March 15, 2019 at 3:41 p.m.
Northwoods River News awarded high honors at WNA awards
Wins 'Best Special Section' and 'Best Front Page'
Northwoods River News awarded high honors at WNA awards
By Kayla Houp-
The Northwoods River News took home 32 awards, including first place honors for "Best Special section", "Best Front Page", and third place for "Best Headlines" in their division in the 2018 Better Newspaper Contest. The honors were presented at the WNA awards in Madison last Thursday.
The River News competed against other papers in its circulation division. Every year, the WNAs swap judging responsibilities with other press associations, with members of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association judging this year's competition. In total, 2,799 entries were submitted from 121 newspapers across Wisconsin.
"With The River News, it's a real testament to what the River News is producing," said Gregg Walker, publisher of the River News and The Lakeland Times. "Any time a newspaper wins 32 awards, it's a testament of really good reporting."
The 32 awards were tied for fifth most of any newspaper in the state. Daily Newspaper of the year, The Gazette (Janesville) won 78 awards. The Lakeland Times led all weekly papers with 40 awards.
"Thirty-two's probably the best we've done in quite some time," Northwoods River News sports editor Jeremy Mayo said. "It's awesome to be recognized by your peers for your hard work and doing your job day-in and day-out."
One of the most prominent awards the River News earned was a first place honors in Best Special Section for the Winter Sports Preview - a joint publication with The Lakeland Times.
"The sports previews are a fun publication to put together. It's a lot of collaboration between our building and the Lakeland Times building," Mayo said. "It's always fun to get a glimpse of what the teams are going to be like this year."
The River News staff was also awarded first place in Best Front Page for Division E at the WNA awards.
"Clean layout, strong headlines, dominant photos," the Better Newspaper Contest judge's comments read. "Great looking pages that draw you in."
Northwoods River News reporter Jamie Taylor took first in three categories out of the 11 he placed in, including three honorable mentions.
Of these nominations, a notable first place award earned by Taylor was in Photo Essay for his work commemorating a Never Forgotten Honor Flight that took 88 veterans to Washington D.C. in April 2018.
"To win that for what I did, I thought, was very special because it was a Veterans Honor Flight," Taylor said. "As a veteran myself, it meant a lot just to go on that."
"Jamie's done a wonderful job. You just look at the depth of his awards, between reporting on governments, reporting on business, his photography awards...a very wide-ranged and talented reporter that we have right here in town," Mayo said.
The Northwoods River News production and sales staff also excelled at the WNA awards, with production manager Sasha Case earning three first place honors of the five she was nominated for.
"I think it just speaks volumes for our staff. Between Jamie, our associate editor Heather Schaefer, myself, our features writer Kayla Thomason, we're a small crew," Mayo said. "But we're a talented crew."
Mayo said that these awards are not only a testament to the staff's skills, but also to the readers that the River News produces a quality three-day-a-week paper.
"I just hope we keep putting out stories that keep our readers interested and keep our readers informed," he said. "The River News is the Rhinelander community newspaper and it's our job to bring the stories to our readers that impact the community."
"Good journalism is important to a community. It helps that it keeps people informed," Walker added. "And by keeping people informed, you're always going to have a better community for it."
Lakeland Times awards
The River News sister paper, The Lakeland Times, also had a remarkable night at the WNA awards, taking home 40 awards overall, with 16 being first place honors.
These honors include General Excellence, Best in Division, and the esteemed Best in State crystal cup.
"I kind of approach it from a military standpoint," Lakeland Times news director Brian Jopek said. "If you take care of your people, and take care of your business, everything else will fall into place."
Walker took a moment to thank the staff of both publications.
"It's always great to win, but I think you always should be thankful", Walker said. "And, in this case, I'm thankful for a great staff. You don't win these awards without having great people working with you. And that's the difference. It's the people that you have here."
Kayla Houp may be reached via email at [email protected].
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