NEWS RELEASE DO NOT RELEASE UNTIL 10:30 P.M. FRIDAY, FEB. 22, 2008 Contact: Jennifer Gilliland Creative Director Oklahoma Press Association (405) 499-0028 jgilliland@okpress.com Better Newspaper Contest Winners Announced at OPA Mid-Winter Convention Eight state newspapers receive top honors in annual contest Winners of the 2007 Oklahoma Press Association Better Newspaper Contest were announced at the OPA Mid-Winter Convention on Feb. 22, 2008. The convention was held at the Skirvin Hilton in downtown Oklahoma City. Eighty-seven member newspapers submitted 812 contest entries, which were judged by members of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. The contest consists of eight divisions with 12 events in each division. Winners in events one through three (News Content, Layout & Design and Advertising), receive 120 points for first place, 100 for second, 80 for third and 60 for fourth. For events four through 12 (Sales Promotion, In-Depth Enterprise, Editorial Comment, Personal Columns, News Writing, Feature Writing, Sports Coverage, Photography and Community Leadership), winners receive 100 points for first place, 80 for second, 60 for third and 40 for fourth. The Sequoyah Award, the highest honor in the contest, is presented to the newspaper in each division receiving the greatest amount of points. The 2007 Sequoyah Award winners are Muskogee Phoenix, The Duncan Banner, The Journal Record, The Mustang News, Oologah Lake Leader, The Hennessey Clipper, Waurika News-Democrat and El Reno Tribune. MUSKOGEE PHOENIX The Muskogee Phoenix, which is owned by Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. (CNHI), received 780 points in Division 1, daily newspapers with circulation above 9,000. The Phoenix placed first in Layout & Design, Editorial Comment, News Writing and Community Leadership; second in Personal Columns; third in In-Depth Enterprise, Sports Coverage and Photography; and fourth in News Content and Feature Writing. Judges praised the Phoenix's writing, "It's a pleasure to read strong, passionate and logical editorial comment. The Phoenix readers are fortunate to have this editorial voice." "David Gerard is simply a great story-teller," wrote the judge in the Personal Columns event. "Strong command of the language; a delicious sense of irony. It was a photo-finish between first and second." The Phoenix previously received top honors in 1981, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1991-1994, 1996, 2000, 2001 and 2005. Lawrence Corvi is publisher of the Phoenix. THE DUNCAN BANNER The Duncan Banner won its fourth consecutive honor this year with 740 points. The Banner competed in Division 2, dailies with circulation 4,500 to 8,999. Floyd Jernigan is publisher of the daily newspaper owned by CNHI. The Banner placed first in News Content and Sports Coverage; second in Personal Columns, News Writing and Community Leadership; third in Layout & Design, In-Depth Enterprise and Feature Writing; and fourth in Sales Promotion and Editorial Comment. "Quality of writing in major spot news stories and features," the judge of the News Content event wrote. "Nice variety of news-features." A judge in the Personal Columns event wrote, "Jeff Kaley's writing is punctuated with nostalgia, irony and humor. I enjoyed them enormously. The top three awards were very hard to discern." In addition to the four consecutive Sequoyah Award wins, the Banner also won the top honor in 1982. THE JOURNAL RECORD (OKC) The Journal Record returned to the winner's circle in Division 3, dailies with circulation below 4,500. The Oklahoma City newspaper received 1,020 points. Mary MŽlon is publisher of The Journal Record, which is owned by Dolan Media Co. The Journal Record placed first in Layout & Design, Advertising, Sales Promotion, Editorial Comment, Personal Columns, News Writing, Sports Coverage and Photography; second in Feature Writing; third in Community Leadership and fourth in In-Depth Enterprise. "One of the best in its class. Easy flow, with good leadership that helps good storytelling, and quotes from 'real people' set this paper apart from others,"commented the judge in the News Writing event. The judge in the Editorial Comment event said, "The Journal Record clearly recognizes the need to persuade more than hector. Very good use of statistics and data to bolster cases that go against the conventional wisdoms. The best editorials are reported, not argued." The Journal Record also won the Sequoyah Award in 2001 and last year. THE MUSTANG NEWS Taking its third consecutive win was The Mustang News. The News, which competed in Division 4, weeklies with circulation 2,550 and above, is published by Sean and Ray Dyer. The weekly paper received 840 points with firsts in News Content, Editorial Comment, Feature Writing, Sports Coverage and Photography; second in Advertising and Community Leadership; and third in Layout & Design and News Writing. "What a great local paper," wrote the judge in the News Content event. "Nice looking, well organized, informative. Great use of graphics and packaging in Fawn Porter's stories. And what a nice sports section." The judge of the Sports Coverage event agreed, writing: "Great pictures É you rock Glen Miller! Wide variety of coverage. The community has to love this sports section. The layout was solid as well." The Mustang News also won the Sequoyah Award in 2001. OOLOGAH LAKE LEADER Also returning for top honors was the Oologah Lake Leader, which competed in Division 5, weeklies circulation 1,700 to 2,549. The Lake Leader, owned and published by John and Faith Wylie, received 980 points. Previous Sequoyah Award wins for the Lake Leader were in 1985-1989, 1991, 1995, 2002-2004 and 2006. The Lake Leader placed first in Layout & Design, Sales Promotion, In-Depth Enterprise, News Writing and Community Leadership; second in Advertising, Editorial Comment, Feature Writing and Photography; third in News Content; and fourth in Personal Columns. "The Leader's writing and reporting stand out as relevant, proactive, thorough and clean," the News Writing judge commented. "It is clear the paper takes its responsibility as a watchdog seriously." The In-Depth Enterprise event judge said, "Excellent enterprise. The paper led the way on this story, undertaking the kind of investigative reporting one rarely sees at a weekly." THE HENNESSEY CLIPPER With 600 points, The Hennessey Clipper edged out the competition in Division 6, weeklies circulation 1,250 to 1,699. The Clipper is owned and published by Bill and Barb Walter. The weekly paper placed first in In-Depth Enterprise, Personal Columns and Community Leadership; second in News Content and Editorial Comment; and third in Sales Promotion and Feature Writing. The judge of the In-Depth Enterprise event wrote that The Clipper "followed the issue thoroughly, following up well on the bribery allegations. You quoted all sides in the controversy and didn't seem to show any 'bias' Ð and it was clearly a huge issue to the town." In the Personal Column event, the judge wrote: "Really entertaining. Made me laugh out loud, at least the funny ones did. Very nice writing." Previous Sequoyah Award wins for The Clipper were in 1962, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1984, 1990, 1992, 1997 and 1998. WAURIKA NEWS-DEMOCRAT Coming back for its second consecutive win in Division 7, weeklies circulation below 1,250, was the Waurika News-Democrat. The News-Democrat is owned by CNHI. Floyd Jernigan is publisher and Jeff Kaley is general manager. The News-Democrat received 900 points, placing first in Layout & Design, Editorial Comment, News Writing and Sports Coverage; second in News Content, Sales Promotion, In-Depth Enterprise, Photography and Community Leadership; and fourth in Advertising. "Thoughtful, catchy and descriptive leads," the judge in the News Writing event wrote. "Mr. Kaley has a knack for pulling the reader in. Organization of facts is solid and professional. Kaley's work is the best I've seen in this category. Well done." Previous Sequoyah Award wins for the News-Democrat were in 1974-1976; 1978; 1981-1983 and 2006. EL RENO TRIBUNE Taking its fifth consecutive Sequoyah Award win this year was the El Reno Tribune with a score of 1,020. The Tribune, under the direction of Publishers Sean and Ray Dyer, competed in Division 8, semi, twin or tri-weekly newspapers regardless of circulation. This is the twentieth time the Tribune has been named the top winner in its division. Previous wins were in 1964; 1966-1969; 1975; 1977; 1985; 1989-1993; 1999; 2001; and 2003-2006. The Tribune placed first in Advertising, Editorial Comment, News Writing and Photography; second in News Content, Layout & Design, Personal Columns, Feature Writing and Community Leadership; third in Sales Promotion and Sports Coverage; and fourth in In-Depth Enterprise. "Good, solid reporting on storm," the judge in the News Writing event wrote. "Lots of humanity, comprehensive, excellent sourcing, best in division." In the Personal Columns event, the judge wrote: "Brett Jones is yet another of Oklahoma's big-league writers in a small town. He writes with clarity, persuasiveness and humor." ### View a complete list of contest winners at www.okpress.com/Contests/BNC/results/bnc.html PAGE 3 OF 4 OKLAHOMA PRESS ASSOCIATION BETTER NEWSPAPER CONTEST WINNERS