2013 Better Newspaper Contest

April 17, 2013: Betterbnc.com open for entries
May 13, 2013:   Deadline for submitting regular entries
June 7, 2013:    Deadline for Tourism/Community Guide special sections
Oct. 4, 2013:     Awards to be presented at BNC Awards Dinner, Olympia

Contest period
Regular entries: April 1, 2012-March 31, 2013
Tourism Special Sections: June 1, 2012-May 31, 2013

Entry fee credits for volunteer judges
Download the list of credits toward 2013 contest fees earned by
WNPA members that judged the Tennessee Press Association contest.

Entry fees

Group I, $6.50 per entry, Groups II & III $8.50, Group IV $9.
Note: Web Division entries are half price.

Cover sheet for payment

Download a Cover Sheet to mail with check or fax for credit card payment.

Rules and category descriptions
Advertising (pdf)

Special Sections (pdf)

News/Editorial (pdf)

Photography (pdf)

Web (pdf)

General Excellence (pdf)

Fees and Contest Rules (pdf)

Circulation Groups (pdf)

Better Newspaper Contest Traditions

The annual contest recognizes excellence in editorial, advertising, photography and service to communities by members of WNPA.

Draws 2,600 entries from approximately 80 percent of eligible members
Open to regular WNPA members in good standing
Judged by press-association partners in other states
Rewards members with awards in 600 categories across four circulation groups
Certificates for first-, second- and third-place winners in most categories
Special trophies for Feature Writer, News Writer, Photographer and Sportswriter of the Year
Plaques for winners of Community Service, General Excellence

WNPA partnered with SmallTownPapers to launch the Better Newspaper Contest website in 2007. Of more than 100 media organizations to use www.betterbnc.com since then, WNPA is proud to have been the first. SmallTownPapers is an affiliate member of WNPA based in Shelton, Wash.

2012 Better Newspaper Contest

Awards presentation
Sept. 28, 2012, Red Lion Hotel, Yakima

Judges
New York Press Association, Albany

Entries in each division
    Advertising 432
    Special Sections 172
    News and Community Service 1,232
    Photography 358
    Web 35
    2,229 total entries

Winners list
Get a spreadsheet of all winners (pdf)

Contest period
Regular entries: April 1, 2011-March 31, 2012
Tourism Special Sections: June 1, 2011-May 31, 2012

2012 circulation groups
   Group I: up to 2,750 circulation
   Group II: 2,751 - 5,000
   Group III: 5,001 - 12,750
   Group IV: 12,751+

2012 GENERAL EXCELLENCE WINNERS

Circulation Group I

1st Place Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune, Oroville

2nd Place Othello Outlook

3rd place Whidbey Examiner Coupeville

Circulation Group II

1st Place South Whidbey Record, Langley

2nd Place Chinook Observer, Long Beach

3rd place Mercer Island Reporter

Circulation Group III

1st Place Newport Miner

2nd Place SnoValley Star, Snoqualmie

3rd place Bonney Lake/Sumner Courier-Herald

Circulation Group IV

1st Place Central Kitsap Reporter, Silverdale

2nd Place Sammamish Review

3rd place Port Orchard Independent

2012 COMMUNITY SERVICE WINNERS

1st Place Liberty Lake Splash, Blessings Under the Bridge:
The 12 Dollars of Christmas Drive

2nd Place Renton Reporter, Taking Care of Those Who Serve

3rd place Liberty Lake Splash, Relay For Life

2012 PORTFOLIO WINNERS

Feature Writer of the Year: Matthew Nash, Sequim Gazette

News Writer of the Year: Jessie Stensland, Whidbey News-Times, Oak Harbor

Sportswriter of the Year: Josh Suman, Bellevue Reporter

Photographer of the Year: Damian Mulinix, Chinook Observer, Long Beach

2012 MILES TURNBULL PHOTO OF THE YEAR

The Rescue of Dale Ostrander. Damian Mulinix, Chinook Observer, Long Beach

AD OF THE YEAR

Reasons to Play for Father's Day. Rudi Alcott, Cindy Ducich, Mary Lou Goss, Marcie Shannon. Federal Way Mirror

RULES & CATEGORIES

Review the 2012 rules by division: General Excellence, Advertising
Special Sections, News (includes Community Service), Photography, Web. General Rules apply to all categories.

If you have questions, please email Mae Waldron or call her at (206) 634-3838 ext. 2.

2011 BNC Winners


MILES TURNBULL PHOTO OF THE YEAR Early morning fire engulfs Olympic Theatre Lonnie Archibald, Forks Forum	AD OF THE YEAR Dancing with the Steers, Darla Hussey and Josh Crosier, Othello Outlook

Winners of the Washington Better Newspaper Contest were announced at the 124th annual WNPA Convention held at the Holiday Inn Downtown Everett. A total of 614 awards were presented on Oct. 7, 2011. Winners' lists are available as a spreadsheet and pdf.

The 2011 contest drew 2,523 entries from 78 member newspapers: Advertising Division, 477; Special Section Division, 195, News Division, 1,345 news entries; Community Service, 7; and Web Division, 63 entries. Members of the Texas Press Association were our judges.

2011 GENERAL EXCELLENCE WINNERS

Circulation Group I

1st Place Ferndale Record

2nd Place Whidbey Examiner Coupeville

3rd place Othello Outlook

Circulation Group II

1st Place Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber

2nd Place Journal of the San Juan Islands

3rd place South Whidbey Record, Langley

Circulation Group III

1st Place Port Townsend Leader

2nd Place Arlington Times

3rd place Chinook Observer, Long Beach

Circulation Group IV

1st Place Issaquah Press

2nd Place, Tie Covington/Maple Valley Reporter
Kent Reporter

3rd place Sammamish Review

COMMUNITY SERVICE WINNERS

1st Place Federal Way Mirror, Quality of Life, Federal Way

2nd Place Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle, Centennial Celebration

3rd place Lake Stevens Journal, Relay For Life

PORTFOLIO WINNERS

Feature Writer of the Year: Kelly Moore, Liberty Lake Splash

News Writer of the Year: Warren Kagarise, Issaquah Press

Sportswriter of the Year: Colter Nuanez, Daily Record, Ellensburg

Photographer of the Year: Chad Coleman, Bellevue Reporter

AD OF THE YEAR

Dancing with the Steers, Darla Hussey and Josh Crosier, Othello Outlook

MILES TURNBULL PHOTO OF THE YEAR

Early morning fire engulfs Olympic Theatre
Lonnie Archibald, Forks Forum

2010 BNC Winners

The 2010 contest drew 2,491 entries from 77 newspapers and was judged by Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. A total of 587 awards were presented on Oct. 1, 2010, in Wenatchee at the 123rd annual WNPA Convention.

Download the winners' list as a spreadsheet or as a PDF.

AD OF THE YEAR
The 2010 AD OF THE YEAR Award went to Terry Hamberg and Deanna Plesha of the Northern Kittitas County Tribune, Cle Elum.

COMMUNITY SERVICE WINNERS

First Place: Issaquah Press, Debbie Berto, Publisher
Second Place: Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle, Roger Harnack, Publisher
Third Place: Northern Kittitas County Tribune, Jana Stoner, Publisher

GENERAL EXCELLENCE WINNERS

Circulation Group I (up to 2,500 circulation)
First Place: Ferndale Record, Mike Lewis, Publisher
Second Place: The Islands' Sounder, Eastsound, Elyse Van den Bosch, Publisher
Third Place: Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune, Oroville, Bill Forhan, Publisher

Circulation Group II (circulation 2,501-5,000)
First Place: Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, Daralyn Anderson, Publisher
Second Place: Stanwood/Camano News
Third Place: Camas-Washougal Post-Record, Mike Gallagher, Publisher

Circulation Group III (circulation 5,001-12,000)
First Place: Sequim Gazette, Sue Ellen Riesau, Publisher
Second Place: Peninsula Gateway, Gig Harbor, George LaMasurier, Publisher
Third Place: Chinook Observer, Long Beach, Matt Winters, Publisher

Circulation Group IV (circulation 12,000+)
First Place: Port Orchard Independent, Rich Peterson, Publisher
Second Place: The Herald, Puyallup, George LaMasurier, Publisher
Third Place: Samammish Review, Debbie Berto, Publisher

Miles Turnbull Master Editor/Publisher Award

Walter C. Woodward
Freedom's Light Award

Dixie Lee Bradley Award

For outstanding commitment
and achievement

These awards are presented during WNPA conventions, at the discretion of the WNPA Board of Trustees.

Miles Turnbull Master Editor/Publisher Award
Past Honorees

The WNPA Board of Trustees created the Master Editor/Publisher Award in 1993 to honor an active editor or publisher who has worked hard and unselfishly and made a significant contribution to his or her newspaper, community and state, as well as to WNPA. Selection criteria also include service to a free press or freedom of information and to the cause of community newspapers.

In 1994 the Board of Trustees renamed the award in recognition of Miles Turnbull, who died during that year. Miles was a quintessential community newspaper publisher, a past president of WNPA and former WNPA executive director.

The award includes a plaque and a WNPA $500 donation to the charity of the recipient's choice. A companion plaque showing all recipients hangs in the WNPA office.

Walter C. Woodward Freedom's Light Award

Past Honorees

The Freedom's Light was created by Washington Newspaper Publishers Association in 1995 to honor individuals who have protected or advanced the First Amendment in Washington state, a critical aspect of which is access to public information.

In 2008 this award was renamed in honor of the 1998 recipient, Walter Carlson Woodward. Woodward, publisher of the Bainbridge Island Review during World War II, made journalism history with his passionate, eloquent stand against the internment of 240 of his Bainbridge Island neighbors during the early months of World War II. Their only "crime" was their Japanese ancestry.

As the rest of America, and virtually every other journalist, watched silently, a total of 110,000 Japanese Americans living along the West Coast were rounded up and jailed in prison camps scattered around remote areas of the West for the duration of the war. Woodward editorialized against this injustice and published regular reports from his neighbors imprisoned in the internment camp in Manzanar, Calif. Woodward and Millie, his wife and close business partner, owned the Review from 1940 to 1963. Millie Woodward died in 1999, and Walt Woodward in 2001.

The Walter C. Woodward Freedom's Light Award recognizes a person who has been unwavering in his or her support and practice of the First Amendment. It honors someone who not only believes in the freedom of the press, but who has worked hard and consistently to protect and advance it.

In addition to Woodward, it has been presented to attorneys and elected officials who have devoted their careers to protecting public access to government proceedings.

Dixie Lee Bradley Award

Past Honorees

Dixie Lee Bradley served members for 45 years as associate director of WNPA. This award, conceived in 1996, symbolizes her devotion to and passion for community newspapers. It recognizes newspaper staff members who work long and hard, often behind the scenes, to see that the best possible community newspaper is produced and distributed each week.

Among the selection criteria is a demonstrated record of consistent, quality work over a considerable time period in any facet of the community newspaper industry, from production and circulation through front office support. Staff members in positions such as photographer and advertising sales are not eligible because these people can be recognized in WNPA's Better Newspaper Contest.

Winners receive an engraved clock and a cash prize of $500. The nominating newspaper and WNPA each contribute $250 to the award.

MILES TURNBULL AWARD PAST HONOREES