns; Mom on a mission” - Adam Rodewald): Great investigative work.

Third Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“A new take on discipline; Behavioral data; Staying in the loop; Building relationships to bring parents back (side); Love made from steel and fire” - Catherine W. Idzerda): Great writing style.

Division C First Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (“Student poverty on rise in area; Exploring their dreams; Records requester unsatisfied with district’s response” - Liz Welter): Great story on Exploring their Dreams. Timely.

Nice to see it on the front page. Love that they used the kids photos. Strong writing.

Editorial: Daily Division Second Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (“Program extends learning; Leaders tackle workforce paradox; Act 10 creates teacher pay cuts” - Logan Carlson): Good, easy-tounderstand writing. Timely topics.

Division C First Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (“Healthy Life” - Jan Zettler): Very nice health section. Nice design, good writing, interesting stories. Good work!

Third Award - The Monroe Times: (“Soonto-be empty halls; Residents speak out over school closing; Black Hawk School Board unswayed by petition” - Katjusa Cisar): Great coverage of a painful topic. The reader can really understand how each side feels.

Investigative Reporting

Most Improved Newspaper Division C First Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (Thompson Chris, Cota Jeff, Laste Jayne): The updated design gives the paper a cleaner, more open look. The red identifiers on the front-page stories were a nice addition, adding a bit of color to the page but also adding to the white space and opening thing up a bit. Using a sans serif font for the deck headlines helps them stand out. The news briefs feature is easier to read not as cramped.

Special Pages Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Food for Thought” - Daniel Higgins, Thomas Rozwadowski): This was the strongest entry, especially when considering the writing, design, etc. Would have liked to see all local content!

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Outdoors” - Julie Larson): Just probably not enough substance in this entry to make it to first place. There has to be more outdoor in your area than what you’ve provided here.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Perspective’s Life series” - Pete Frank): I found some of the analysis, sidebars, etc. a bit confusing and hard to tie in with the topic. Need to package in a more clear, concise manner.

Division B First Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“Health: Getting Their Kicks; Health: Heart Failure Can Be Managed; Health: Having A Ball” - Benjamin Wideman): Could make this page much stronger if you had more of a health feature story to go with your photos and maybe push the health calendar to a second page - but I guess that is probably being sponsored.

Division A First Award - Gannett Wisconsin Media: (“29 judges sign recall petitions; Complaint is filed against judges” - Eric Litke).

Second Award - Gannett Wisconsin Media: (“Holes in the safety net; Grounded, abused, abandoned; Group pushes state to shine more light on child abuse” - Adam Rodewald).

Third Award - Gannett Wisconsin Media: (“Unsafe practices; Repeat safety violator racks up state contracts” - Nick Penzenstadler).

General Comments: All entrants should be proud of their work. This was a very difficult category to judge, with exceptional writing, well-presented stories and a clear dedication to the craft demonstrated by all of the entries.

The top three stories were compelling reads.

Division B First Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (“Highway costs double” - Kathleen Foody).

Second Award - Daily News, West Bend: (“Heroin epidemic in Washington County” Amanda Voss).

Third Award - The Reporter, Fond du Lac: (“Special Report: Flying under the radar; Did DA violate ethics code? Probe will look into complaint against DA” - Colleen Kottke).

General Comments: The winners in this category were hard-hitting and exhaustive pieces that demonstrate the value of investigative reporting in protecting the public good and holding public officials accountable for their actions. Truly excellent work.

Division C First Award - Daily Citizen, Beaver Dam: (“Mental Health on Hold” - Megan Sheridan, Trista Pruett).

Second Award - Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids: (“Council member blasts panel; City Council weighs utility oversight; City utility OK’d pay raises of up to 14 percent; Special meeting to focus on utility; City to utility: Keep us informed” - Nathaniel Shuda).

Third Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Critics blast change in law; State fails to justify MBE goals; Hispanic chamber sues Milwaukee; Milwaukee faces race-based fights” - Kirsten Klahn).

General Comments: Strong work and good reporting. The winning entries were wellrounded and informative pieces whose subject matter have clear implications for communities and a clear call to action to address serious concerns.

Entertainment Pages Division A First Award - Kenosha News: (“Get Out” - Brian Sharkey, Elizabeth Snyder, Bill Robbins, Julie Vander Velden): Great cover and interior design, good mix of local and wire stories, great calendar listings.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (Staff): Nice local features such as the bartender profile and beer review. Good calendar listings.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Weekend” - Kendra Meinert).

Division B First Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“Video Games; Cirque du Soleil; Golden Globes” - Benjamin Wideman): Very nice layouts and by-the-numbers info.

Second Award - The Sheboygan Press: (Bob Farina): Good mix of local stories, wire stories and calendar listings. Well organized.

Third Award - Beloit Daily News, West Bend: (“Beloit Daily News, West Bend Step ‘N Out” - Erica Pennington).

Division C First Award - Portage Daily Register: (Craig Spychalla): Nice layout. Good mix of local stories and good wire stories.

Second Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (“GO!” - Jan Zettler): Good calendar listings.

Third Award - Daily Jefferson County Union, Fort Atkinson: (“Gobel, Hanreddy to stage Mamet’s play Oleanna; Enchantment of Disney’s Aladdin Jr. awaits; Alice in Wonderland coming to Whitewater.” Randall Dullum).

31 Graphics Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Daniel Higgins): Really good easy to follow and clean design/elements.

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (Joe Heller).

Division B First Award - Wausau Daily Herald: (“Safety First; Types of choral; Construction costs add up on highway 51 work” - Elissa Holtmeier): Really nice layout and design elements that were clear and fit well with surrounding content.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Football 2012” - Tony DiNicola, Tony DiNicola, Tony DiNicola).

General Web Excellence Division A First Award - The Journal Times, Racine: (Bridget Thoreson, Brenda Wishau, Greg Giesen, Clint Wiedholz, Jerry Boehme, Rob Golub): Interesting redesign and I like the variety of content. Podcasts in particular were very strong.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“www.postcrescent.com” - Staff): This site gets lots of content to readers without being distracting/obtrusive.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“GreenBayPressGazette.com and PackersNews.com” - Staff): Excellent use of Packers coverage to leverage the newspaper’s location/unique area.

General Comments: The standardized Gannett design/shared content made this a difficult competition to judge.

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Gazettextra” - Dave von Falkenstein, Jonathan Lindquist, Kyle Geissler): Rally nicely designed site with a clear hierarchy of information. Lots of good local content as well. Really impressive for its circulation size.

Division C First Award - Daily Jefferson County Union, Fort Atkinson: (“Daily Union Online” - Staff): Really nicely designed. An excellent site considering the limited newsroom resources.

32 Second Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“http://dailyreporter.com/” - Joe Yovino, Rick Benedict).

Third Award - Portage Daily Register: (“www. portagedailyregister.com” - Daily Register staff).

Creative use of Multimedia Division A First Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Bassoon” - Dan Powers): Really funny and unexpected story with quite a twist.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Fang the mascot” - Wm. Glasheen): Unexpectedly sweet.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Friends of a Feather” - Corey Wilson): I really enjoyed this piece, especially the use of ambient sound.

Division B First Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“Gridiron Insider” - Scott Hansen, Tom Dombeck, Matthew Apgar, Sue Pischke, Sarah Kloepping, Amy Hanson): Really impressive body of work across a whole set of media. Nice job.

Second Award - Daily News, West Bend: (“Double Treble” - John Ehlke): I really enjoyed the voiceover technique you used here. Felt like I got to know the personalities of each person you profiled.

Third Award - Daily News, West Bend: (“Ron Komas on hospice care” - John Ehlke): Simple and moving.

Web Special Project Division A First Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“In the moment: One couple’s journey through dementia” - Cheryl Anderson, Terry Lipshetz, Dan Powers): Great job! Loved the use of multi media elements to connect to your audience. The topic was very interesting.

The video was put together nicely. Overall, really good.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Remembering 9/11: Revisiting Ladder 10” - Wm. Glasheen, Ben Jones, Terry Lipshetz): Great job. This was an interesting perspective of the ten year 9/11 anniversary. Great video

Editorial: Daily Division and photo work!

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Future 15” - Larry Avila, Jim Rosandick): Good use of multi media elements. The videos were put together well and really professional.

General Comments: Great job to all applicants!

Division B First Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“Powered Parachuting” - Sarah Kloepping, Benjamin Wideman): Good use of multi media elements. Great photos. The article flowed well and was interesting. Could not view the video due to the stream being unavailable. Would have loved to have seen it.

Division C First Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (“Looking back: Marshfield fire” - Jonathan Gneiser, Laura Hiller, Liz Welter, Brian Otten): Great use of topic. Love the way you used multi media with this. Great photos and use of graphics in print.

Second Award - Daily Citizen, Beaver Dam: (“Mental Health on Hold” - Megan Sheridan, Trista Pruett): Interesting topic. Great use of multi media.

Third Award - Portage Daily Register: (“Rhyme Building fire” - Daily Register staff): Good video, but you could have done much more than just taking video of the demolition.

Continuing Web Coverage Division A First Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“In the Moment: One couple’s journey through dementia” - Cheryl Anderson, Terry Lipshetz, Dan Powers): The intro to the first video and the interviews with the Zerenner’s are great. The explanation from the doctor is good, and it was smart to start with that in the video. It sets us up to understand the clinical details but you don’t dwell on it. I don’t like the flower and music clip, and the fluffy font selection. Then you continue the story arc by introducing the conflict of the couple versus the disease. Seeing her lose her balance is tough to watch, yet they smile through it. That’s an important storytelling scene. The piano music in the follow-up video is distracting. In addition, you are doing good reader service. You provide a guide to navigating the disease. You provide

information on the book. You provide a list of symptoms. It is nice you are able to package those sidebars as literal sidebars on your site. The creation of the Facebook page is excellent. Your page has turned into quite the little family. Seventy-seven likes, and you have links to content from all over the world.

Great work on a subject that might not be considered as ongoing. You recognized the human story and embraced it. The follow-up video is a great touch.

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Green Bay Packers training camp” - Staff): This appears very complete. Great expertise on the subject is expressed throughout. A good example is the Press-Gazette’s use of Cover It Live. Love the daily photo galleries.

Each day is treated as a photo essay that shows fans and scenes in addition to action and sideline photos. This is professional and the expertise on the subject shows. It is a large body of work centered around a specific part of the season. That focus allows some very in-depth written and visual reporting. The section has great organization.

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Clubhouse Live Seasons 3-4” - Ricardo Arguello, Shayla Brooks, Joel Christopher, Brett Christopherson, Terry Lipshetz, Bonnie Lutzewitz, Sarah Riley, Jim Rosandick): This video series is fun and sometimes beautifully uncomfortable. That’s good, because I keep waiting for something to happen. Your host and co-host are a blast, and the connection with Crabtree is great. You add the chat, the hashtag, hold a contest. Good job creating an event around your brand. Your newsroom has several very interesting video series built off a member of your staff. You embrace branding and personality. This was a hard choice between a few of your fellow entries.

There is quite a bit of creativity flowing in your newsroom.

General Comments: This competition is tough because of the varied amount of content being compared. The use of Facebook, Cover It Live, text alerts and videos is exciting. I enjoyed the idea of text alerts on business stories in one entry. Very smart. And there is some great personality being reflected in some video series while building staff member’s names as brands. I love those risks and that is shown in 3rd place.

There is some great energy in that newsroom.

Documentary storytelling won out, as did the comprehensive coverage of training camp.

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Romney selects Ryan” - Dave von Falkenstein, Jonathan Lindquist): Love the gallery of file

photos. That’s something you can corner the market on during his early years. Another good addition to the package are the Path to Prosperity documents and information about the President’s budget. You are making it easy to find more information. You are making news decisions based on readers and what they should learn. You rely on other resources to make this package come together, most noticeably AP. The local debate night story highlights how you again own the hometown advantage. Zerban petitions Ryan for debate does this as well. That’s a very interesting story. The organization of this special section pushed it to first place.

Second Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“S.S. Badger car ferry gets stuck” - Sue Pischke, Sarah Kloepping, Charlie Mathews, Cindy Hodgson, Amy Hanson): The photo galleries need more editing.

There’s some unnecessary repetition of fire nozzle and ladder truck photos. You certainly proved you are all over the scene, though.

Good idea getting up high in the truck. And you have the ferry and busses covered from every angle. Great job seeking out the fourthgraders who were on the ferry and talking to the principal. That’s a nice way to put some humanity into the piece. You point out several different ways people end up dealing with the delay. Nice commentary from the folks getting off the ferry in one of the videos. I’d like to see this content packaged as a whole.

It is so nice to see so much locally generated content on a story.

Division C First Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“http://dailyreporter.com/streetcar/” - Joe Yovino, Rick Benedict): Nice aggregation of your hard work. There’s even a video buried in one of you Hot Topics in addition to the two labeled VIDEO, though it is all the same video. You write with a level of expertise on the subject and rightly so if Milwaukee has been talking about this for a couple decades.

The maps are so important to this page. And you have about 200 people voting in your poll. Great to see readers reacting to content.

Advertising: Daily Division Bill Payne Award Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“YMCA” - Geri Collette, Consolidated Production Center): Creative shape plus ONE message made this ad stand out from the rest as the best.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“I Love(Heart symbol) my Les Stump Ford” Don Elston, Central Design Center , GIADC , Information Center): Awesome idea to tie in a business sponsor that is a fan too.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Meyer Jewelers” - Holly Schroeder, Consolidated Production Center): Jewelry as bugs! Still a wonderfully graphic ad that stood out as creative.

Division B First Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“Downtown Manitowoc Farmers’ Market” - Megan Bruckschen): Very good layout and graphics to show the variety of goods available. Simple precise directions too.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Huntington Place -- FiveStar Senior Living” - Julie Daun, Erin Jones): 5 Star ad for 5 star accommodations. Why is it on the start of the classified page?

Third Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Fagan

Automotive” - Jody Gearhart, Donna Felland): One awesome feature, on all these autos? Great point.

Division C First Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Doral” - staff): This ad looks like someone paid a full service agency a lot of money to design. Very clean yet attention demanding layout and graphics.

Second Award - Watertown Daily Times: (“Kathy’s Buffalo Bar” - Mark Heiden): Creative ad with local appeal. Right placement for color and beer glass.

Third Award - Watertown Daily Times: (“Hady Electric Inc” - Mark Heiden): I need to know what it is.

Harrison MacDonald Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Broadway Automotive - Chevy 100 Year AdScape Series” - Michelle Palma, Consolidated Production Center , Multiple Accounts): Love the design and concept. Can be used for any advertiser having a significant anniversary.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“I Love(Heart symbol) my Les Stump Ford” Don Elston, Central Design Center , GIADC , Information Center): Great modern design.

Excellent idea the only downfall is that it can only be used in markets with a high profile team.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Fall Spotlight of Homes” - Staff , Consolidated Production Center): Nice clean layout. Most markets to a spring homes feature but a fall one is a good idea!

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“The Janesville Gazette Classifieds -- Make Your Garage Sale A Success” - Michele Richardson, Terry Fleig): Excellent job all the way around.

Great job getting partners for free food, great idea in general, and great layout for this promotional ad.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“The Janesville Gazette Classifieds -- Photos Sell” Jody Gearhart, Terry Fleig): True, true, true, photos do sell. Simple concept that many papers forget about.

The Janesville Gazette, First Award, Division B, Harrison MacDonald.

Third Award - The Reporter, Fond du Lac: (“Chevy 100” - Holly Niemeyer): Nice idea,

and more importantly way to come through with the $$$.

Division C First Award - The Chippewa Herald, Chippewa Falls: (“Finn Chiropractic Clinic” Julie Nelson): Nice job, unique concept.

Best Adv Idea (Series) Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Pioneer Credit Union” - Laurie Vicenzi, Consolidated Production Center): The varying sizes but consistent artwork and theme make it an unusual series. Also like the use of the shaped ad at the end.

Second Award - Kenosha News: (“Barnett Wamboldt Eyecare” - Maureen Cramer, Anna Bauer): Eye catching photos. Easily draws your eye to the ad. Great series idea.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Broadway Automotive - Chevy 100 Year AdScape Series” - Michelle Palma, Consolidated Production Center).

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Pierce Home Furnishings” - Nina Perona, Donna Hanson): Excellent use of space and branding.

Hope they keep up with the look.

Second Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“Oostburg State Bank” - Nicole Wolff).

Third Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“Creekside Chiropractic” - Nicole Wolff).

Division C First Award - Watertown Daily Times: (“Hady Electric Inc” - Mark Heiden): Great ad series.

Normal non advertiser in our market.

33 Services): Excellent job. Took first place over other “Best of ” publications because of the consistent use of photos throughout, great!

Second Award - Kenosha News: (“Kenosha News/Miss America” - Sales Staff , Media Services): Wow! What a section. Way to go as far as covering the hometown girl. Ad content is amazing.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Best of the Bay Results Section” - Erica VanBoxel, Kristy Gnadt, Multiple Account Executives): Very well done Best Of section.

Great advertising content.

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Summer Source” - Tom Bradley, Entire Ad Staff): Very fun cover! Nice, easy-to-read layout. Good shelf life for this informative piece. I like the use of local photos used throughout. Advertisers got bang for their buck! Selling a multi-ad package is a plus!

Second Award - The Reporter, Fond du Lac: (“Menu Guide” - Tom Schug): Having the menus listed gave longevity shelf life for advertisers in this guide. Restaurant index a big plus!

Third Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“St. Mary’s Janesville Hospital / Dean Clinic” Dan Bothun, Tom Bradley, Entire Ad Staff): Beautiful, clean cover. Very informative from past to current. Very nice!

Division C First Award - Portage Daily Register: (“The List” - Creative Team): A good mix of editorial copy & interactive along with the ads. “A little bit of everything!” LOVE the cover and the stock it’s printed on!

Second Award - The Chippewa Herald, Chippewa Falls: (“A new era in wound care. St. Joseph’s Center for would care and hyberbaric medicine” - Julie LaVelle).

Second Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Top Projects of 2011” - Jayne Laste): Wow! What an impressive piece. Great photos along with eye-catching advertising with nice layout.

Third Award - The Monroe Times: (“Remember When” - Tai Ruegsegger, Diane Albright, Steve Allen, Mae Burke, Laura Hughes).

Third Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Construction Law” - Jayne Laste): Nice looking, intriguing piece highlighted w/eyecatching ads.

Best Advertising Special Section

Best Use of Color

Division A First Award - Kenosha News: (“Best of Kenosha County” - Sales Staff , Media

Division A First Award - Kenosha News: (“Clearview windows doors & more” - Allyson Barnes, Anna Bauer): The use of such a bold and open layout makes this ad very appealing and

34 simple. It grabs your attention and quickly makes its point.

Second Award - Kenosha News: (“Ski & Sports Chalet” - Garret Nauta, Jamie Serpe): Great use of color to fit so many different things into the ad. It’s easy to make any ad look cluttered with so much in it, but this ad is eye-catching and easy to read.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Green Bay Metro” - Laurie Vicenzi, Consolidated Production Center): Putting the green over this map in the background adds color with also keeping the ad cleaner and easier to read. Great use of color!

Advertising: Daily Division Very clean look and very informative section.

I like all of the ads at the back, they are easy to find and easy to read.

Second Award - Kenosha News: (“Bradford Red Devils” - Jill Andrews, Jamie Serpe): This is the best signature page that I have ever seen. It is so colorful and attractive.

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Shop Fox Cities First Spend Your Dollars Locally” - Appleton Advertising Department, GIADC , Sarah Dreikosen): Good header and ad layout. Section is full but not too crowded.

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Kutter Harley-Davidson” - Julie Daun, Donna Hanson): Celebrate life comes across very strongly in the use of colors ad the photos.

Well laid out and balanced.

Division B First Award - The Reporter, Fond du Lac: (“Pub & Grub” - Tom Schug, Jen Memmel, Taima Kern, Katie Larson): Great layout. The copy is easy to find and read and the ads don’t over-crowd the page. The page holds a lot of ads while still providing informative content and a nice appearance.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Fitness Together” - Nina Perona, Sara Miller, Lon Haenel): Like how the sunbeam was carried onto the backs side. Well balanced and good example of not “over” using color.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Halloween Pub “Crawl Around the Block”” - Marci McCarten, Diane Braunreiter): Very eye-catching header. The color throughout all of the ads and the way the border is carried around the whole page is great.

Third Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“Downtown Manitowoc Farmers’ Market” - Megan Bruckschen): Clever. Liked how the full color photos and the wooden boxes came together !!

Third Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Oh, What Fun It Is To Shop Local” - Marci McCarten, Diane Braunreiter): Very clean and simple layout. Ads all fit together well without the page looking too messy or confusing for the reader.

Division C First Award - Watertown Daily Times: (“Kathy’s Buffalo Bar” - Mark Heiden): ZING!! The black makes the other colors pop!! Nicely organized and clever ad without the use of color, but the color makes this a winner. !!

Second Award - Marshfield News-Herald: (“Hansen-Schilling Funeral Home & Crematory” - Kathy Boyles): Nice color treatment with using multiple full color pictures. The end result is a clean and well organized ad.

Third Award - Baraboo News Republic: (“Portage Furniture” - Dusty Zajda).

Best Multiple Advertiser Spread Division A First Award - Kenosha News: (“Pitter Patter” - Jill Andrews, Jamie Serpe): Very cute idea.

Division C First Award - Watertown Daily Times: (“J&L Tire Golf Benefit” - Adam Burdsall): Very good idea for signatures. I like just having the logos at the sides of the page. The content is very eye-catching.

Second Award - Daily Jefferson County Union, Fort Atkinson: (“Palmyra Page” - Denise Derry, Leila Nordness): Very clean layout for all of the ads that are on this page. It is bright and easy to read.

Third Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Focus on Real Estate” - Jayne Laste): This section is very well designed. I really like the look of the section. However, it really didn’t have many ads in it.

Best Use of Art Service Division A First Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Football is back!” - Gary Vossekuil, Melissa

Scherer): Shaped ad stands out and looks modern. Good use of art and color.

Second Award - Kenosha News: (“Kenosha Urgicare” - Garret Nauta, Anna Bauer): Teddy bear draws your eye into the ad. Great concept.

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“LOVE YOUR CARPET Love your home.”

- Elly Heuring, GIADC): Eye catching ad.

Good concept.

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Halloween Pub “Crawl Around the Block”” - Marci McCarten, Diane Braunreiter): This one placed first mostly because it has a larger, eye-catching heading. Small ads all well done and clean. Each contains lots of information without being cluttered. Well-balanced, colorful ad.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“What’s On The Menu This Week?” - Marci McCarten, Diane Braunreiter): A terrific, fun group ad with lots of variety, color and information. As good as first place, but its better focal point, which gives readers an entry into the page, gave that ad the edge.

Third Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Rock Around The Block -- Wrapper” - Marci McCarten, Donna Felland, Kacey Kaderly): A nice ad but less organized than the top two.

Plenty of interesting content. The map is OK, but some variety needed in the size of the graphic elements. Too many objects the same size. Difficult for reader to find an entry point on the insides.

General Comments: All winners are fun, colorful ads.

Division C First Award - The Chippewa Herald, Chippewa Falls: (“CCEDC’s 17th Annual Meeting Thursday, May 17, 2012 7:00-9:00 am. Horizon’s Lounge and Banquet Center - 10764 Hwy Q, Chippewa Falls” - Julie Nelson): Good use of a cute cartoon to tie in the theme of the meeting being advertised.

Nice use of spot colors to create balance and a unified look. Clean, eye-catching ad.

Second Award - Watertown Daily Times: (“Kathy’s Buffalo Bar” - Mark Heiden): The color makes the ad pop, but so does the glass of beer against the dark background. The ad is about beer and food that goes with it. Simple message; simple, clean, balanced ad catches the eye in an otherwise cluttered page.

Third Award - Baraboo News Republic: (“Viking Express Market” - Nick Ahles): A traditional use of clip art in a grocery ad.

Done well. Not too many specials, so the ad is not cluttered. Would be more effective with smaller store logo and larger 5¢ off heading.

A nice, balanced ad though.

General Comments: Non-winning entries used clip art well, but the overall ads were weak.

Best Use of Local Photography Division A First Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“A DIFFICULT GOODBYE” - Gary Vossekuil, Appleton Photography Department, Dan Powers): This one was GREAT. I felt like this ad made me want to contact them from several states away when and if my dog passes away. There are so many family member loss programs. But, a pet hospice program is (as far as I’m concerned) an excellent idea and the photo makes that blatantly (and painfully) obvious. I LOVE this ad. It’s somber, truthful, and draws you to it like a fly to honey. The look on her face conveys an essence of real concern and real hurt and real compassion.

The look of the dog just makes your heart hurt and makes you want to just mutter “Oh you poor thing.....” This picture drew a few tears from me thinking about it. That is good photography.

Second Award - Kenosha News: (“Proko Funeral Home & Crematory” - Allyson Barnes, Anna Bauer): A very good ad, and well placed. The ad itself pulls you towards it with a patch of color and smiling faces on a mostly black and white page. Then when you see the ‘3 generations 50 years’ seal it automatically makes you think “Wow these folks have experience and standing” However, the choice of photo is a little overplayed and commonly done. The contrast makes this ad, not the photo. If any of the elements for this picture and ad were missing, this ad would have been dropped in score for me. The photo was a good accentuation, but not as good as some other choices might have been.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Aurora Baycare Hospital” - Vicki Brown, Erica VanBoxel, Marie Rayome, Kristy Gnadt, Mike Peters): Loved this one.

The color scheme was a bit much, but it accentuated the ad to where it made sense. I like it, but it could have been better. Still an obvious third, and a very nice set of photos

Advertising: Daily Division used. The picture with the ‘Emergency’ sign made me think there was a sense of urgency.

The Neurology photo was good but not great and a little hazy. I did however think that the first two shots (the photo of the hospital entry way and the one from above and at an angle) made this hospital seem not only friendly and helpful, but superior and not at all lacking in the means to help people. I liked this ad a lot because of the photos.

references handy for sales staff.

different from other ads.

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Customized Print & Deliver” - Terry Fleig, Tom Bradley): The sales materials for this product really portray the products quality.

It is easy to read and very informative.

Everything is right here in one place and it has great presentation.

Division C First Award - The Monroe Times: (“Celebrating our Past” - Tai Ruegsegger, Diane Albright, Steve Allen, Laura Hughes, Mae Burke): It was very interesting to read about the history of Green County and the paper is well put together.

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Mac’s Pizza Shack” - Dan Bothun, Donna Hanson): This was a great set of photos for an even greater ad. These photos made my mouth water and my stomach grumble. I could take the food without ever having bitten into it.

Second Award - The Reporter, Fond du Lac: (“Trio rate card-Revue, Outlook, Success” - Sam Gudex, Jen Memmel): The idea of bundling seems to be getting more and more popular. The trick is to make the sales materials attractive and not overwhelming. I think you have done a great job at both.

Second Award - Oshkosh Northwestern: (“Enjoy the season in all of its Spledor” - Amy Cary, Joe Sienkiewicz): I loved the photos of the snowflake necklace and earring on the left. The ring under the ‘Splendor’ was what killed it for me. It looked less like a jeweled ring and more like crumpled aluminum.

Maybe if you had turned it to the side and gave it some dimension it would have had more appeal.

Third Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“Lakeshore Women’s Expo” - Robin Lisowe, Kristy Gnadt): Very bright and eye-catching.

It’s easy to read and answers all of the questions an advertiser might have.

Third Award - Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc: (“If the Shoe Fits” - Pat Dirkman): First off, LOL. This was weird to me at first but I couldn’t help looking at it a few times. After twice, it kinda forced a smile from my lips and made chuckle slightly. This was pretty good.

Division A First Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“From the Best internet and phone provider... to the best local diner.” - Nicole Mertes, Gary Vossekuil): Great use of shape and nostalgic theme. Like the use of a series.

Division C First Award - Watertown Daily Times: (“J&L Tire Golf Benefit” - Adam Burdsall).

Best Advertising Sales Tool Division A First Award - Kenosha News: (“KN Digital Media” - Nicole McQuestion, Anna Bauer): Great proposal set up offering a great deal of valuable information to the customer.

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“‘11 Best of the Valley” - Nicole Mertes, Gary Vossekuil): Good packaging piece. Makes the decision making and sales process much easier.

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“2012 TOP THREE Our Story” - Nicole Mertes, Jeremy Panizza, Market Development Department): Easy way to have digital

Best Newspaper Promotion

Second Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“There’s a picture of little Jonny where?; Local Blogger blogs about what?; Paul found the best fishing spots Where?” - Gary Vossekuil, Melissa Scherer): Good use of color and photos.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Wisconsin Day Trips” - Gannett Wisconsin Media , Gary Vossekuil, Melissa Scherer).

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Taste of Home Cooking School Event” - Tom Bradley, Terry Fleig, Entire Ad Staff): Good promotional idea, stood out from the things around it.

Second Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“2012 Lakeshore Women’s Expo” - Robin Lisowe, Kristy Gnadt): Very appealing to the eye, also creative.

Third Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“60 Plus Expo” - Tom Bradley, Terry Fleig, Entire Ad Staff): Offered many things to do and was

35 Second Award - The Monroe Times: (“Source” - Tai Ruegsegger, Steve Allen, Diane Albright, Mae Burke, Laura Hughes): Beautiful section.

Nice layout, and content is superb. Nice ad content as well.

Third Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Focus On Real Estate” - Jayne Laste, Caley Clinton, Kevin Harnack): Nicely done.

Amount of content simply doesn’t match up against the first and second place winners.

Best Niche PublicationBest Niche PublicationIn Paper Out of Paper Division A First Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“answer book your complete guide to the Fox Cities” - Information Center, Appleton Advertising Department, WPC): Very well done. Nicer print stock adds to it. Great content. Great ad content. First place, well ahead of the others.

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Seniors Spring Edition” - Multiple Accounts , Multiple Account Executives , Erica VanBoxel, James Hoslet): Very well done.

From cover to back, very nice eye-catching layout. Solid content and solid ad content.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Any Ribbon Any Color” - Multiple Accounts , Multiple Account Executives , Erica VanBoxel, Kristy Gnadt): Very nicely done, taking one health topic and giving extensive coverage, with a local flair. Great!

Division B First Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“Living Here” - Liebelt Dave, Staff): Excellent section, with tons of content that is relevant year round. Photos GREATLY add to the appeal of this. First place by far.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Parade of Homes Tabloid” - Tom Bradley, Donna Hanson, Entire Ad Staff): Very nice layout and design. Extremely colorful and inviting to the reader. Great job.

Third Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Real Estate for Today” - Tom Bradley, Entire Ad Staff): Very nicely done. Layout is extremely well done. Loads of content. Nice job.

Division C First Award - Daily Citizen, Beaver Dam: (“101 Fun Things To Do This Summer” - Charity Taylor, Melissa Boehler, Mary Nordquist, Jackie Lese): Nicely done, great use of color throughout. Nice layout and design. An easy read.

Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“A List” - Multiple Accounts , Multiple Account Executives , Erica VanBoxel, Kristy Gnadt): Very nicely done. Great layout, using sizeable photos. Extremely well done from cover to cover.

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“YOU Magazine” - Multiple Accounts , Multiple Account Executives , Erica VanBoxel, Kristy Gnadt): Very nice layout, busy at times....but still nicely done. Front cover is excellent, and there’s plenty of nice ad coverage.

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Tri-County Recycle Guide” - Multiple Accounts , Multiple Account Executives, Erica VanBoxel, Sarah Dreikosen): Very well done. A good piece to keep around the house or office all year long.

Division B First Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“Lakeshore Living” - Dave Liebelt, Staff): Extremely well done. I was a little disappointed with the cover, but once inside this section is wonderful. Very nice design and excellent content.

Second Award - The Reporter, Fond du Lac: (“Fond du Lac Area Guide” - staff): Very close to first place. This section is laid out very nicely, and is absolutely loaded with editorial content and ad content. Great job.

Third Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“Wedding Planner” - Dave Liebelt, Staff): Very nice concept, and well executed. I like the smaller design which makes it easy to read and keep throughout the whole process, and beyond.

Division C First Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee:

36 (“Top Projects” - Jayne Laste, Caley Clinton): Wow. This is some kind of section. Nice layout, nice content. A first place winner, by far in this category.

Second Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“Newsmakers of the Year” - Kevin Harnack, Caley Clinton, Jayne Laste): Very nicely done. Good concept, and excellent content.

Third Award - Portage Daily Register: (“Welcome To Wisconsin Columbia County” - Creative Team): Very nicely done. Nice color, a little busy at times, but still very nicely done.

Best Circulation Promotion Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Packer Profiles” - Multiple Accounts , Multiple Account Executives).

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“League of Lambeau” - Joe Heller, Multiple Account Executives).

Third Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Green Bay Press-Gazette Farmer’s Market” - Matt Wolcanski, Dave Sielski, Brett Kusserow).

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Eleven -- Eleven -- Eleven” - Lon Haenel, Sara Miller).

Innovative Online Advertising Division A First Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“See your shots a LITTLE CLEARER with emPower ELECTRONIC FOCUSING EYEWEAR - Community Eyecare” - Elly Heuring, GIADC).

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Piggly Wiggly Olsen’s and Larry’s” Consolidated Production Center , Vicki Brown).

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“Gustman - roll over to activate” - Nate Kampo, GIADC).

Advertising: Daily Division Division B First Award - Oshkosh Northwestern: (“Oshkosh Habitat/Restore” - Jason Kramer, Barb Seitz, Ashley Duckart).

Third Award - La Crosse Tribune: (“Elvis Explosion” - Jeremy Harnisch): Good use of art. Eye catching.

Division B First Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Dunkin Donuts -- Vote for your favorites...” - Kacey Kaderly, Terry Fleig): Very vibrant ad with the “free” offer making a call to action for a more effective ad.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Bracket Challenge” - Terry Fleig, Tom Bradley): Eye catching ad. Prominent $1,000,000 makes you want to click on the ad.

Second Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Fanning Excavating” Marci McCarten, Adam Zellmer).

Third Award - The Sheboygan Press: (“Bitter Neumann-90 years” - Jackie Stenson).

Online Revenue Builder

Third Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“Beloit Janesville Symphony Concert In The Park” Terry Fleig): Creative use of artwork. Clean, easy-to-read ad.

Green Bay Press-Gazette, First Award, Division A, Best Advertising Idea (Series)

Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Green Bay Packer Online Photo Galleries” - Multiple Accounts , Multiple Account Executives , Information Center): Great use of reader interaction, as well as tying in advertising dollars to it as well. Great functionality.

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Best of the Bay Voting/Results Page” - Multiple Accounts , Multiple Account Executives): This is an impressive feature online, and an impressive feature in print.

Well done on both fronts.

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“KAYAKERS FREE DEMO May 19th 11:003:00 - Zellers” - Ashley Hogan, GIADC): Way to go the extra mile for the client. This is a great example of going beyond print.

Division B First Award - Oshkosh Northwestern: (“Greybeard Productions” - Lori Stubbe, Jason Kramer): Extremely well done.

Graphics are great, and the idea is definitely a solid one. Congrats on the results you received. Well deserved.

Second Award - Oshkosh Northwestern: (“Oshkosh Irish Fest” - Jason Kramer, Lisa O’Halloran, Ashley Duckart, Karen Gogolewski): Love this idea and the layout.

Great job, with consistent, extensive results.

Third Award - The Janesville Gazette: (“My Pigskin Picks” - Tom Bradley, Terry Fleig,

Kacey Kaderly, Entire Ad Staff): While many people use UPickem contests, this one was done extremely well.

Division C First Award - Daily Jefferson County Union, Fort Atkinson: (“Have you seen the Daily union’s Mobile Site?” - Jim Furley): Great idea, with great results.

Second Award - The Daily Reporter, Milwaukee: (“http://dailyreporter.com/ jobtrac/” - Joe Yovino, Rick Benedict, Ann Knoedler): Way to go. Increases in revenue and subscriptions and connecting more with your readers/viewers is what it’s all about.

Third Award - The Monroe Times: (“Stateline 411” - Tai Ruegsegger, Steve Allen, Diane Albright, Laura Hughes, Mae Burke): Nice idea and nice promotional ad.

Best Online AdvertisingSingle Ad- Static Division A First Award - La Crosse Tribune: (“UW-L” Jeremy Harnisch): Very clean. Easy to read.

Good digital ad.

Second Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Festival Foods” - Lori O’Connor, Consolidated Production Center): Eye catching and simple.

Like the command to click.

Best Online AdvertisingSingle Ad- Animated Division A First Award - Green Bay Press-Gazette: (“Booyah Shed & Grill” - Jason Zoch, Consolidated Production Center): Funny, cute and eye catching.

Second Award - La Crosse Tribune: (“Schumacher Kish” - Jeremy Harnisch): Clean. Tasteful. Good digital ad.

Third Award - The Post-Crescent, Appleton: (“54 YEARS STRONG Flanagan’s Stop and Shop - Flanagans” - Elly Heuring, GIADC): Animated but not too animated.

Division B First Award - Oshkosh Northwestern: (“Oshkosh Area Community Foundation” Amy Cary, Ashley Duckart, Jason Kramer).

Second Award - Oshkosh Northwestern: (“Sustainability Expo” - Jason Kramer).

Third Award - Oshkosh Northwestern: (“Benvenuto’s Italian Grill” - Jason Kramer, Ashley Duckart).

Division C First Award - Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids: (“Piggly Wiggly” - Colleen Schwanebeck).

Collegiate Contest Winners General Excellence Division A (Published at least twice per week or more) First Place - The Daily Cardinal, UW-Madison: Excellent use of graphics, photos and factboxes makes for an attractive paper from cover to cover. Includes a solid mix of campus, city and state topics with high relevance to UW-Madison readers -- striking a balance between serious topics and entertaining content. Solid headlines and effective design.

Keep up the good work!

Second Place - The Badger Herald, UWMadison: A solid publication with a strong focus on the interests of students. However, the entry lacked the variety of content that the first-place winner displayed. More care is also

needed on layout, use of photos and artwork to wow readers and attract their eyes to the quality writing the staff produces.

Division B (Published once per week or less) First Place - Advance-Titan, UW-Oshkosh: Strong writing, strong photography and clean design work to provide a quality product to readers. Man vs. Food cover particularly eye catching.

Second Place - The Spectator, UW-Eau Claire: Good organization, strong writing and good leads. But the reverse type is difficult to read on photos that aren’t dark enough to support that treatment. Some inside pages were heavy on text.

Third Place - The Clarion, Madison Area Technical College: Good use of photos and artwork throughout, but some writing suffers from bland ledes and apparent lack of editing.

Overall a well-designed paper.

Honorable Mention - Student Voice, UWRiver Falls: Nice mix of spot news, features and sports and generally solid writing. Byline style design is distracting. Front pages needed stronger visuals to stand out.

Graphics Division A First Place - The Daily Cardinal, UW-Madison: (“Welcome Back, A Bar Guide, The High Price of Division” - Dylan Moriarty): What we liked:We liked the designer’s hand-drawn imagery and thought the Welcome Back illustration was fun and welcoming. We also liked that he kept the visuals bold giving the page designs a focus.What we disliked:We felt the High Price of Division illustration was cliche and we questioned who the target audience was for or the bar guide.

Division B First Place - Arches, Mount Mary College: (“Branded, Fantasy Football, Marketing Yourself” - Barbara Kolb): What we liked:We liked the playful illustration with the Branded story and thought the attempt to break out the football leagues into more than a simple list was a good idea. What we disliked: We questioned why the football league breakouts had arbitrary football players in each box, when the opportunity to do more with the content of each league was available. We also felt that while the Marketing Yourself illustration was cute, the text could have been better integrated with visuals.

Second Place - Arches, Mount Mary College: (“Bump up Your Backside, Jaci’s Awards, Polar Plunge” - Melissa Lor): What we liked: We liked the fun, simple illustration style.

We also thought the illustrations were eyecatching and complimented the stories. What we disliked: We thought the illustration and design in Jaci’s Awards could have been better integrated with the photos. The Bump Up Your Backside illustration was hindered by the use of type. The imagery could have stood on its own.

The Daily Cardinal, UW-Madison, First Award, Division A, General Excellence.

Third Place - The Clarion, Madison Area Technical College: (“My Doctor is my Dealer, The Road Less Traveled, More Homeless Students” - George Treviranus): What we liked: We felt the designer showed a nice range of presentation and used informational

37 graphic techniques to provide additional information with stories. What we disliked: We questioned the appropriateness of the pillows for homeless story and felt it set an improper tone for a serious story. We also felt the doctor illustration falsely portrayed the story. When done correctly illustration can add a layer of understanding; however, in this case the visual raised questions as to what the author was trying to convey.

Photography Division A First Place - The Daily Cardinal, UWMadison: (“Tibet protests reach Iowa” - Mark Kauzlarich): Excellent photography showing the scope of this emotionally charged protest.

Mr. Kauzlarich clearing knows his subjects and wrings emotion out of every shot. The photos tell the story as much as the writing copy does. Nice technique with close-ups and long range shots. The front shot focuses on the subject’s facial details but excellent crop with the bullhorn and flag in background. Great photojournalism.

Division B First Place - The Clarion, Madison Area Technical College: (“Sweet Treats” - Phil Ejercito): These photos are almost delectable as the subject matter. Nice collection of photos showing detail and perspective and the relationship between the bakers in the kitchen and artistry of their craft. Great photography work.

Second Place - Royal Purple, UW-Whitewater: (“A man, a plan, a hot dog stand” - Andrew J. Smith): Congratulations to Mr. Smith for injecting humor into his photography. He took what could have been a mundane photo and enticed the reader with his visual flair and imagination. Thank you for the great photo.

General Reporting Division A First Place - The Daily Cardinal, UW-Madison: (“Race factor in college admissions could end” - Alex DiTullio): Good subject matter; I think it’s something students are certainly interested in. Well written and informative.

Liked the use of sources.

Second Place - The Daily Cardinal, UWMadison: (“The China Connection” - Alex DiTullio): Interesting subject to write on, really thought it worked and enjoyed reading it. I liked how you used opposing opinions to show each side of the story. Well written, no editing mistakes.

Collegiate Contest Winners Third Place - The Badger Herald, UW-Madison: (“Heroin epidemic leaves man to battle with regret” - Leah Linscheid): I liked the piece but I would have liked to see more ties to the university, maybe how students could get help if they had a drug problem. Well written, but I think the man’s story gets a little drawn out at the beginning of the article.

Division B First Place - Royal Purple, UW-Whitewater: (“Cover charge causes controversy” - Samantha Jacquest): Very nice piece. All of the sources had something important to add to the article. Well written.

Second Place - The Clarion, Madison Area Technical College: (“Student gets readjusted with help of clinic for veterans” - Sarah Weatherbee): Well written. Vets are such an important part of our society and need to know they have a place they can go. I really like the subject and the use of the soldier’s story to tie into the use of the clinic. I’m sure more vets began using the clinic after the article was published, shining that spotlight on something that’s so important to a community. Nicely done.

Third Place - Exponent, UW-Platteville: (“Fire destroys Chicago’s Best, displaces students” Gerrad Frei): I am a UW-Platteville Alumni and was sad to hear about Chicago’s Best. The article is well written and I liked the incorporation of the owner’s emotions into the piece.

You really get a feel for the importance of this business and the residences above it. The fire chief was an excellent source as well.

Honorable Mention - Royal Purple, UWWhitewater: (“Exchange students suffering from world tensions” - Ben Holzhueter): Really liked this article. Interesting subject matter that is important to many students on campus. Would have liked to read more about the sanctions and how other students are being affected (not just the one opinion), could have included more information in the article.

Honorable Mention - Royal Purple, UWWhitewater: (“Royal Purple says goodbye to trademarked logo” - Andrea Behling): Although the paper didn’t address the issue of the logo change right away (from what I gathered through the article) it was great that it was eventually addressed by the editor in chief. Informative and well written. I like the idea of the survey at the end, going online and visiting the website. Would have liked to have heard from businesses or other organizations that have to now change their logo.I liked how you covered all aspects of the show. Well

written. I really got a feel for all those involved and how everything worked. Nicely done.

Honorable Mention - Student Voice, UWRiver Falls: (“AFAB allows seg fee funding for dues-based student orgs” - Michael Brun): Very informative. If I was a student, all my questions about the change would have been answered in the article. You covered what students would want to know, and you did it well. Would have liked to have heard from some organizations on what they think about the change, how it might affect them.

Sports Reporting First Place - Arches, Mount Mary College: (“Angels plunge into special olympics head first” - Shantae Chapman): Excellent job. Well written with a nice touch of heart. Well developed with great interest and great beginning and ending. Congrats.

Second Place - Exponent, UW-Platteville: (“Ryan signs copies of book, merchandise” - Colten Bartholomew): The writer was able to communicate very well with a high profile coach. Very down to earth article and very complete. Nice to know good people exist in coaching and glad the writer could bring this out. Congrats.

Third Place - The Badger Herald, UWMadison: (“For Ball, life in spotlight learning experience” - Nick Korger): Not the SI or ESPN treatment but could be more effective.

After reading I feel I know Montee Ball better and I could consider cheering for him. That is what the article is supposed to do and you succeeded.

Honorable Mention - The Clarion, Madison Area Technical College: (“I in team: Otten shares lessons of teamwork with others” Jennifer Mayleigh Bell): Starts well and ends great with everything in the middle good too. I learned a lot from reading this felt good afterwards. Much better than a “game” story.

Honorable Mention - The Clarion, Madison Area Technical College: (“Like father like son” - Mike Wang): Good job of finding a sports feature with a neat approach. Good job of developing the family aspect of the sport and how those dynamics play into the success of young man. Well written and nicely developed. A good read.

Sports Column First Place - The Daily Cardinal, UW-Mad-

38

ison: (“Master’s Degree” - Matt Masterson): Good knowledge of all the sports covered. Good job of developing the points. Solid statements with equally solid points. Excellent effort.

Second Place - Student Voice, UWRiver Falls: (“Small town sports foster sense of community” - Ryan Tibbitts): Good look at small town sports by someone with first hamd knowledge of he situation. Well written but could come to the point earlier and develop it more. Overall good writing and a good job.

Third Place - The Badger Herald, UW-Madison: (“Badger frontcourt looks promising for 2012-13” - Elliott Hughes): Interesting assessment of the future of Badger basketball. Good job of analyzing.

Good use of stats to back it up. Solid entry.

The Clarion, Madison Area Technical College, First Award, Division B, Photography.

Investigative Reporting First Place - The Badger Herald, UWMadison: (“Campus climate fosters sexual assault” - Pamela Selman): This entry takes first place in a close, competitive field. Pamela Selman’s story offers a compelling look at the significant role alcohol plays in sexual assaults on and near UW campuses. The story is well sourced from the viewpoints of victim advocates and law enforcement and would have been even stronger with victim interviews.

The story is well written, is easy to follow and the graphic is informative.

Second Place - The Spectator, UW-Eau Claire: (“Cost of new Davies redesign at $572,000” - Frank F. Pellegrino and Breann Schossow):

Good effort by Pellegrino and Schossow to break the news that redesign costs -- which the university had not disclosed -- were more than a half-million dollars. The reporters used multiple sources to tell the story well.

Third Place - The Clarion, Madison Area Technical College: (“Books but no home: Homeless students struggle for stability” Kaitlyn Vosswinkel): Kudos to Vosswinkel for exploring the issue of homelessness among college student. Her anecdotal lede about student Nadia Akrabawi living out of her car and/or “couch surfing” sets the table well for this story. Well researched and well written, but I wanted more stats on the extent of this isse.

Feature Writing First Place - The Spectator, UW-Eau Claire:

39 (““Learning from the past, Looking into the future”” - Chris Reinoos): The lead captures the reader and the subject/issue well. The story also was well-sourced, which makes it well-rounded. The quotes used captured emotion, and the story flowed naturally through the use of subheads. It also captured the impact of creating Hmong Heritage Month on campus. Overall, great job.

Second Place - Royal Purple, UW-Whitewater: (“A man, a plan, a hot dog stand” - Benjamin Holzhueter): Good story for a feature, and good job making sure it had at least three sources. However, the angle of the story seemed to miss its mark and lacked depth.

The story looked like it was about a grad and a hot dog stand, but most of the story talked about people who influenced him -- with no connection to the hot dog stand. How did he get started, what works goes into it? And what is he doing in the future? Avoid using the word “things” at all costs.

Third Place - The Spectator, UW-Eau Claire: (““Putting it on ice: Student curler wins silver at Junior National Championships”” Anna Soldner): The story opened very well with a descriptive and interesting lead, but the following quotes weren’t additive and instead cited facts rather than emotion. The “calling the shot” subhead was particularly well-sourced and got more to the heart of the player’s work ethic and drive. The story could have been improved by focusing more on the player and her interest in curling at the beginning and then describing the sport and how she did in the championships later so as not to bog down the top of the story.

Column Writing First Place - The Clarion, Madison Area Technical College: (“Slacktivism: an activist’s lament” - Sarah Weatherbee): Very sharp, clear and to the point. Readers certainly understand that being aware without action is akin to being unaware. Great column, Sarah.

Second Place - The Badger Herald, UWMadison: (“Shadid provided wartime insight” - Meher Ahmad): Nice job making us understand that Mr. Shadid left a valuable legacy through his wartime reporting. In addition, your own experience in Jordan supports your contention that we need to understand exactly what war means.

Third Place - Royal Purple, UW-Whitewater: (“Movie Review: The Devil Inside” - Benjamin Holzhueter): Wow! You really did not like that movie, and you leave no doubt that I

Collegiate Contest Winners ought to dislike too.

You start well, building the case against the film, and giving us a quick synopsis of it, so we understand the basis of your argument.

However, in the middle you turn it into -well, the closest thing that comes to mind is a rant, which is what dropped you down in the rankings.

Best Editorial Division A First Place - The Badger Herald, UW-Madison: (“Wisconsin has failed UW”): Strong editorial with a clear message stated in the second graph: The state of Wisconsin has failed its flagship university. The rest of the editorial uses examples to bolster the that premise and does so convincingly. Some specific examples of the cuts and the tuition increases would have helped solidify that message even more.

Division B First Place - The Clarion, Madison Area Technical College: (“Reaction to Sikh temple shooting reveals hidden prejudice toward eastern religions” - Jason Cuevas): Excellent message on how the Sikh temple shootings impact your campus community, based on the constitutional aspect of religious freedom.

The message would be stronger by bringing the connection to your college that is in the last paragraph up much higher in the story.

Also remember AP style on First Amendment and Constitution.

Second Place - Arches, Mount Mary College: (“Rise above Mount Mary’s mean girls” - Nastassia Putz): This an editorial that includes solid local reporting. The writer clearly is familiar with the topic of bullying and shows how it affects the campus community. Using the non-local anecdotal lede, however, weakened the editorial.

Third Place - The Spectator, UW-Eau Claire: (“The New Davies Center Redesign Costs”): An important campus issue worthy of an editorial, especially following your own reporting. The editorial took too long to get to the point, re-stating too much background. The point of the editorial -- that students should have been part of the process -- is excellent.

Best Advertisement Division A First Place - The Badger Herald, UW-Madison: (“JSM October ad” - Zachary Arostegoi):

Great theme - combining the frightening with the magical (vanishing apartments?). Layout is well done in the vertical format.

Division B First Place - Arches, Mount Mary College: (“Carizma” - Barbara Kolb): Good use of “white” space in this ad. Well done, wide-format layout. I like the logo “echo” to kick off the two specials.

Second Place - The Clarion, Madison Area Technical College: (“JSM Properties: Need a New Pad?” - George Treviranus): Catchy headline, and nice follow-up to it with the sub head and the artwork.

The Advance-Titan, UW-Oshkosh, First Award, Division B, General Excellence.

General Web Excellence Division A First Place - The Badger Herald, UW-Madison: (“badgerherald.com” - Will Haynes): Overall content carried the day here. Lots to see, places to go, things to read. The feeling I got was that this website was powered by a staff many times larger than the other two contestants, and with finances to match.

Visually, the site’s pages ranged from clean to overly busy, with evidence that there is some revenue from website ads. Navigation was simple -- the drop down listings under the category tabs was a benefit as is the aggregate, linkable listing at the bottom of each page.

Division B First Place - Arches, Mount Mary College: (“archesnews.com” - Staff): Site is well orga-

nized, easy to navigate with lots of quick links from the front page. Solid content and some good community related stories, like the “Historic Eschweilers may approach demolition.”

Second Place - The Clarion, Madison Area Technical College: (“theonlineclarion.com” - George Treviranus): Hands down the most appealing home page of the three entries.

Navigation is easy and straightforward. You cover a wide range of campus activities, something your visitors should appreciate.

Your poll, unfortunately, shows that either no one cares to answer the question, or, not many people visit your site.

2012 Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation Award Winners ★ Best Editorials ★ Best Editorial Pages ★ Best Enterprise Reporting ★ Best Front Pages ★ Best Sports Photo ★ Best Photo Essay Congratulations Capital Newspapers!

WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL AWARD First First First

CATEGORY General Excellence Editorials Editorial Pages

First First First First

Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting Sports Photo Photo Essay Front pages

Second

Open Records/FOI Award

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Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting

Second Second Second Second Third

Feature Writing Spot News Photo Overall Page Design Page Design/Features Headlines

Second

CATEGORY Environmental Reporting General News Photo Reporting on Local Education Editorial Award

Environmental Reporting

PERSON(S) Pat Schneider Mike DeVries Todd Finkelmeyer John Nichols Judie Kleinmaier Dave Zweifel Lynn Danielson Mike Ivey

BARABOO NEWS REPUBLIC AWARD First Second Second Second Third Third Third Third Third

CATEGORY Local Column Editorial Award Editorial Page(s) All-Around Newspaper Photography General Excellence Breaking News Coverage Front Page Best Use of Color Best Use of Art Service

PERSON(S) Ben Bromley Staff Todd Krysiak Staff Staff Tim Damos Todd Krysiak Dusty Zajda Nick Ahles

DAILY CITIZEN AWARD First

CATEGORY Investigative Reporting

Second

Web Special Project

First

Best Niche Publication-In Paper

Based on the General Excellence Award

JUNEAU COUNTY STAR-TIMES PERSON(S) Staff Scott Milfred Scott Milfred Kris Crary Phil Hands Doug Erickson M.P. King John Hart Dave Dombrowski Jon Kleinow Matt Defour David Wahlberg Deborah Ziff Nick Heynen Dee J. Hall David Wahlberg John Hart Jon Kleinow Dean Witter Dean Witter

THE CAPITAL TIMES AWARD First First First Second

Best Overall Newspaper in Wisconsin

PERSON(S) Megan Sheridan Trista Pruett Megan Sheridan Trista Pruett Charity Taylor Melissa Boehler Mary Nordquist Jackie Lese

AWARD First

CATEGORY PERSON(S) Best Niche Publication-Out of Paper Creative Team

PORTAGE DAILY REGISTER AWARD First Third First First First First First First First First First Second Second Second

CATEGORY Best Advertising Special Section Best Niche Publication-Out of Paper Editorial Page(s) Breaking News Coverage Feature Lifestyle Page(s) Sports Photo Front Page Page Design – Feature Page Design – Sports Entertainment Pages Open Records/FOI Award Local Column Sports Page(s)

Second Second Second Second Second Third Third Third

Sports Feature Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting Feature Headlines Overall Page Design Spot News Photo General Web Excellence Web Special Project

PERSON(S) Creative Team Creative Team Jason Maddux Daily Register Staff Craig Spychalla Craig Spychalla Dan Larson Daily Register Staff Craig Spychalla Dan Larson Craig Spychalla Daily Register Staff Jason Maddux Dan Larson Travis Houslet Dan Larson Daily Register Staff Shannon Green Jason Maddux Craig Spychalla Ken Leiviska Daily Register Staff Daily Register Staff

REEDSBURG TIMES PRESS AWARD First First First First First Second Third Third Third Third

CATEGORY General Excellence All-Around Newspaper Photography Sports Photo Front Page Overall Page Design Spot News Photo Editorial Page(s) Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting General News Photo Reporting on Local Government

PERSON(S) Times-Press Staff Staff Brady Ambrose Times-Press Staff Art Kabelowsky Brady Ambrose Jason Maddux Alicia Abercrombie Kim Lamoreaux Alicia Abercrombie

SAUK PRAIRIE EAGLE AWARD First First First First Second Third Third

CATEGORY Sports Page(s) Local Sports Column Business Coverage Headlines Page Design-Sports Overall Page Design Best Multiple Advertiser Spread

PERSON(S) Adam Crowson Adam Crowson Jeremiah Tucker Michael Thompson Adam Crowson Michael Thompson Melissa Klang

WISCONSIN DELLS EVENTS AWARD Second Second

CATEGORY Bill Payne Award Best Niche Publication-In Paper

PERSON(S) Dusty Zajda Creative Team