Grand Forks Herald wins four special awards at North Dakota Newspaper Association event
May 13—GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks Herald won four of the seven special awards in the North Dakota Newspaper Association's Better Newspapers Contest.
The results were announced Friday evening at the NDNA's annual convention, this year held at the Avalon in Fargo. The convention capped an eventful spring for Herald staff members, many of whom were entered in other contests as well.
The Herald took first for public notice journalism, First Amendment reporting and community service, as well as the General Excellence Award, determined by judging news, sports and feature coverage, editing, opinion pages, advertising, photography, design and "overall product," according to the contest guidelines.
The Herald's "focus on community was evident throughout the pages," wrote the General Excellence judge, representing the West Virginia Newspaper Association.
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead won the Sweepstakes Award, given to the newspaper that accumulates the most award points throughout the day, while former Herald intern Maeve Hushman, a UND graduate, won the NDNA's Rookie of the Year Award. She won the award while writing for the Bismarck Tribune.
Also, Herald reporter Sav Kelly finished second in a new special category that focused on investigative journalism. Her entry included continued coverage of a shooting death in rural East Grand Forks.
The Community Service Award was given to the Herald team of Kelly, Matthew Voigt and Korrie Wenzel for the newspaper's coverage of a deadly traffic crash on Highway 2 west of town, and continued coverage about the safety of that intersection. It also included a number of letters to the editor that the Herald encouraged readers to submit, providing their opinions on what should be done about the intersection.
The Public Notice Journalism Award went to the team of Joshua Irvine and Wenzel, while the First Amendment Reporting Award went to the team of Delaney Otto, Kelly and Wenzel.
In addition to the NDNA special awards, Herald staff members and teams earned 18 first-place awards and finished with 55 awards overall. The individual awards were handed out during lunch-time ceremonies, while the major awards were announced during a banquet-style event at the end of the day.
"Well, this has been quite a day," said Wenzel, the Herald's publisher. "I thought we did very well in the afternoon for the individual awards, but then to see this kind of success at the end of the day — and in the really coveted categories — was very special."
Eric Hylden won three first-place awards in photography, while other individual first-place winners included Chuck Haga (serious column), Abby Sharpe (sports feature), Brad Schlossman (sports series), Irvine (spot news) and Wenzel (government reporting).
The Herald's advertising department earned 16 awards, including seven first-place finishes and nine seconds. All of the advertising awards were team efforts and thus generally attributed to "staff."
Also in recent weeks, the Herald also won sports-related awards in contests sponsored by two other associations.
In late April, Hylden won first place nationally in the Associated Press Sports Editors Association Division D for a feature photo he took at Kings Walk Golf Course. Also, Schlossman earned three Top 10 awards, finishing second in both explanatory writing and for his beat coverage of the UND hockey team. He also finished in the Top 10 in column writing.
Sharpe placed fifth nationally in two APSE categories, including breaking news coverage and feature reporting.
Herald Sports Editor Tom Miller was named the 2024 North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Sportswriter of the Year. Miller received the honor for the third time in the last seven years.
And on May 9, Pamela Knudson, a features reporter for the Herald, had seven first-place finishes, eight second-place finishes, a third-place finish and an honorable mention
at the North Dakota Professional Communicators spring conference and awards ceremony
.
Following are the Herald's individual news awards from the NDNA contest, announced Friday in Fargo:
General Excellence: First place.
Public notice journalism: First place, team of Joshua Irvine and Korrie Wenzel.
First Amendment reporting: First place, team of Sav Kelly, Delaney Otto and Korrie Wenzel.
Community service: First place, Herald staff.
Investigative journalism: Second place, Sav Kelly.
News reporting: Sav Kelly, third place; Joshua Irvine, honorable mention.
News series: Sav Kelly, second place.
Feature reporting: Herald staff, honorable mention.
Feature series: Delaney Otto, third place; Herald staff, honorable mention.
Government reporting: Korrie Wenzel, first place; Sav Kelly, honorable mention.
Government reporting series: Delaney Otto, honorable mention.
Spot news: Joshua Irvine, first place; Delaney Otto, honorable mention.
Sports section: Grand Forks Herald sports staff, first place.
Sports reporting: Brad Schlossman, third place.
Sports series: Brad Schlossman, first place; Tom Miller/Abby Sharpe, second place.
Sports feature: Abby Sharpe, first place.
Sports column: Brad Schlossman, third place.
Editorial writing: Korrie Wenzel, third place.
Editorial page: Korrie Wenzel, third place.
Ag coverage: Sav Kelly, honorable mention.
Column, serious: Chuck Haga, first place; Brad Dokken, second place; honorable mention, Korrie Wenzel.
Column, humorous: Chuck Haga, second place.
Special section: Brad Schlossman, second place.
Best headline: Hannah Shirley, third place; Joshua Irvine, honorable mention.
Info graphic: Matthew Voigt, third place.
Best website: Herald staff, third place.
Online coverage: Sav Kelly, third place.
Overall design: Herald, first place.
News photo: Eric Hylden, third place.
Spot news photo: Eric Hylden, third place.
Feature photo: Korrie Wenzel, honorable mention.
Sports photo: Eric Hylden, second place.
Picture story: Eric Hylden, first place.
Portrait photo: Eric Hylden, first place.
Outdoor recreation photo: Eric Hylden, first place.
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