2/13/2010 5:58:00 PM Telegram takes home top newspaper award for third time in four years
Telegram General Manager Jerry Mossbarger (left) and Editor Pete Wilson (center) were proud to accept the Ohio Newspaper Association’s (ONA) General Excellence Award -- the top awards a non-daily newspaper can win in Ohio -- from ONA Convention Committee member Jeff Donahue.
For the third time in four years, The Telegram has won the top award that a non-daily newspaper can win in the state of Ohio.
On Thursday, February 11, The Telegram was one of only four non-daily newspapers in the state to win the "General Excellence" award in the Osman C. Hooper Show, sponsored by the Ohio Newspaper Association (ONA).
The 2010 newspaper competition, which was entered by 61 newspapers from all over the state, was one of the highlights of the ONA's annual convention held at the Easton Hilton in Columbus.
The Telegram's General Manager, Jerry Mossbarger, along with Editor Pete Wilson and Community Editor Pam Wilson, were present Thursday, Feb. 11 to accept the newspaper's honors, which also included three first-place awards, four second-place awards and two third-place awards.
"On behalf of the ownership (Jackson County Broadcasting, Inc.) and management, I would like to thank each and every staff member of The Telegram and all those many contractors who play key roles in making our newspaper happen," Editor Wilson stated. "From day one, there has been a sincere commitment of everybody involved to produce the best local newspaper possible within our means and abilities. We are extremely proud to be honored by our peers, but even more proud to be representatives of our local people in Jackson and Vinton counties who have supported us as readers, advertisers and friends."
Based on circulation, newspapers were split into four separate divisions of equal size for most classes in the 2010 Hooper Show Contest. Each year a point-value system is in place for 1st-through-3rd places in the classes separated by division, or 1st-through-5th place in the three combined classes -- and the newspaper with the top cumulative score in each division earns the prestigious "General Excellence" award. The Telegram prevailed this year in Division C to win the overall first-place finish -- and thus the much coveted "General Excellence" award, for the third time.
"Winning the 'General Excellence' award at the Hooper Show is the ultimate honor for a non-daily newspaper in this state," Editor Wilson commented. "We are competing against the very best of the best in our field."
The Telegram also won the Division C General Excellence Award in both 2007 and 2009, and has won more categorical awards (35) over the past four years than any other newspaper in the Hooper competition, regardless of division. In that same four-year period, The Telegram has placed at least once in each of the 15 possible categories.
The four "General Excellence" award-winning newspapers for 2010 were: Division A, Chagrin Valley Times (circulation 10,666 and over); Division B, West Life of Westlake (circulation from 6,722 to 10,271); Division C, The Telegram of Jackson (circulation from 3,345 to 5,818); and Division D, Granville Sentinel (circulation from 1,126 to 3,299).
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WINNING ENTRIES
Entries for the 2010 Osman C. Hooper Show were drawn from work done between August 1, 2008 and July 31, 2009. The Telegram's winning entries in the 2010 contest were as follows:
"In-Depth Reporting": 1st place. This class is judged on the depth of reporting on a single issue or series of related issues and may include investigative reporting, enterprise reporting or an analysis of a subject or issue. The Telegram's winning entry was a 16-piece series of articles published in July 2009, entitled "Recession Hits Home" -- written in turns by Pete Wilson, Steven P. Keller, Barbara Summers, Todd Compston, Red Thompson Jr. and Kristi Murphy; with original graphic art by Richard Landaeta and layout design by Pam Wilson.
The collaborative team effort explored in-depth how the recession has affected various integral parts of the local economy, such as: jobs, spending and building; village, municipal and county governments; school districts (both academically and athletically); major businesses and the general infrastructure.
The judges wrote: "The economic crisis set off by the Wall Street meltdown of 2008 has affected the lives of every American and many people throughout the world. The staff of The Telegram decided to try to document the impact of this crisis on their local community through a 16-part series called 'Recession at Home' that ran throughout the month of July 2009. The series is solidly reported and powerfully written. It demonstrates the power of examples to make abstract topics come alive with human impact and feeling. The series explores in a comprehensive and intelligent way the impact on the economic downturn on many aspects of life in and around Jackson and Vinton County. The series is particularly well-planned and executed. This is local news at its finest and a shining example of why democracy depends on strong and independent journalism."
"Best Web Site" (Independent Newspaper Web Sites): 1st place.
The Telegram's Web Site creator and ongoing maintenance manager is Rick Callebs, and it is updated daily by the news staff with advertising sold by the sales staff and ads created by the graphics staff.
Of The Telegram's winning Web Site, the judges wrote: "This Web site does it right! It uses pictures effectively; updates regularly; offers RSS feeds of obituaries; sells local advertising; generates local comments; and presents a great visual package. It also offers free online classifieds, and sells prints of photos that were taken for the newspapers. The 'cyber poll' is local, rather than a canned national poll, and there is a search box and a links directory for local resources. Very impressive; very deserving of this award."
"Original Columns": 1st place and 2nd place. This class is judged on the overall quality of writing, clarity and local interest. A single entry includes three columns, all written by the same columnist; and any number of columnists from the same newspaper may enter once per year.
This year, The Telegram had the distinctive honor of placing twice in this competition, with winning entries from both Editor Pete Wilson (1st place) and Staff Writer Red Thompson, Jr. (2nd place). Their winning entries were all front-page "Sun Corner" columns, and included:
From 1st-place winner Pete Wilson: "A Tribute to Mom," 5-9-09 (a touching memorial to Audrey Henry and the embodiment of motherhood itself, on Mothers Day); "That's About It - Be Seeing You," 3-25-09 (a fond tribute to the legacy of legendary Jackson newspaper Editor, Ed Clark); and "A Bit of Tongue-in-Cheek Humor," 12-20-08 (a funny take on classic Christmas shopping).
From 2nd-place winner Red Thompson, Jr.: "The Heart of the Mission," 7-22-09 (unique piece on National Guard-hosted excursion); "Dreamers, Creators & Doers Play Vital Role in Area Dynamics," 8-27-08 (local-angle look at community achievements); and "It's Time Again to Re-invent Ourselves," 11-22-08 (historical account of trains and their potential for a comeback).
Of Wilson's winning entry, the judges commented: "From the story of coping with his first Mother's Day since his mother's passing to observations from Christmas shopping in the mall, this columnist tells slice-of-life stories with which many readers can identify. His tribute to his former journalistic mentor showed his commitment to the craft and to the community newspaper."
Of Thompson's winning entry, the judges commented: "The strength of these columns rests in their topics. While most writers in this category concentrated on personal experience, this columnist looked beyond and delved into items of community interest. He not only makes note of some of the good things going on in the community but also suggests how it can move forward."
"News Coverage": 2nd place. This class is judged on the overall quantity and quality of community coverage, including hard news and features (excluding advertising). The Telegram's winning entry included three full issues: those of 2-25-09, 4-18-09 and 7-29-09.
The judges wrote: "The Telegram goes far out of its way to be sure to deliver thorough coverage of serious news to its circulation area. The paper regularly publishes helpful stories on business, politics, crime, schools and county and municipal issues. There also is a generous diet of feature stories, on both 'hard' and 'soft' subjects. This is a hefty newspaper, loaded with all kinds of news of interest to the community."
"Community Service": 2nd place. This entry includes: a brief written Editor's statement of a single project which should clearly describe the community's need and how results of the newspaper project or campaign addressed that need; clips and all supporting documentation; and a complete issue of the newspaper related to the specific project. This class also bears the distinction of all entries being combined into one single division, regardless of newspapers' size.
The Telegram's winning entry was built around its "Pet Corner" - an ongoing, advertising-based project centered around helping homeless animals to find loving homes. Advertising Director Jeanne Gillum conceived the idea and executed much of it in collaboration with other staffers.
The judges wrote: "The Telegram did its homework in the community. Staff knew the alarming statistics about homeless and unwanted dogs and decided to do something about it. Using an aggressive mix of editorial and house advertising, they drew attention to homeless dogs at local shelters. Every issue of The Telegram featured photos and descriptions of adoptable dogs. That's an impressive commitment of precious column inches. News stories supported the issue as well. And, the campaign worked. They reported that half of all featured dogs found homes."
"Photojournalism": 2nd place. This class is judged on the overall quality and impact of photos as an integral part of the newspaper. The Telegram's winning entry included one full issue, as well as five individually selected front-page photos: (1) "Man survives plunge into creek," taken by Pete Wilson, 6-3-09; "Strickland pitches for Obama," taken by Barbara Summers, 9-3-08; "Believe it - the Oaks are state champs!," taken by Todd Compston, 4-1-09; "Family loses home, dog in blaze," taken by Pete Wilson, 2-25-09; and "Camel adds realism to live Nativity," taken by Steven P. Keller, 12-20-08.
The Telegram's winning full issue was that of 12-10-08, which featured approximately 10 full pages of "Hometown Christmas" photos - many in color, showcasing every facet of "Christmas time" in the local communities. The issue had 82 photos in all with 77 of them being taken by the staff: Red Thompson, Jr., Tara Dodrill, Pete Wilson, Barbara Summers, Steven P. Keller, Erikka Alcantara and Todd Compston.
The judges wrote: "Photos from this entrant capture what's going on in the community with a strong emphasis on 'breaking news,' like a river [creek] rescue and house fire."
"Local Features": 3rd place. This class is judged on the overall impact of the feature story or series of stories, to include content, writing quality, photography and layout. The Telegram's winning entry included the following group of three separate features: (1) "Past, future linked in Oak Hill Park... Central Park dream becomes reality," by Pete Wilson - published 8-27-08; (2) "Courthouse fire to come alive on DVD... DVD features historic fire," by Pete Wilson - published 6-20-09; and (3) "Brick swappers converge in Wellston... Event brings 100 collectors to Wellston," by Steven P. Keller - published 10-1-08.
Judges called the story on the brick swap "fascinating" and the DVD project an "intriguing topic".
"Sports Coverage": 3rd place (tie with Englewood Independent). This class is judged on all aspects of local sports, writing and photo quality and overall appearance of the sports section. The Telegram's winning entry included three complete sports sections published on the following dates: 4-18-09, 4-1-09 and 4-11-09 (featuring "Living The Dream," a Telegram special dedicated to Oak Hill's glorious 2008-09 basketball season). The Telegram is especially proud of the latter.
"The goal was to not only create a news product to chronicle their seasons, but to also provide the historical perspective, bottle the magic moments and profile the heroes," Editor Pete Wilson said of the special commemorative section -- while the judges noted "attractive page design".
"Living The Dream" was accomplished through the expansive team efforts of a great many people. In-person season coverage, articles, photos, features, statistics and layout design were compiled through the combined efforts of Editor Pete Wilson, Sports Editor Todd Compston, Sports Writer Red Thompson Jr., Correspondents Buzz Fisher and Randy Heath; the "trail to glory in pictures" that made up the front page was created by Graphics Manager Richard Landaeta; and of course, the entire section was enthusiastically sold and warmly received by the Telegram sales staff and the advertising community, respectively.
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THE TELEGRAM TEAM
Congratulations to all members of The Telegram team: General Manager Jerry Mossbarger; Editor Pete Wilson, Associate Editor Steven P. Keller, Senior Staff Writer Barbara Summers, Community Editor Pam Wilson, Sports Editor Todd Compston, Staff/Sports Writer Red Thompson Jr., Sports Contributors Buzz Fisher, Jim Salyer and Randy Heath, Staff Writer Kristi Murphy, former staff writer Erikka Alcantara and Vinton Co. News Contributor Tara Dodrill; The Telegram's regular News Columnists, Mildred Bangert, Barbara McKinniss, Jack Rhea, Bob Maynard, Cartoonist Glenn Chevalier and Telegram Webmaster Rick Callebs; Advertising Manager Jeanne Gillum and Advertising Sales Representatives Bill Mosley and Joel Walton; Graphics Ad Designers Richard Landaeta and Tim Seaton; Classified Advertising Manager / Receptionist Beckie Owens and Business Office Manager Debbie Richards; Circulation Director Deby Immel, Assistant Circulation Director Betsy McDaniel and former Assistant Circulation Director Christina Floyd; and Telegram Carriers, Marus Skeens, Sandy Adair, Charlotte Blackburn, Pandora Teasley, Vicki Albright, Otis Maynard, Fawn Maynard and Kirk McDowell.
