April 3, 2023 at 1:54 p.m.
Times wins 2022 Newspaper of the Year
River News wins 12 awards
Times wins 2022 Newspaper of the Year
The Times also won the honor in 2016, 2018, and 2019. The Times also won Best in Division honors in Division C and collected second place in the division for general excellence.
Richard Moore collected his fourth consecutive first-place award for investigative reporting and shared a first-place award with Gregg Walker for editorial writing, while news director Brian Jopek also collected two first-place editorial awards, one for local government reporting and another for best sports action photo.
The 2022 contest received 2,230 entries from 106 newspapers. Eligible entries were published between Sept. 1, 2021, and Aug. 31, 2022, and were judged by members of the Arkansas Press Association.
The Northwoods River News, of which Walker is also publisher, garnered 12 awards, including first-place finishes for Heather Schaefer and Jamie Taylor for their coverage Hannah Miller homicide case and Jamie Taylor for his photo essay, "Heal Creek Dog Dash."
Lakeland Times publisher Gregg Walker said he was honored to win, and he added that the Newspaper of the Year award was especially gratifying in such trying times, with the industry - The Times included - struggling with personnel shortages.
"Any time you're looked at by your peers as the best, it's very humbling," Walker said. "Our limited staff works very hard and I'm proud of all of them. It's well deserved."
The newspaper staff also claimed first place for the Best Advertising Special Section - 'Beef-A-Rama' - and another first place for Best Ongoing Niche Publication for its Summer Times editions.
Speaking to those awards, general manager Heather Holmes stressed the importance of teamwork at both The Lakeland Times and the Northwoods River News.
"I am so incredibly proud of the staff at both newspapers," Holmes said. "The competition is always tough, but once again the staff has risen above the challenges. Each staff member plays a vital role in providing timely and accurate news, and being short-staffed over the past few years has shown that each employee is absolutely critical to getting the paper out."
Holmes said the staff members have shown diversity in covering and delivering news.
"Extending themselves outside of their comfort zone has helped them grow professionally and personally," she said. "Continuing to provide excellence in reporting and advertising is our daily goal, and being named Newspaper of the Year by the Arkansas Newspaper Association shows that our efforts are not overlooked."
Dean Hall, The Times's interim editor and photojournalist, echoed Walker and Holmes in saying this year's win was especially satisfying in a tough newspaper environment.
"It is immensely gratifying that after my first full year with editorial responsibilities we were able to regain the title of 'Best in State,'" Hall said. "Despite the challenges of low staffing levels, we were able to consistently deliver an informative, entertaining, and engaging newspaper to our readers. Our team members from the front office to sales, advertising, production, and editorial showed exceptional skills, creativity, dedication, and resilience in overcoming obstacles and meeting deadlines."
But Hall said The Times also has a special advantage.
"Our secret weapon is our general manager, Heather Holmes, the backbone of our newspaper who can fill in when needed in any position and often does," he said. "Effective collaboration and mutual support among dedicated and talented staff are the reasons for our success."
Highlight awards
In individual awards, Moore and Jopek paced the first-place awards with two each, while sports editor Brett LaBore, Heather Holmes, Gregg Walker, Julie Huotari, Yvonne Immel won one each.
For investigative reporting in Division C, Moore won for his series, "Sexual assault and the criminal justice system." The judges cited "excellent reporting and investigating showing multiple levels of coverup and an unbelievable keystone cop shop."
Moore and Walker also scored for best editorials in the division for their Our Views, "Another week, another disastrous attack on open records," "More abuse of power," and "The justice system is asking the wrong question in sexual assault cases."
The judges cited the editorials' tenaciousness, saying the editorials were not afraid to get detailed, yet somehow kept readers engaged.
"The judges suspect that there are a lot of political 'leaders' in this newspaper's part of the world who would like less of this kind of stuff," the judges wrote. "Which is why the community needs more of it."
One of Jopek's two first-place awards came for reporting on local government for his articles "Vilas County highway committee OKs ATV/UTV requests," "Arbor Vitae plans moratorium to deal with storage containers," and "Vilas County board says no to ATV ordinance amendments."
Jopek also took home first place for his sports action photo, "WKSRA comes to Minocqua."
Jopek said he was honored to win the awards, though he says he is one of those people who doesn't write for awards.
"I figure if I do my job and do it as best I can, everything else will fall into place," Jopek said. "As a combat veteran, Gold Star dad, and former elected official, holding those elected to serve their communities is, for me, something I take seriously."
LaBore collected his first-place honor for best Division C sports news story, "Shootout superstars win two instant classics," and he said it was an honor he would treasure forever.
"I will never forget Friday night," LaBore said. "It's an honor to bring multiple awards back to Minocqua, and I'm thankful to everyone who has supported me on this amazing journey."
It should be mentioned that LaBore also won a boat-load of second-place honors in the division, including for Best Sports Pages, for his feature photo "Unabashedly Bashful," for overall page design (judges: "Good, clean page layout and use of photos"), and he shared second place with the Northwoods River News's Jeremy Mayo for their Spring Sports Preview, and with Kelly Holm and Beckie Gaskill for Best Headlines.
In other first-place awards, freelancer Julie Huotari scored in Division C for her feature profile, "Town Clerk steps away after 25 years."
The judges were impressed with both Huotari's narrative and her word-smithing.
"Yay, a good, complete, interesting story, newsy and folksy at the same time," they wrote. "Great read, wonderful family! Excellent writing as well."
Yvonne Immel took first place for her ad in Best Use of Art Service, "Lakeland Hawks Hockey Booster Club," and the judges were similarly impressed.
"Beautiful ad - great use of an ad service to make this quick and easy to put together!" the judges wrote. "Very effective."
Other honors
As a rookie reporter, The Times's Trevor Greene had an all-around good night. He scored second in Division C for Rookie Reporter of The Year, and he likewise took home second place for his reporting on local government, for his stories, "Public comment at Presque Isle town board meetings becomes an issue," "State sponsored boat patrol program to be proposed again in St. Germain," and "Minocqua's pier ordinance likely to be challenged in court."
He also shared an honorable mention with the staff of the Northwoods River News for their "Hodag Country Festival Preview."
Another piece that was highly rated by the judges was editorial assistant Jake Schexnaydre's local columns, "Northwoods Film Festival 2022," "Freedom from sea to shining sea," and "Belfast-a fork in the road," which took home a third place in the division.
The judge was highly impressed with Schexnaydre's work.
"What can I say?" the judge wrote. "... his work fits the very definition of the category, well-written old school, reader service stuff that any newspaper should be proud to run."
Schexnaydre said he was happy but didn't expect the win.
"When they called my name at the awards show, I jumped in surprise!" he said. "I did send in plenty of submissions of my past work in various editorial and photo categories, but since this was the first time I've been to a WNA awards show, I didn't expect a whole lot of wins. Then again, I'm just glad that I'm being recognized for some aspect of my work."
For the River News, Schaefer also garnered a runner-up award in Division E for reporting on local government, as well as a third-place finish in ongoing/extended coverage for her work covering the wrongful termination lawsuit of former City of Rhinelander Public Works director Tim Kingman. Schafer also earned third-place honors in general news for he coverage of Christopher Anderson's sentencing in the Hannah Miller homicide case. Taylor received a runner-up award in spot news photography as well as third-place finishes for sports action and artistic photography. Mayo received a second-place award for localized national story for his coverage of Olympic gold medal winner Nick Baumgartner's visit to Rhinelander. He also received a third-place award for his October 2021 feature on the Rhinelander High School cross country team.
The River News finished third in Division E for Best Sports Pages.
Richard Moore is the author of "Dark State" and may be reached at richardd3d.substack.com.
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