SWEEPSTAKES

DIVISION 1
LARGE DAILIES

1. Texarkana Gazette – 825 points
2. Lufkin Daily News – 700 points
3. Waxahachie Daily Light – 675 points
4. Marshall News Messenger – 450 points

DIVISION 2
SEMI-WEEKLIES

1. Hood County News – 1300 Pts.
2. Wise County Messenger – 1075 Pts.
3. Kilgore News Herald – 700 Pts.
4. Panola Watchman – 400 Pts.

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. Azle News – 900 Pts.
2. Mount Vernon Optic Herald – 600 Pts.
3. The Winnsboro News – 575 Pts.
4. Mineola Monitor – 475 Pts.

DIVISION 4
MEDIUM WEEKLIES

1. Glen Rose Reporter – 725 Pts.
2. Dublin Citizen – 600 Pts.
3. Farmersville Times – 500 Pts.
4. Princeton, Sachse – 450 Pts.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. Springtown Epigraph – 875 Pts.
2. Gladewater Mirror – 700 Pts.
3. Murphy Monitor – 625 Pts.
4. Bullard Banner – 450 Pts.

JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. Bridget Ortigo, Marshall News Messenger – Covered a range of topics, wrote at length about each one, stories are well organized and well illustrated, reporter can go from straight forward news reporting to a heartfelt approach with feature stories packed with information.

2. Shelly Conlin, Waxahachie Daily Light – Lengthy stories, well illustrated, brings personal experience to the writing, can relate to her sources, brings compassion to the writing.

3. Steve Knight, The Lufkin News – Covered a range of topics, brought compassion to the issues.

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Kathy Cruz, Hood County News – Stories are well written and well researched. Strong leads capture the reader. Great job!

2. James Draper, Kilgore News Herald – Very good stories. Leads were a little weak but the stories were written well. Keep up the good work.

3. Brian Knox, Wise County Messenger – Overall good stories.

4. Stephanie Hill, The Panola Watchman.

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. Carla Noah Stutsman, The Azle News – Flushes out the stories, multiple stories used, conveys emotion well, copy flows well, organized, develops a narrating the reader feels they are there. Writes about diverse subjects.

2. Bryan Giguere, The Winnsboro News – Not afraid to take on difficult, controversial topics, follows up on stories, sources are forthcoming with information, which denotes an amount of trust. Writes on a diverse amount of topics.

3. Susan Reeves, Mount Vernon Optic Herald – Writes it all – Hard news, sports, features, etc.

4. Bethany Peterson, Midlothian Mirror – Writes about various topics, able to convey emotion in the articles.

DIVISION 4
MID WEEKIES

1. Paul Gaudette, Dublin Citizen – Great reporting. Disaster, feature, feel good and factual articles show your diverse skills.

2. Wyndi Veigel, Farmerville Times – Strong skills. Great reporting.

3. Travis M Smith, Glen Rose Reporter – A variety of articles! All interesting and well written.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. Jim Bardwell, Gladewater Mirror – Great writing from news/feature and editorial on volunteers signing “accountability agreement”, – Seriously? Great job.

2. Micah McCartney, Bullard Banner News – Great writing; most were more feature type. A balance of news writing would have placed in first.

3. Natalie Gentry, Springtown Epigraph – Solid reporting.

4. Suzanne Loudamy, Tri County Leader – Great reporting. Would like to have seen other style- feature

PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. Andrew Brosig, The Daily Sentinel – Both rodeo photos are excellent. Love the color and clarity on the little boy (his shirt and rope match). All photos are crisp clear and tell a story. Good stuff.

2. Scott Dorsett, Waxahachie Daily Light – All great photos with lots of emotion! Very nice work.

3. Andy Adams, The Lufkin News – Excellent shots, clear, sharp. Love the fire photo and soccer photo. Veterans photo tells a great story. I did feel the basketball photo was too “busy”.

4. Michael Cavazos, Marshall News Messenger – Excellent action shots. Sports photos clear and sharp. Good stuff.

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Joe Duty, Wise County Messenger – Very creative! You have taken what could be very “boring” new photos and made them catching. The “Broken Home” photo grabbed me every time I flipped through entries. I also love the “larger than life” feel of the basketball team, and the tennis star photo was a great way to mesh the two things the subject loves. All of your photos are edited great for print. Great job!

2. Mary Vinson, Hood County News – This was such a hard choice (Between 1st and 2nd). Your photos are very engaging. The one of the children’s bicycle is almost haunting. The way you capture the emptiness of the area is tragically beautiful. I love how you are not afraid to get right next to the action to get a shot. I wish a couple of them had come out a little more crisp for print – especially the sports photo (football).

3. Chelsea Katz, Kilgore News Herald – Some of the photos really grabbed me; great composition but just so dark. Overall they are good, but only about half of them draw my attention when flipping through.

4. Stephanie Hill, Panola Watchman – A lot of the photos just didn’t have a whole lot going on. No action or creative angles. The most creative of this set is the “youth force” photo which is VERY nice. I just wish the other were on the same level.

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. John Reeves, Mt Vernon Optic Herald – Night photos of fire scenes can be somewhat difficult to shoot, but this is a good example that it can be done. Good action in the sports photos.

2. Mark K Campbell, The Azle News – Good capture on the action. The hackberry photo provided an excellent example of intensity of the cold. The focus of the object of interest set in a blurry background make it “pop”.

DIVISION 4
MID WEEKLIES

1. Wyndi Veigel, Farmersville Times – Great framing on all! Love, love the superhero photo! Great action for sports, too.

2. Tesha Sojourner, Dublin Citizen – Difficult to choose.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. Mark K. Campbell, Springtown Epigraph – This set of photos you submitted were fantastic! Your photos were all newsworthy and each told a great story.

2. Suzanne Bardwell, Gladewater Mirror – Your sports photos conveyed all the excitement and action of those moments. I particularly enjoyed those photos the most in your submission.

3. Micah McCartney, Bullard Banner News – The sports photos that were submitted are wonderful. A couple of photos seemed a little out of focus. Overall, great section of photos.

SPECIAL SECTION

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. Athens Review – WOW! The magazine layout is swanky but it also is filled with great content and ads.

2. The Lufkin News – Really love the concept “People, Places Things”. Great vehicle to showcase everything in Angelina County.

3. Texarkana Gazette – Comprehensive coverage of so much sports! Good job!

4. Palestine Herald Press – Great idea; good content. Watch using so many fonts for your headlines.

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Kilgore News Herald – Very strong editorial content. Good ads.

2. Hood County News – Very good ads. Nice layout.

3. Wise County Messenger – I love the ads in this piece!

4. The Panola Watchman – I would have liked more stories in this piece. I really liked the cover.

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. Mt Vernon Optic Herald – Great way to feature the county’s largest employer. Strong editorial content and ads make this a winner.

2. Canton Herald – Great ads. Nice clean layout.

3. Azle News – Nice piece. There were a couple of stories that lacked the graduation year which I would have liked to know as a reader.

4. The Wylie News – Nice presentation.

DIVISION 4
MID WEEKLIES

1. Wills Point – This is a fresh section filled with great info. The layout is clean and appealing, too.

2. Farmersville Times – Loved the cover. Good content. Great ads.

3. The Sachse News – Great look. Not much info on volleyball.

4. Dublin Citizen – Good photos, schedules and ads. Just not much info/articles on sports.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. Murphy Monitor – Would have liked to see more editorial content. Nice product and use of photos. Lots of faces!

2. Gladewater Mirror – Would like to see why there is a round up. Bit of history? Great ads!

3. Van Banner – Great photos. Hard to cover the devastation I’m sure. Clean, crisp layout.

4. Springtown Epigraph – While this is a pleasing to the eye product, I felt as though it was more of a visitor’s guide than a festival section.

SPORTS WRITING

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. Waxahachie Daily Light – Interesting story about Coach Kitna. Solid use of photo. Creative angle about mannequin with fun photo.

2. Athens Review – Basketball photo is soft, but content of story makes up for it. Great, detailed story about soccer.

3. Texarkana Gazette – Great headline with football story. Eye catching lead that really made the softball story!

4. Marshall News Messenger – Impactful story about football coach that overcame a stroke. Good idea with baseball story. Cool photo from twenty years ago.

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Wise County Messenger – Overall great stories and design. Best in this class!

2. Hood County News – Strong news copy!

3. Kilgore News Herald – Strong leads. Stories well written. This was a tough category to judge.

4. Panola Watchman

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. Midlothian Mirror – Inspiring story and great details. Selling power through the roof. Tremendous balance in the story with two different schools.

2. Azle News – Good detail and easy to read! Tremendous selling power.

3. Winnsboro News – Amazing content! Great information and easy to read.

4. Mineola Monitor – Great selling power, fun and easy to read. Great cover story. I knew exactly what happened in the game.

DIVISION 4
MID-WEEKLIES

1. Glen Rose Reporter – Tremendous insight and a well put together story. Great transitions.

2. Dublin Citizen – Good photos. Story is just brief. Great layout and design.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. The Springtown Epigraph – Well put together story and the layout and use of photos were perfect. Selling power was great!

2. Pottsboro Sun – Good story. Big paragraphs at times. Awesome story with amazing photos!

3. Bullard Banner News – Tremendous photos! Story was informative and put together well. Great pics!

4. Tri County Leader – Informative with good sports takes. Great transitions and good selling story.

FEATURE STORY

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. Waxahachie Daily Light, Neal White and Shelly Conlon – Well written, nice detail. Great background info on the emotional story of a reunion between a war veteran and the 12 yr old boy he helped rescue. Great use of quotes. Touching, well written story about a homecoming duchess with Down’s syndrome. Great lead.

2. The Daily Sentinel, Christine Broussard and Kim Foli -Recollection of war: Beautiful use of description, well written story about an era of American history that many do not know – Prison of war camps in Texas. Great quotes. An Alaskan native finds her place in the Lone Star State: Well written. Love the Layout.

3. Marshall News Messenger, Bridget Ortigo – Feeling the beat: Lots of detail , good use of quotes. Great layout and an interesting subject matter. Maverick flies high: Touching story about a high school cheerleader with autism. Great quotes. Love this layout as well.

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Hood County News, Rich Mauch – Excellent story. Loved the timeline. Very informative. Layout is also great. Good photos. Wonderful story. Timeline from start to finish is great. Great work!

2. Jacksonville Progress, Jo Anne Embleton – 1st Father’s Day – Touching adoption story. Good detail. Please note – Should have spelled out “1st” in the headline and cutlines are a little hard to read because of how it printed. A local tradition stages a comeback: Well written, lots of background info on a Cherokee County tradition.

3. Wise County Messenger, Richard Greene/Kristen Tribe – Great story. Main photo was perfect. Tells story in itself. Full of emotion. Great job! Very Bittersweet. Good story. Writer created an image of accident for reader to see. Good job!

4. Kilgore News, James Draper/Chelsea Katz – Great job. Very detailed story. Great content.

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. Midlothian Mirror, Bethany Kurtz/Andrew Branca – Interesting topic. Very informative story. Photos were great. Really complimented the story. Great work.

2. Mineola Monitor, Doris Newman/Josh Land – Very good story with difficult subject matter. Nice headline.

3. Azle News, Misty Shaw – Great story. Nice work. Very good content. Interesting. Kept my attention. Overall nice work.

4. Winnsboro News, Terry Mathews

DIVISION 4
MID WEEKLIES

1. Glen Rose Reporter, Travis M Smith – Very well written. You grabbed the reader with the lead and kept him until the end.

2. The Sachse News, Patty Montagno – Good story. I would have liked at least one non-contributed piece of art. Nice layout.

3. Dublin Citizen, Paul Gaudette – Nice presentation!

4. The Farmersville Times – Well written.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. Van Banner, Britne Reeves – The centenarian’s personality shines through in the writing. Group’s mission is clear.

2. Tri County Leader, Suzanne Loudamy – The orphan’s plight really comes through as well as the volunteers’ compassion. Great use of photos.

3. The Springtown Epigraph, Natalie Gentry – The compassion of class creator shines through as does the childrens’ struggles and triumphs. Well organized.

4. Murphy Monitor, David Jenkins – A long life full of description. Well researched.

COLUMN WRITING

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. Matt DeGrood, The Daily Sentinel – Rational voice in a sea of confusion. Passionately but balanced presentation.

2. Lauren Corbell , The Paris News – Well done. Readable. Sure and convincing. Good writing. Clear, concise, lively.

3. Gary Stallard, The Lufkin News – What kept you from placing higher was the lack of variety. More to read but this is the best writing in the bunch.

4. Neal White, Waxahachie Daily Light – Beautiful tribute; laughs courtesy of Yogi.

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Racey Burden, Wise County Messenger – This was a very strong and moving column. I actually had tears streaming down my face. I don’t cry often, so for a column to move me to tears speaks volumes. Keep up the good work. I see a bright future in your writing career.

2. Rick Mauch, Hood County News – Good column. Very well written. I found myself hoping that Jax has after game juice boxes for many more years.

3. Mark Wilson, Hood County News – Very wrong piece. Well written. Interesting situation.

4. Mitch Lucas, Kilgore News Herald

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. Jerry Tittle, Mt Vernon Optic Herald – Very descriptive! I felt like I was there with you! You lost something in the jump, but other than that – great!

2. Susan Reeves, Mt Veron Optic Herald – Very relatable. I think this is something we are all guilty of at times. I appreciate how real you are with the readers. Things aren’t always pretty, and I always appreciate a writer who can voice their struggles without sounding whiney.

3. Mark K. Campbell, Azle News – This is written very well and definitely my favorite. It is very relatable and well rounded.

4. Terry Mathews, The Winnsboro News – This is a great little historical piece and I am sure very nostalgic for those in the community.

DIVISION 4
MID-WEEKLIES

1. Larry Tucker, Wood County Democrat – I’m sure this struck a chord with many of your readers.

2. Paul Gaudette, The Dublin Citizen – Needs some editing for clarification and to smooth rough edges, correct punctuation and grammar.

3. Travis M Smith, Glen Rose Reporter – An editor could have made this a smoother read.

4. Sarah Dykowski, Dublin Citizen – Find a way to make a personal column appeal to others.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. Suzanne Bardwell, Gladewater Mirror – Very powerful. Great column. I really liked both pieces. They were well written with a strong message.

2. Liz Reeves, Tri County Leader – The lead was a bit long but other than that, I really liked the piece.

3. Suzanne Loudamy, Tri County Leader

GENERAL EXCELLENCE

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. The Daily Sentinel – Clean layout, great sections, solid writing. Loved story on Abernathy and the special “Life” sections. So interesting!

2. Lufkin News – Front page for soccer win – WOW! Great to do that. Nice layout and solid writing. Cyclist photo at top great! I usually don’t like “fun” fonts for front pages but “Cab crunch” works!

3. Athens Daily Review – Artsy front page with duck race is great! Good local coverage.

4. Texarkana Gazette – Solid photos. Great story on Baron Stanhope. Great flood coverage and “Celebrate” sections.

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Hood County News – Bold, eye-catching front page, excellent photos and their usage throughout the paper. Writing overall is excellent; clear and seems to cover the story accurately and wholly.

2. Wise County Messenger – Photos are fantastic. Would like to see a bolder, more simple front page. Writing and story coverage is well done.

3. Kilgore News Herald – A wide variety of informative stories covered in each issue. Would have liked to see better artwork and its usage throughout the papers. Front pages very busy. Stories inside wrap around each other and make the flow of the page difficult to follow.

4. Panola Watchman – Headlines very wordy. Front page not pleasing to the eye and not eye catching. Story coverage often drawn out and not clear and concise. Layout, however, throughout the paper is clean and near and easy to follow.

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. Midlothian Mirror – Nice Memorial Day tribute. Good writing, nice layout. Good overall package. Lots of community news.

2. Mineola Monitor – Good storm coverage. Good photos and good sports coverage. Good sports photos.

3. Azle News – Good wreck photo. Good sports coverage. Good haunted layout.

4. The Winnsboro News – Good NETO story. Good sports coverage. Good trail photo and good football photo.

DIVISION 4
MID WEEKLIES

1. Glen Rose Reporter – Excellent in depth coverage. Plenty of hard news and features that readers can use. Lots of strong local copy throughout issue. Well designed. Great use of photos.

2. The Dublin Citizen – Great layout, good use of color. Lots of city news. Lots of sports photos. Love the front page. Great look overall.

3. The Farmersville Times – Clean design, well written local copy and issues. Love the sports front page and photo.

4. The Princeton Herald – Like the mix of hard news and features. Strong photos. Clean design.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. Springtown Epigraph – Great photos and content. Great layout and front page photo of squirrel. Loved the haunted story!

2. Murphy Monitor – Nice front page photos on both issues. Clean layout and good reporting.

3. Tri County Leader – Nice design. Good photos – lots of faces!

4. Bullard Banner Press – Easy to read design. Watch for muddiness of photos. Solid news writing.

EDITORIALS

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. The Lufkin News – Continuing education : Well done, good background, clear position. Flip: Community needed a “slap upside the head” and you gave it to them!

2. The Daily Sentinel – Both clear, concise writing with positions well defined and backed up.

3. Texarkana Gazette – Love the head and serious subject handled with a touch of humor. Good perspective. Short and to the point.

4. The Paris News

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Hood County News – Well done. Strong words express firm position against censorship for tolerance. A mess of a situation clearly spelled out with a call to action.

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. The Winnsboro News – Unique approach to community news/events and how it connects overall to the rest of the world.

2. The Azle News – Sense of urgency about unregulated gun range is clear.

3. Mt Vernon Optic Herald – District gets “F” in my honest opinion only promotes more fear, sorry.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. The Gladewater Mirror – Great! Freedom of the press indeed

SPORTS COVERAGE

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. The Lufkin News – Amazing soccer photos! Great shots of the state matchup. Photos are dark and grainy with volleyball and football coverage.

2. Waxahachie Daily Light – Great front page design! Dark photos but still effective.

3. Marshall News Messenger – Effective front page despite being the only page with local coverage. Good feature story with a good design.

4. The Paris News – Effective front page design. Nice choice of photos, but some are really dark.

DIVISION 2
SEMI-WEEKLY

1. Wise County Messenger – Nice design layout of cover. Good quality photos. Good writing variety. Nice package. Some great photos.

2. Hood County News – Great photos. Good reproduction. Nice layout and design. Good variety.

3. Kilgore News Herald – Good soccer photo. Good layout. Good reproduction. Football photo a little dark.

4. Panola Watchman – Good variety.

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLY

1. Midlothian Mirror – Tremendous writing and coverage. Photos fit perfectly.

2. The Winnsboro News – The writing was great. Range is tremendous. The only problem to me is the layout. Between stories there is no line, only headlines separating them.

3. Mineola Monitor – Good writing and photos, but layout needs lines separating the stories.

4. Azle News – Couple of text errors and layout is confusing. The range is great, as well as the photos.

DIVISION 4
MID WEEKLIES

1. Farmerville Times – Great baseball shot. Good layout, playoffs coverage. Good variety of coverage.

2. Princeton Herald – Lots of photos. Good variety. Couple of great football shots. Good layout.

3. Sachse News – Lots of good photos, variety.

4. Glen Rose Reporter – Good variety. Nice local angle to national story.

DIVISION 5
WEEKLY

1. Murphy Monitor – Great photos and design. Wonderful display of multiple pics that are clear and big.

2. Bullard Banner News – Great color pics, but they are grainy. Nice use of rulers to help compliment design.

3. Tri County Leader – Good color photos, but they are soft. Design flows from one story to the next. The leading on the two deck headers have a lot of space.

4. The Gladewater Mirror – Good flow with design and solid writing with leads. Dark photos throughout section.

SPORTS PHOTO

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. Daily Sentinel – Football: Nice action, well cropped. Production a little dark but otherwise a great shot. Basketball: Another good shot; best of the bunch.

2. Waxahachie Daily Light – Volleyball: Great emotion! Soccer: Good shot.

3. Texarkana Gazette – Soccer: Good action shot. Track: Nice shot.

4. Marshall News Messenger – Track: Good action shot. Barrel racer: Nice shot.

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Panola Watchman – Good action shot. Great photo! Would like to see a face. Otherwise good photo.

2. Hood County News – Nice facial expression behind subject.

3. Kilgore News Herald – Great and informative cutlines! Good job!

4. Jacksonville Progress

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. The Wylie News – Tremendous action shot and content within the shot. Just a high quality shot that shows the athleticism and concentration of athletes while playing sports.

2. Mineola Monitor – Great shot, but it is a tad bit grainy and the cutline is weak. High quality photo with a perfect cutline.

3. Azle News – Great, quality shot! Not only with the players, but the head coach as well.

4. Midlothian Mirror – Awesome photo, but not much of a cutline.

DIVISION 4
MID WEEKLIES

1. The Farmersville Times – Outstanding football photo in the rain! Great quality and sharpness in those conditions.

2. Princeton Herald- Great baseball photo with the runner sliding home! Nice, clear soccer photo.

3. Dublin Citizen – Good, clear football photo. Volleyball photo is soft, but good content.

4. The Wood County Democrat – Interesting photo with player drinking water. Nice and sharp! Wonderful volleyball pic that captured the excitement in the moment.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. The Springtown Epigraph – Great wide shot of runners with good action and color.

2. Murphy Monitor – The football photo packs a lot of action into a well framed shot.

3.Gladewater Mirror – Good action shot. Nice composition.

4. TIE: Bullard Banner News and Tri County Leader

PAGE DESIGN

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. Lufkin News – Loved the front page. Takes a bit of coverage to devote whole front to a photo. Fonts could have been bolder. Overall layout is good. Like your use of photos; draws the eye in.

2. The Daily Sentinel – Like the video teaser; why not a color background? “15 minute” box is distracting from a good layout. Pages are clean. Easy to read and follow.

3. The Marshall Messenger – Front was nice, readable as was lifestyle page.

4. Waxahachie Daily Light – Front page was great, eye catching and told the story. Life was okay. Dropped off after large photo. Sports with too many six column headlines on one page. Editorial was okay.

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Hood County News – Good eye flow, good headline hierarchy, pullout top story nicely done. Everything tied together. Good use of photos.

2. Wise County Messenger – Nice flow. Good job making feature stand out. Good fonts.

3. Kilgore News Herald – Good modular layout. Good easy to follow layout. Good use of large photo.

4. Jacksonville Progress

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. The Azle News – Good modular layout. Easy to follow and know what goes with what on the front. Loved the shadow. My preference is for text under a related photo such as where jump is. Too many six column headlines. Letters could have gone vertical.

2. Canton Herald – Good layout. Box on “chamber” distracting. Nicely modular for ease of reading. Like use of white space.

3. Wylie News – Easy to read and follow. Eye flow good. Raider runaway could have been all caps or small caps to blow it up. Too much white at end of headlines.

4. Van Zandt News – I would have switched festival and grads. Centerpiece kept you from being higher. Text totally lost on photo. Would have been better to crop or make smaller other photos to be able to put text below photo. Headline worked out but a little small. Flow good.

DIVISION 4
MID WEEKLIES

1. Glen Rose Reporter – Love these pages. Strong design skills throughout. Great use of photos and graphics.

2. Sachse News – I love the openness of the typeface and leading! Great use of photos.

3. Dublin Citizen – Easy to read. Good use of photos

4. Wills Point Chronicle – Nice layout!

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1.Bullard Banner News – The only newspaper in category that followed rules.

FEATURE PHOTO

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. Texarkana Gazette, Evan Lewis – What a fun, well done feature photo. Great composition and framing. Love the girl in a sea of rubber duckies. Good idea, colors and composition.

2. The Marshall News Messenger – Caleb Brabham photo: Fun summer feature photos. Variety of angles with great action and expressions. Good color and composition. Les Hassell photo: Making what could be dull photo into something eye catching and fun. Good use of action and composition.

3. The Daily Sentinel – Victor Texcucano photo: Cute feature pic with the kid in the cop’s hat. Nice heartwarming photo with good composition and color. Andrew D. Brosig photo: Nice action with excellent framing while capturing the boy’s expression.

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Hood County News – Mary Vinson photos: Both photos capture emotion and facial reaction! Great composition and color reproduction.

2. Wise County Messenger – Joe Duty photos: Great close-ups with Santa. Good composition lighting and reproduction. A perfect prom pic. Innovative and well done.

3. Kilgore News Herald – James Draper photo: Nice action photo using slower shutter speed but keeping the boy’s face in focus. Chelsea Katz photo: Nice welcome home photo. Captures the emotion with good composition and reproduction.

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. The Wylie News – Nancy Whitney photos: Photo has decently good composition with subject matter in the bottom quadrant with the camera angle. This was a good entry.

2. The Azle News – Carla Noah Stutsman photos: Good action and good capture of motion. Photo was a bit too centered for good composition. The vanishing point perspective of the long line of wagons is what makes this photo interesting, especially from a compositional viewpoint.

3. Mt Vernon Optic Herald – Susan Reeves photos: Color is good. As for composition, the photo is way too centered.

4. Winnsboro News – Ross Hunter photos: Obviously cute subject matter that grasps most readers’ attention. The cutline was adequate. The photo reproduced with very good clarity.

DIVISION 4
MID WEEKLIES

1. The Sachse News – Patty Montagno photo: Great Memorial Day Photo. Good job. Charlene Loggins photo: Cute kid and fuzzy bunny. Hard to beat. Good color and composition.

2. The Princeton Herald – Victor Tapial photo: Nice use of telephoto. Crisp and clean color with nice composition. Wyndi Veigel photo: Cute heartwarming photo. Nice color.

3. The Dublin Citizen – Tesha Sojourner photo: Fire always grabs the eye. Good color. Composition okay but a lower angle could have helped the students stand out. Paul Gaudette photo: Good subject and okay photo.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. The Springtown Epigraph – Mark Campbell photo: Great composition and color. Natalie Gentry photo: Good action pic but should have been cropped to zero in on his expression.

2. Gladewater Mirror – Jim Bardwell photo: Nice composition and action. Suzanne Bardwell photo: Colorful halftime action photo.

3. Murphy Monitor – Roosevelt Joubert photo: Fun headline for a different homecoming photo. Nice composition and action. David Jenkins photo: Not only funny parade pooch, but a hilarious facial look.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. The Lufkin News – The newspaper took the lead toward revitalizing Vision 2020. Your staff had vision itself in not allowing a good project to die.

2. Marshall News Messenger – You spoke and they listened. I applaud both your staff and your city.

3. Texarkana Gazette

4. Waxahachie Daily Light

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. Mt Vernon Optic Herald – The paper played an integral rose in uniting the community to rally around Dejah. Great stories kept the readers informed about Dejah’s struggles and strides and provided continuous updates of what they could do to help. Great presentation!

2. The Winnsboro News – While the BUG Program is a great cause and I applaud the editor for his participation, the entry failed to show the role the paper played.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. Gladewater Mirror – This was a great thing you did for your community and readers. Keep up the excellent work!

NEWS PHOTO

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. Texarkana Gazette – Grieving mom photo: Gripping, tragic. Great shot. Construction photo: All around good photo. I love the lines and focus.

2. Waxahachie Daily Light – Tornado devastation photo: Clearly a great shot of the hopelessness and disbelief this community must feel. Head on wreck photo: Good shot. Onlookers, first responders, DPS and the trailer looks to be unfolding. Watch datelines.

3. The Lufkin News – Church Fire: Great photo. Lines of the remaining boards, the flames, the historical marker and the silhouette of the onlooker. Excellent shot. Car chase: I like the long fading line of police cars and seeing the suspect in the driver’s seat.

4. Athens Review – Bus wreck: Nice shot. I like the trees and ground while the bus almost looks like it was just placed sideways. Worm photo: Sweet shot. More featurey though.

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Wise County Messenger – Both photos are composed very well and clearly capture the moment. Both reproduced very well, extremely clearly and sharp.

2. Kilgore News Herald – Both photos capture the emotion of the event well and reproduce nicely.

3. Hood County News – Both photos capture emotion of the event. Photo could have been produced more clearly.

4. The Panola Watchman – Both photos are quite ordinary. Nothing outstanding. No real emotion captured.

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLY

1. The Azle News – Good composition with framing and perspective. Apparently the photographer arrived on the scene ahead of first responders so timeliness was excellent. The cutline was succinct, giving much information in few sentences.

2. Mineola Monitor – Good composition in that the skyline and pavement trisect the horizontal lines. The timeliness is good in capturing a still-burning fire.

3. Midlothian Mirror – Decent composition. The composition of this photo would be improved by moving the camera to the left and shooting a wider angle thus placing the girls in the strong 1/3 vertical lines, both from the left and right sides of the photo.

4. Mt Vernon Optic Herald – Good capture of fire intensity.

DIVISION 4
MID WEEKLIES

1. Farmersville Times – Tornado shot is stronger of two submitted. Impact is great.

2. Lindale News and Times- Tornado photo great – trees snapped!

3. Glen Rose Reporter – Ash photo very surreal looking!

4. Dublin Citizen – City worker photo framed well.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. The Springtown Epigraph – Great photo! Tells the story. Nice framework. Can feel the heat.

2. Gladewater Mirror – Accident scene tells story. Great photo. Nice work. Nice photo framing.

3. Bullard Banner News – Great photo! Captures emotion.

4. Whitewright Sun – Great photo. Captures entire scene.

ADVERTISING

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. Texarkana Gazette – Cass Co: Nice, easy to read product layout. Good use of color and white space. Boy Scouts: The photos make this ad! Simple layout with easy to read sponsors. Jr. League: Color and excellent use of type and graphics make for an eye catching ad.

2. Marshall News Messenger – The brass trunk and vacation are simple, colorful and straight to the point. Nice layout with good graphics and color.

3. Palestine Herald Press – Charles Dickens: Good use of artwork and color. Frost Fest: Interesting. Appears to be front page ad that the downtown merchants got their money’s worth! Wal-Mart: nice simple message with colorful graphics.

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Wise County Messenger – Matthews Roofing: Talk about eye-catching! Simple, innovative and using a terrific photo. Pet Health Center: Excellent black and white ad with good use of eye-catching graphics. Makes a point quick. Gails Pharmacy: Well done and really says Open House!

2. Hood County News – Right to Carey: Eye-catching graphics and the sideways ad makes you stop and read. Good use of color. Lake Granbury Medical: Nice, simple and professional looking.

3. Panola Watchman – All three ads have nice layouts with great use of photos, color and graphics

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. Winnsboro News – Hubbell House – Simple and elegant. Fits the advertiser. Good use of gradients. Ford: Good layout, eyecatching and flows well.

2. The Wylie News – Learning Center: Good use of white space with lots of text. Flows well. Color bars are nice touch. Gandy: Simple but gets the point across. Nice flow.

3. Mt Vernon Optic- Herald – Farm supply: Good start, gets too busy and jumbled on bottom. Like ribbon with offerings. Hess: Had to look for “Super Sale”. Too small.

4. Azle News – Fireworks: Good try on really busy background. Those are difficult. Tangled: What does leopard print have to do with anything? Ad would be better without. Takes away.

DIVISION 4
MID WEEKLIES

1. Sachse News – Medical Lodge: Nice, eyecatching, eye follows content. Cox: Good use of color and graphics. Flows well.

2. Lindale News and Times – Fleming: Ads flowed well, let you know what’s for sale. Wesley: Sometimes this kind of ad works better as vertical. Bottom box nice leaving clear space for logo.

3. The Princeton Herald – Farmersville: Nice, elegant ad. FUMC: Says what needs to and not overwhelmed by text.

4. Wood County Democrat – Nail: Nail polish graphic cool. Facebook too big. Some type of border with color would have helped photos. Double H: Grand opening lost. Needs to be bigger.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. Murphy Monitor – Cloud Nine: Ad is awesome! It looks pixilated but is the best of all entries. Big Daddy’s: Great idea and graphics.

2. Springtown Epigraph – Tabernacle: Nice concept. May want to add the address for Woody Creek BBQ since they are donating $$.

3. Gladewater Mirror – Co. Fair: Clever way to incorporate sponsors’ logo. Ace: Good promotional ad.

4. Pottsboro Sun

NEWS WRITING

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. Texarkana Gazette, Becky Bell/Jennifer Middleton – Very well written. Very informative. Very time consuming story with much information collected. Great job! Great story. Well written. Great lead.

2. Waxahachie Daily Light, Shelly Conlon/Andrew Branca – Great work. Catches emotion of victims. Good quality. Good photos. Great photos to go along with news.

3. Daily Sentinel, Paul Bryant – Very informative. Great work. Loads of information that expands over time. Excellent story.

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Hood County News , Kathy Cruz – Both stories accurately and clearly portray the matter in a compelling way to the reader.

2. Wise County Messenger, Brian Knox – The writer did a good job of going out to get the story for both articles and illustrated the importance of each story’s subject to the reader.

3. Kilgore News Herald, James Draper – While the subjects of both stories had significant news value, neither story was exceptionally clear. Both stories seemed overly wordy and could have been condensed for clarity. Leads on both stories were overly wordy as well.

4. Jacksonville Progress, April Barbe – Great job! Very traumatic story written in great detail. Reader can almost smell stench.

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. Van Zandt News , Britne Hammons – Well executed story on tax assessor. The reader gets to know the person. Story is told in length from beginning to end with plenty of images (photos/scanned documents), emotion, motive. It’s all in there.

2. The Azle News , Carla Noah Stutsman – Lead pulls the reader in, sets the pace for the action in the story, the adrenaline of the rescue comes through in the writing. Good use of language convey, they tense meeting, issues were laid out for the reader to consider.

3. The Wylie News, Joe Reavis – A riveting story about three young lives disrupted by grave mistakes. Great follow up.

4. The Winnsboro News, Bryan Giguere

DIVISION 4
MID WEEKLIES

1. Glen Rose Reporter, Travis Smith and Melissa Holmes – Great structure, well written and in depth. Lots of detail. Nice headline.

2. The Farmersville Times, Wyndi Veigel – Well done story sharing the positivity between police and community. Well written story on a controversial subject.

3. The Dublin Citizen, Paul Gaudette and Scott Dykowski – Great coverage and description of storms. Great lead, good quotes. Well written story about homes flooded with sewage.

4. The Princeton Herald – Great coverage of a store owner who sold a winning lottery ticket. Nice description, nicely written. In-depth coverage of storms.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. The Springtown Epigraph – Lead and coverage, especially of the gun fire story, were well thought out and seemed to completely cover the issues.

2. Murphy Monitor , Patty Montagno, Wyndi Veigel, David Jenkins – While the tornado story seemed to completely cover the story, the council meeting story seemed like a standard meeting.

3. Van Banner, Britne Reeves – Both stories covered matters of high news value. Some material, especially in the tornado story, should have been more localized.

4. Bullard Banner News, Micah McCartney – Leads on both stories were too long and draw out. Should be clean and to the point, especially for news stories.

HEADLINE WRITING

DIVISION 1
DAILIES

1. Texarkana Gazette – “Strutting Their Fluff” – Good one! “No Grey Area” – Well done.

2. Waxahachie Daily Light – “A Growing Concern” – Good and solid. “Oh No Don’t” – I got it but it took a second. Double negative. Clever but a bit cutesy.

3. Paris News – “CBC Eyes” – I guess this is a play on the CBS logo. “Help Stuff” – Nicely done. “Get an ‘app’titude for learning” – Clever without being too cute.

4. Athens Daily Review – “Lending a hand” – A stretch tying sculpture to head. “Don’t look, Ethel!” – Funny

DIVISION 2
SEMI WEEKLIES

1. Hood County News – All headlines creatively capture the story in a few words.

2. Wise County Messenger – Headlines accurately capture story creatively.

3. Kilgore News Herald – While headlines accurately capture story, some are harder to read.

4. TIE:
Jacksonville Progress – “Up in Smoke”, “Life after ‘Ragweed'”, “Blown Away: Straight Line Winds Strike Jacksonville” – All get the job done but none grabbed me.
Panola Watchman – All headlines lack creativity, but do accurately represent story content.

DIVISION 3
LARGE WEEKLIES

1. Azle News – Best set of headlines by far!

2. Mineola Monitor – “Indian summer” – creative! “Moved Heaven”- Good headline.

3. Van Zandt News – “Hunting” – Best of the three. FYI..Font a little hard to read.

DIVISION 4
MID WEEKLIES

1. The Princeton Herald – “Stunning” – Stunning overstates the case. “What a view” – Less a headline and more a cutline kicker.

2. Glen Rose Reporter – “He’s Dunn” – Best of the bunch.

3. The Dublin Citizen – Doing the job but little more.

4. The Farmersville Times – “Mums” – No mention of mums in story as far as it goes on page 1. “DWI De-fence” – Not a headline.

DIVISION 5
SMALL WEEKLIES

1. Springtown Epigraph – All clever, to the point; draw readers in. By far first place.

2. Bullard Banner news – “Cruz Control” – Great headline! Made good use of materials. Very clever!

3. Tri County Leader – “Packing them in” – Good one!

4. Gladewater Mirror

• Tom Mooney “Friend of the Newspaper” Award: Mike Hodges of Texas Press Association
• Sam C. Holloway Award: Donnita Fisher
• Special NETPA Award to Scott McCloud of SWEPCO

And a HUGE thank you to all of this year’s sponsors:

• SWEPCO
• Texas Press Association
• Southern Lithograph
• Longview News
• Hood County News
• Bluebonnet Publishing
• TCU Journalism School
• Metro Creative
• Impression Inks
• Bardwell Ink
• Gatesville Messenger
• Evanston Paper
• Lufkin Daily News
• Paris News
• Mt. Vernon Optic
• Atlanta
• Pittsburg Gazette
• C&S Media
• Wise County Messenger
• Aledo