2011 Texas Better Newspaper Contest - Special Sections

Routine Special Sections

Daily
1. Victoria Advocate, Loved the “people” stories as opposed to the usual business profiles. Layout & design excellent. Thank you for taking the time to make this section.
2. Lufkin Daily News, I really like the theme: Everyone Counts & Timeless.
3. The Daily Sentinel, Nacogdoches, Good recognition of community. Good advertising support.
4. Waxahachie Daily Light, Dawn of a New Season football preview. Theme able to follow. Missing some advertising dollars.

Semiweekly
1. The Bowie News, Montague County: The Guide. Outstanding publication! Excellent division of topics, nice layouts for each category, awesome color, interesting photos with captions and informative maps! I couldn’t stop reading! Sounds like a great place to visit. Kudos to your staff for a user-friendly, comprehensive guide. Congrats on the 1st place!
2. Wise County Messenger, Decatur, Welcome to Wise. Kudos to the staff that produced this informative publication! It’s obvious they know how to design a nice niche publication. Good flow of category topics. Easy-to-read content. Applause to your ad staff on the variety of advertisers and production department on eye-catching layouts. Wishing page 8 welcome message could have been either page 3 or 5 to introduce the product. After reviewing, I am ready to get to Wise!
3. Copperas Cove Leader Press, Excellent publication all around, very well organized. The welcome on page 10 is great - a step away from the typical welcome, which was very refreshing. The photos of city council members was a good touch. Well written, provides just the sort of information a visitor or newcomer needs. Ads were well done with good variety. If I could offer one suggestion, it would be to get some people in the photos rather than just buildings, for example: someone coming in or out of the library. Otherwise, great job!
4. Alice Echo-News Journal, Great cover photo! Colorful, action-oriented and not too crowded. The two profiles in the middle separating the sections is really nice. The writing is well done, engaging and informative. Some ads seem a bit crowded with information, which makes them hard to read, but I know you don’t always or can’t always control that.

Weekly A
1. The Nueces County Record Star, Robstown, High school football guide - Good stories looking at different angles of the game. Great pics. Useful for the sports fan & well done. Really like the summary of area teams, pp. 27-29.
2. The Llano County Journal, Hunting guide - Great variety of story topics. Pics are small but working with tab size, they’re nicely featured.
3. Fort Worth Business Press, Energy report - Interesting photos & a great layout. Tackles a big issue and covers it well.
4. Aransas Pass Progress, Area guide - Good intro on page 3. A nice overview of the area. Good listings with parks & lodging. Nice idea to include a bird list.

Weekly B
1. Lake Travis View, Austin, High school football guide - An in-depth preview. Nice way to break it down. Interesting breakdown of big games & nice to see a bit on the opposing teams. Great pics.
2. The Rockdale Reporter, High school football guide - Great pics! Fund idea, but consider making it more clear on the cover what it’s all about. Like the breakdown of schedule/roster/ stats. Nice idea to include team records.
3. Westlake Picayune, Austin, High school football guide - Like the theme. Nice pics. Maybe mix up the layout of a bit. Many pages look the same. Great preview game by game & nice retrospective on the 2009 season.
4. The Canadian Record, High school football guide - Nice cover, great pics, in-depth coverage.

Weekly C
1. Hill Country Community Journal, Kerrville, Fall sports guide - Nice action pics. Like the way you mixed it up with the layout. Position chart was a good idea.
2. The River Cities Sunday Tribune, Marble Falls, Fall sports guide - Nice cover & intro to start it off. Good articles and a clean layout. Could use some more action photos.
3. Bandera County Courier, Area guide - Nice intro. Great all-encompassing guide.
4. Meridian Tribune, Area guide - Like the index with pictures, but page numbers are hard to read. Nice articles & good information.

Blue Moon Special Sections

Daily
1. The Facts, Clute, Men of Honor - Beautifully done. A good range of stories and great pictures. Mr. Lowman did a lot of work.
2. San Marcos Daily Record, 100 years of Boy Scouting - Cute cover! Nice layout to include lots of pics. Good variety of local stories mixed with facts. Well done!
3. Kerrville Daily Times, Centennial edition - Nice layout, especially like page 5. More than just a retrospective. I like how you include articles on today’s business.
4. The Paris News, Softball state champions - Great pics. Like the “For the Record” summary.

Semiweekly
1. Hood County News, Granbury, Winningest coach in history - Great pics. Nice way to get to know someone beyond what the community typically knows them as. Good bullet points.
2. Wise County Messenger, Decatur, Rodeo champion - Nice, open layout. Great photos. Nice way to feature local heroes.
3. Burleson Star, Left-handers’ day - Fun idea & you found way to apply it locally. Especially thought the sports feature was a good idea.
4. The Bastrop Advertiser, Wildfire - Nice coverage from all angles. Great mix of hard news & features. Good pics.

Weekly A
1. Pearland Journal, Football state champions - Excellent photography, excellent editorial, lovely and eye-catching ads. Very well done. Three cheers for Pearland.
2. Port Aransas South Jetty, Centennial celebration - Wow! Great ad support. Lots of great info. Like the advertiser index. A bounty of diverse & interesting articles. We are impressed.
3. The Progress, Three Rivers, Annual storyfest - Nice map on page 7. Interesting articles. Good editorial support. Concise schedule. Nice work! Ads could use more artistic flair.
4. Sachse News, Municipal complex dedication - Puzzle theme is well done, not overdone. Pulls section together nicely.

Weekly B
1. Wilson County News, Floresville, Happy 150th - Sesquicentennial is a mouth full. (Not a bad thing.) Solid ad line, well researched, some pages are too ad-heavy without using editorial.
2. Park Cities People, Dallas, High school graduation - Creative, fun, interesting facts.
3. Lake Travis View, Austin, Football state champions - Excellent photography, eye-grabbing, great ad line, all-time team is fascinating.
4. Alvarado Star, Left-handed day - Thought this was unique until I saw the other three Media News Group newspapers running the same idea.