WNA awards Press Times with top honor for weeklies in the State of Wisconsin
By Press Times Staff
MADISON – The Green Bay Press Times prides itself on producing a high-quality, community-focused newspaper week in and week out.
Not always an easy task – but one all involved aim for each and every week.
Those efforts were recently recognized by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association (WNA) – with The Press Times receiving first place for “General Excellence” in the State of Wisconsin in the foundation’s Better Newspaper Contest weekly division.
The recognition was awarded during a ceremony June 24, at the Madison Concourse Hotel.
“I would definitely be a subscriber if I lived in Green Bay,” one judge stated.
The 2021 WNA Better Newspaper Contest received 2,117 entries from 98 newspapers – with first place in “General Excellence” topping the list of coveted awards.
The Press Times competed in Division C, the category for weekly newspapers with circulation of 4,500 or more, the highest weekly newspaper category.
This year’s contest was judged by members of the West Virginia Press Association, which praised The Press Times’ strong focus on local content, saying it was “well written (and) comprehensive.”
“A great all-around newspaper,” one judge stated. “Looks great. (I) like the energetic feel to the paper. Very strong writing.”
Being awarded first place in “General Excellence” was truly a team win – as the overall evaluation includes writing, photos and artwork, editorial coverage, sports coverage, advertising design and layout, front page, treatment of public notices and headline language.
“What does it take to be No. 1 in excellence?” Publisher Pat Wood said. “It takes vision, sweat, consistent and persistent hard grinding of the wheel every day. It takes a team who believes in the stewardship and the mission of putting all their gifts and efforts on the line each day and that cares about every aspect of what they do and who they do it with. It takes a sense of camaraderie and heart. It takes people like Mike Hollihan leading the charge as general manager; Heather Graves leading the charge on editorial; folks like Rich Palzewic, Mick Gotta, Dyan Black, Casie Mallien, Erin DeMay, Rachel Sankey, our interns from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and other universities, all pushing like hell to get out high-quality products each week.”
The “General Excellence” honor was among 10 awards presented to Press Times staff during the annual banquet, which recognizes the best journalism from newspapers ranging from small rural weeklies to large metro dailies.
Other awards included:
• Second place in Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting.
• Second place in Coronavirus Coverage.
• Third place in Best Front Page.
• Third place in Best Opinion Pages.
• Third place in Editorial Award.
• Third place in Environmental Reporting.
• Honorable mention for Best Special Section.
• Honorable mention in Localized National Story.
• Honorable mention in Investigative Reporting.