Southwest Ledger and Southwest Chronicle, two weekly newspapers owned by Hilliary Media Group and based in Comanche County, won 15 awards in the National Newspaper Association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest.
There were 1,312 entries in the NNA’s “Editorial Contest” and 195 entries in the “Advertising Contest” for a total of 1,507 entries. A little over 600 awards were won by 92 newspapers in 33 states.
The Ledger captured seven first-place awards, placed second in one category, and received five honorable mentions. Southwest Chronicle received two second-place awards.
Southwest Ledger awards included:
• Best Business Feature Story, non-daily division, circulation less than 6,000:
Second Place: M. Scott Carter for “Broadway 10: The new hotspot for Okla. politics.” Judge’s comments: “Food and booze are ‘tools of the trade’ with lobbyists courting politicians, in this insightful and entertaining business feature story by M. Scott Carter. It is part restaurant review and not a deep-dive into running a restaurant, but I read every word.”
Honorable Mention: Tim Farley for “Livestock company keeps state’s rodeos going.” Judge’s comments: “Rodeo is a way of life, that's for certain, not just a business. Reporter Tim Farley captures that spirit in this livestock company story… Great job!”
• Best Profile Feature Story, non-daily division, circulation less than 2,000:
First Place: M. Scott Carter for “Five decades later, Bob Craig remains a legend in the Oklahoma Senate.” Judge’s comments: “Doorkeepers and other long-time legislative staff always have good stories to tell.”
• Best Reporting on Local Government, non-daily division circulation less than 2,000:
First Place: Mike W. Ray for “Loan lawsuit decision reversed because of insufficient records.” Judge’s comments: “This story didn't make page 1, but it gave citizens a ton of information they needed about credit card collections. Story is one of a strong pattern of coverage of public corruption and civil disputes by this paper. Readers are well served by the Southwest Ledger.”
Honorable Mention: Eric Swanson for “Not the place for it.” Judge’s comments: “A vigorous community discussion about placement of a sports arena was well-covered by the Ledger. The reporter let many voices be heard and presented the facts. A news story in the best of objective styles. But put it in an editorial, not on the news pages. Good work.”
• News and Opinion on Public Corruption, daily and non-daily division:
First Place: Mike W. Ray. This award is for all Ledger entries submitted in this category.
Judge’s comments: “Outstanding watchdog commitment from the Southwest Ledger and reporter Mike W. Ray to report on every audit from the Oklahoma State Auditor’s Office with a connection to local officials or government. The payoff in news stories and accountability to taxpayers was huge, including indictments and felony charges against local officials and the list goes on. This reporting project is at the bedrock of why every community needs a newspaper. It’s unlikely that the State Auditor reports would have seen the light of day or, more importantly, put officials on notice that if they steal public money, profit off the public dime, or violate basic rights their names are going to appear on the front page of the Ledger. The Ledger and Ray should be training other community journalists across the country about this project.”
• Best Business Story, non-daily division, circulation less than 2,000:
First Place, Mike W. Ray for “Hospital CEO fired over sexual issues.” Judge’s comments: “Now that's what I call a lede. This was the standout entry in this division. This had to be an uncomfortable story to cover. The reporter did a great job covering all the angles.”
• Best Informational Graphic, non-daily division, circulation less than 2,000:
First Place, Carl Lewis, “Global landfill crisis.” Judge’s comments: “Has everything that a major newspaper graphic offers. Information, compelling image, even a few pictures to help fix the eye on it.”
Honorable Mention: Bryan Richter and Mike W. Ray, for “Fraud reports Oklahomans filed with the FTC in 2021.” Judge’s comments: “The graphic offers a great deal of information.”
• Best Front Page Design, non-daily division, circulation less than 2,000:
First Place, Carl Lewis and Samantha Spears for “Hollywood on the Prairie.”
Judge’s comments: “I really loved this entry. You can tell a lot of work went into putting this special edition together, and it was beautifully packaged. I love the idea of using the theater graphic for the back image. Each story was very clear and separated from the others, making it very readable, and also very engaging. This was the clear winner.”
• Best Use of a Double-Truck (two facing pages), non-daily division, circulation less than 2000:
First Place, Rip Stell and Carl Lewis for “A day at the Capitol.” Judge’s comments: “Strong photos, decent layout. The color transition for ‘A Day at the Capitol’ is a nice touch.”
• Best Breaking News Photo, non-daily division, circulation less than 2,000:
Honorable Mention, Steve Booker for “Bordwine facility used to store hand sanitizer erupts in Wednesday blaze.” Judge’s comments: “The photographer caught this action photo at the right time and at the height of the action. Not an uncommon fire photo but a pretty good one.”
• Best Review, daily and non-daily division:
Honorable Mention, Dr. James Finck for “The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East.” Judge’s comments: “A nicely done book review; it gave a good overview of The Lemon Tree. But I'd like to see more commentary about the book. Was it well written? Did it have holes?”
• Best Photo Essay, daily and non-daily division, circ. less than 3,000:
Second Place, Southwest Chronicle, Steve Booker for “Crawds ’n Rods.”
Judge’s comments: “I really enjoyed this entry and rated it second place in a competitive entry class. Why? 1. great diversity (and a lot) of images. You hit all the bases for a festival photo spread. 2. I really liked the technical skill - each photo was clearly focused, had real nice framing and captured brilliantly colors. 3. The photographer really captured clear, focused facial expressions on moving circus rides (that’s not easy!) 4. and lastly, the very creative color swirl image of a spinning ride on the top of page 10 was a genius image that popped bigly. Thank you.”
• Best Front Page Design, non-daily division, circulation 2,000-3,999:
Second Place, Carl Lewis for The Chronicle dated Feb. 10, 2022. Judge’s comments: “Strong overall design gives readers an easy to understand page.”