Herald wins general excellence in annual newspaper contest: Photographer nabs 4 awards as newsroom wins 6 overall
Published 11:55 am Friday, January 24, 2014
Herald photographer Eric Johnson won second in sports photos for this picture of Ajuda Nywesh.
BLOOMINGTON — The Austin Daily Herald took first place in general excellence in the 2013 Minnesota Newspaper Association contest, and photographer Eric Johnson took home four awards.
The awards, which were announced at the annual MNA banquet in Minneapolis Thursday night, included six top-three finishes for the Herald. The Herald competed against all daily newspapers in the state with a circulation less than 10,000, and the contests had more than 4,000 total entries.
In naming the Herald winner in general excellence, a judge wrote, “this publication has valuable material deep into each edition.” General excellence grades a newspaper on everything from quality and quantity of news content, to photos, headlines, advertising and design. The Bemidji Pioneer and the Owatonna People’s Press finished second and third in the category, respectively.
Johnson won a first, two seconds and a third. He swept first and second place for use of graphic illustrations, got second in the sports photo category, and third in use of photography as a whole.
“What a great idea,” wrote a judge about Johnson’s comic book-style All-Herald Football Team illustration, which placed first. “Many people can relate to comic book heroes and this is a wonderful way to illustrate the local teams.”
Johnson’s second-place award in the illustrations category was for a word cloud shaped like a gun for a report on local gun laws, trends and how Mower County reacted following the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Find that story and illustration at austindailyherald.com/2012/12/area-residents-stocking-up-on-guns-obtaining-permits.
His second-place sports photo was a shot of Ajuda Nywesh at the state basketball tournament last March.
Reporter Trey Mewes took third place in the business story category for “Stretching Austin’s dollar,” a report on construction projects, jobs and business programs bringing slow but sure economic growth to Austin in 2013.
Find the story at austindailyherald.com/2013/03/stretching-austins-dollar.
Newspaper professionals in Illinois judged this year’s contest.
Eric Johnson’s illustration designed like a graphic novel won the top prize for illustrations at the Minnesota Newspaper Association awards banquet Thursday night in Minneapolis. The illustration ran on Page 12A of the Dec. 9, 2012, Austin Daily Herald for the annual All-Herald Football team.
