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Iowa Newspaper Association Convention

Submitted by admin on Mon, 03/09/2020 - 2:58pm

The annual Iowa Newspaper Association Convention was held in Des Moines on February 5th through the 7th. The morning kicked off by motivational speaker, Deadra Stanton, whose presentation was entitled “Don’t Shoot Skinny Rabbits.” It was a great reminder to us all to focus on the most important things in both our personal and work life, and to realize when to not chase after those “skinny rabbits” – things that are just not worth pursuing. During the day, staff had the opportunity to attend educational sessions on a variety of topics ranging from editorial to advertising to digital trends. In the evening there is an awards ceremony for the Iowa Better Newspaper Contest. I am pleased to report that Mid-America Publishing as a whole earned a total of 59 awards.

Whether earned individually or for a paper as a whole, the awards are treated as win for the entire company. It takes each and every one of you to produce our newspapers and I feel we have the best group of newspapers in the state! I am incredibly proud of all our staff.

Full List of INA Awards:

Genevieve Mauck Stoufer Outstanding Young Iowa Journalist

Robert Maharry

General Excellence

Weekly II

Third Place- Hampton Chronicle

Best Front Page

Weekly I

Second Place- Lake City Graphic-Advocate – Tyler Anderson, Danielle Potkonak, Toni Venteicher

Third Place – Allison Butler Co. Tribune-Journal – Monica Edeker, Bethany Carson

Weekly II

Second Place – Hampton Chronicle – Monica Edeker, Greg Forbes, Travis Fischer

Coverage of Gov’t and Politics

Weekly I

Third Place- Clarksville Star – Bethany Carson

Weekly II

Third Place – Calmar Courier – Mike Hohenbrink

Coverage of Court & Crime

Weekly I

First Place – Clarksville Star – Bethany Carson

Second Place – Allison Butler Co. Tribune-Journal – Bethany Carson

Coverage of Education

Weekly I

Third Place – Eagle Grove Eagle – Kim Demory

Weekly II

Third Place – Hampton Chronicle – Greg Forbes

Coverage of Agriculture

Weekly I

Second Place – Clarksville Star – Bethany Carson, Mike Hohenbrink

Weekly II

Second Place – Calmar Courier – Mike Hohenbrink

Coverage of Business

Weekly II

First Place – Hampton Chronicle – Greg Forbes

Best Special Section – Editorial

Weekly I

Third Place – Lake City Graphic-Advocate – Tyler Anderson

Weekly II

Second Place – Hampton Chronicle – Pia Hovenga, Greg Forbes, Travis Fischer

Best Headline Writing

Weekly II

First Place – Hampton Chronicle – Greg Forbes, Kristi Nixon, Travis Fischer

Total Newspaper Design

Weekly II

Third Place – Hampton Chronicle – Monica Edeker, Pia Hovenga

Best use of Graphics

Weekly I

Third Place – Allison Butler Co. Tribune-Journal – Monica Edeker

Weekly II

Second Place – Hampton Chronicle – Monica Edeker

Best Video

Weekly I

Second Place - Lake City Graphic-Advocate – Tyler Anderson

Best Slideshow

Weekly I

Second Place – Allison Butler co. Tribune-Journal – Bethany Carson, Chris Barragy – Butler County Fair

Best Social Media

Weekly III

Second Place – Clear Lake Mirror Reporter – Chris Barragy, Marianne Gasaway

Best Marketing

Weekly III

Third Place – Ida County Courier – Jenny Seuntjens

Best News Story

Weekly I

Second Place – Eagle Grove Eagle – Les Houser

Third Place – Eagle Grove Eagle – Kim Demory

Best Personality Feature Story

Weekly I

First Place – Lake City Graphic-Advocate – Tyler Anderson

Third Place – Eagle Grove Eagle – Kim Demory

Weekly II

Third Place – Hampton Chronicle – Greg Forbes

Best Sports Story

Weekly I

First Place – Allison Butler Co. Tribune-Journal – Kristi Nixon

Third Place – Clarksville Star – Kristi Nixon

Weekly II

Third Place – Hampton Chronicle – Kristi Nixon

Best News Feature Story

Weekly I

Third Place – Clarksville Star – Bethany Carson

Best Continuing Coverage

Weekly II

Second Place – Hampton Chronicle – Greg Forbes

Best Sports Feature

Weekly II

Third Place – Hampton Chronicle – Kristi Nixon

Best Series

Weekly I

Second Place – New Sharon Sun – R.D. Keep

Third Place – Eagle Grove Eagle – Kim Demory

Weekly II

Third Place – Eldora Newspapers – Robert Maharry

Best News Photo

Weekly I

Second Place – Clarksville Star – Bethany Carson

Best Breaking News Photo

Weekly III

Second Place – Clear Lake Mirror Reporter – Chris Barragy

Best Sports Feature Photo

Weekly I

First Place – Lake City Graphic-Advocate – Tyler Anderson

Second Place – Lake City Graphic-Advocate – Tyler Anderson

Advertising Best Ad Featuring Grocery, Food or Entertainment

Weekly I

Third Place – Allison Butler County Tribune-Journal – Ana Olsthoorn – Hometown Easter

Weekly II

Third Place – Hampton Chronicle – Monica Edeker - Fareway

Advertising Best Ad Featuring Financial, Insurance or Other Professional Service

Weekly II

Second Place – Parkersburg Eclipse News-Review – Danielle Potkonak, Dave Vallery – Spring Open House

Advertising Best Ad Featuring Automotive, Boats, Aircraft, Tires, Gasoline, Etc

Weekly I –

First Place - Graphic Advocate – Danielle Potkonak,Toni Venteicher – Summer of Jeep

Third Place – Graphic Advocate – Danielle Potkonak, Toni Venteicher, Pot of Gold

Advertising Best Special Section Advertising

Weekly I

First Place – Aurelia Star – Becky Bruning – Merry Christmas

Second Place – Lake City Graphic-Advocate – Toni Venteicher, Danielle Potkonak – Fine Arts

Weekly II

Second Place – Hampton Chronicle – Pia Hovenga – Fall Farm Special

Advertising Best Ad Series or Campaign Featuring Any Service or Merchandise Category

Weekly II

First Place – Sigourney News-Review – Zoe Larson, Toni Venteicher

Advertising Best Ad Idea for a Community Promotion or Event

Weekly I

Third Place – Lake City Graphic-Advocate – Danielle Potkonak, Toni Venteicher – Western Days Salute

Weekly II

Second Place – Eldora Newspapers – Emily Ubben, Bailey Primus, Steph McManus, Betty Gotto – Hardin County Visitors Guide 2019

Third Place – Hampton Chronicle – Pia Hovenga, Monica Edeker, Greg Forbes, Dave Vallery, Becky Fuqua – Franklin County Visitors Guide 2019

Advertising Best Advertising Featuring Agriculture

Weekly I

Second Place – Eagle Grove Eagle – Shelby Fisher – Unique & Heartfelt Gifts

Advertising Best Ad Designer

Weekly I

First Place – Allison Butler Co. Tribune-Journal – Monica Edeker

Weekly II

First Place – Hampton Chronicle – Pia Hovenga

Best of Class Advertising

Weekly I

Third Place – Lake City Graphic-Advocate

Weekly II

Third Place – Sigourney News-Review