ACN earns five Texas Better Newspaper Awards
The Archer County News was recently recognized with five awards during the 2020-2021 Texas Press Association’s Texas Better Newspaper Contest at the TPA Conference.
Awards were presented at the TPA Convention and Trade Show in San Marcos on Saturday, July 30. TPA members could enter 12 sweepstakes contest categories and six non-sweepstakes contest categories from publications in a period of Sept. 1, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2021.
According to the TPA, 80 newspapers submitted 850 entries in the contest. Competitions were divided into divisions which newspapers competed against publications of similar circulation. Entries were judged by members of the West Virginia Press Association.
In the Division 9 (small weekly) competition, the Archer County News earned a first-place finish in feature writing, second place in the general excellence category, second place in sports photography, third place in news photography and third place in sports coverage.
The first-place feature writing submission was headlined by former Ad Director Jenny Schroeder’s articles “Martinez devotes years to teaching, earns citizenship” on April 8, 2021, and “Castles standing tall after setback” on Nov. 26, 2020.
The judge noted that the articles were expertly written and filled with emotion.
“I’m so proud of the Archer County News for its recognition by the TPA,” Schroder said. “Various owners and staff members of the ACN have been working hard for years to serve the community – as long as I can remember, and Nathan recognized that paper’s quality rivaled some of the best smalltown weekly publications in the state when he entered us in the contest. I’m thrilled to get the first-place award, but I couldn’t have written the winning features without such great subjects and a supportive team. My co-worker, Will, made some great suggestions for the Lauren Castles article. I’m so thankful to have been a part of the team Dan (Haile) put together in 2020-2021.”
In the general excellence category, newspapers submitted two complete editions to be judged based on news coverage, quality of writing, composition/display, headlines, use of photos and artwork, front page and specialty pages.
“Nice looking paper,” the judge’s comments read about the Archer County News’ second place entry. “Clean layout design. Organized/divided well. Ads are not overbearing and a good use of pictures.”
The second-place sports photography submission featured five photos from across the entry period taken by sports reporter Will Edwards and Schroeder. In the sports coverage division, newspapers were judged based on quality of writing, range of coverage, photos, layout/design and suitability of headlines. ACN’s featured Edwards’ and the staff’s coverage on April 29, 2021 and May 13, 2021.
The third-place news photography entry featured five photos of fires, wrecks and other emergencies that Publisher Nathan Lawson, Schroeder and Community Desk Jerry Phillips took throughout the year.
“When I came on staff in June of 2020, I had a goal of the Archer County News becoming an award-winning publication,” Lawson said. “I am extremely proud of Jenny’s, Will’s, Jerry’s, advertising sales representative Vanessa Parkey’s and former bookkeeper Misty Cameron’s hard work in 2020-2021 that earned this recognition. I believe our current staff will continue to produce and exceed the award-winning quality which the newspaper has been publishing.”
