Archer County News earns Better Newspaper Awards
The Archer County News was recently recognized with five awards, including two first place finishes, during the 2024 Texas Press Association’s Texas Better Newspaper Contest at the TPA Conference.
Awards were presented at the TPA Convention and Trade Show in Denton on Saturday, June 21. TPA members could enter 12 sweepstakes contest categories and six non-sweepstakes contest categories from publications in a period of Jan. 1, 2024, to Dec. 31, 2024.
According to the TPA, 108 newspapers submitted 1,021 entries in the contest. Competitions were divided into divisions in which newspapers competed against publications of similar circulation. Entries were judged by members of the Georgia Press Association.
In the Division 9 (small weekly) competition, Archer County News earned a first-place finish in sports photography, a first-place finish in page design, a second-place finish in news photography and a third-place finish in feature photography and a fourthplace finish in sports coverage.
The first-place finish in page design featured the front page from the June 20, 2024 edition, the columns page from Feb. 8, 2024, the Letters to Santa Front Page from Dec. 12 and the Sports page from Nov. 21.
“Very clean designs. Fonts are really nice. Pictures look great,” the judge said on the Archer County News’ entry.
The first-place sports photography entry was the second year in a row the Archer County News has taken home the designation. It featured five shots from the Archer County News’ sports coverage in 2024 with our shot of Windthorst Quarterback Brock Belcher attempting a hurdle over a Lindsay defender earning praise and Keitenn Bristow’s jump shot over TLCA earning a special shout out. Other photos include the Holliday Eagles celebration after defeating Jim Ned in 13 innings in May, Windthorst’s Heidi Tackett stretching for a play at first base in February and Ashtyn Berry’s catch against Tolar in November.
“I can’t deny most of these are strong sports photos,” the judge wrote. “Particularly the laser focused jump shot and the quarterback in midair.”
The second-place page design entry was highlighted by the Archer County News’ June 22 front page coverage of the Archer County Rodeo and Ranch Rodeo as well as inside photo page of the event.
The second-place news photography entry featured five photos taken by the staff throughout the year including the June 20 photos of the Archer County Rodeo and Ranch Rodeo, photos taken at the Memorial Day ceremonies in the May 30 edition and a photo of Holliday citizen speaking at city council meeting in the June 6 edition.
The third-place feature photography entry was highlighted by the Feb. 22 edition photo of Chris and Terry Aulds at Aulds’ Classic Cars, the March 28 edition photo of J. Robert Parkey at the ACMAC branding fundraiser, the April 11 edition of the courthouse staff looking at the solar eclipse, the June 27 edition photos of the Archer Public Library’s stuffie sleep over and the July 4 edition photos of Dynamic Dana performing at the Royal Theater.
The fourth-place sports coverage finish included the staff’s coverage in the Feb. 8, 2024, edition and the Nov. 14 edition.
The combined finishes were good enough for the Archer County News to finish fourth with 350 points in the division 9 sweepstakes race. The newspaper finished behind the Texas Spur (400 points), the Flatonia Argus (400 points) and the Clarendon Enterprise (675 points.)
“When I came on staff in June of 2020, I had a goal of the Archer County News becoming an award-winning publication and in the last four years, the Archer County News has taken home 21 better newspaper awards including six first place finishes,” Publisher Nathan Lawson said. “I am extremely proud of the Archer County News’ staffs hard work in 2024.”
“Luke and I are incredibly proud of what the paper has accomplished,” Owner Dan Haile said. “The news team works very hard all year round to put out the best paper we can for Archer County. I know that Nathan, Callie, Landon, and Vanessa all take pride in their work and will continue to put out a quality paper.”
