4 Division F First Award - Clintonville Chronicle: (“Opinions” - Tricia Rose, Greg Rose). Staff writers understand the value of brevity while at the same time addressing relevant and important LOCAL issues. Well written editorials. Page also included statewide contributors and design was consistent. Very good mix. Well done. Second Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls. Third Award - Reedsburg Times Press: (Jason Maddux).
Special Section Editorial Division D First Award - The Chronotype, Rice Lake: (“City 125th” - Sam Finazzo, Gene Prigge, Ryan Urban, Diane O’donnell): Very good community history with good photos. Made me keep reading even though I’m an outsider. Second Award - The Chronotype, Rice
Editorial: Weekly Division Lake: (“Progress” - Sam Finazzo, Gene Prigge, Eileen Nimm, Ryan Urban, Peter Davidson): Excellent explanation of the frac sand technique and the status of this work in the region. Third Award - Door County Advocate, Sturgeon Bay: (“Door County Advocate, Sturgeon Bay 150th Anniversary” Warren Bluhm, Jon Gast, Kristy Gnadt): An extremely interesting chronology of the newspaper’s history, featuring early personalities involved in ownership and staff work. Division E First Award - Grant County Herald Independent, Lancaster: (“Lancaster 175” - David Timmerman, John Ingebritsen, AJ Gates, Jessica Brownell, Jane Lewis, James Hibbard, Jon Angeli, Kevin Kelly): Well done and very thorough section. Love the cover - what a clever idea! I’m sure your readers will hold on to this section for years to come. Second Award - Grant County Herald Independent, Lancaster: (“Faces of Freedom” - David Timmerman, Dan Wackershauser, Dave Krier, Stephanie Pitzen, Dawn Kiefer,
Jessica Brownell, Jane Lewis, Dena Harris, Charley Preusser, Correne Martin): Very nicely done tribute. Great selection of features round out this special selection. The layout and consistency in type style are appreciated. Good job! Third Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“75 Years of Medical Memories” - Staff): Nice little section. Love the personal memories/stories from people in the community - that made the difference in your salute to a local institution. Division F First Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“Jackson County Fair Preview” - Staff): The cover of this special section made it truly special - I’m a sucker for big pictures of little kids caught in the moment!! Good layout and information make this a valuable resource for anyone attending your community event. Second Award - Westby Times: (“Syttende Mai” - Dorothy Robson): Again, a valuable resource for anyone attending this community celebration of heritage. Good treatment of color photos interspersed with the information on various events of the festival. Good job! Third Award - Voice of Wisconsin Rapids: (“A season to remember” - Jeff Williams, Kathy Williams): Great section to wrap up a championship season. Good use of photos from the photographers’ files to tell the story with the synopsis of the season. A great keepsake!
Open Records, FOI Award
Grant County Herald Independent, Lancaster, First Award, Division E, Special Section Editorial
Division D First Award - The Lakeland Times, Minocqua: (“Fired Vilas County jail administrator wants job back” - Joe VanDeLaarschot): A fascinating story that you provided good continuing coverage of. This story in particular was full of detail. I’m still not sure
whether this is really about the nepotism or the reckless driving of county cars, but you kept me wanting to read more. Good watchdog work. Second Award - New Richmond News: (“News gets the heave-ho” - Jeff Holmquist): This breezy, accessible editorial upheld the importance of openness even among nongovernmental bodies. The chamber wanted to talk about a public event but it didn’t want a true public discussion. Nicely done. Third Award - The Platteville Journal: (“Behind closed doors” - Steve Prestegard): This county board must be something to see in action. This is a strong editorial that reminds readers of the importance of accountability by government office holders. Terrific job. General Comments: This was a strong, strong category. I’m pleased to see the use of open records laws and the strong editorial voice on open government in these community papers. Well done. Division E First Award - Ripon Commonwealth Press: (“Boca may have spent $50k-plus to lobby Congress (2 stories under this headline)” Ian Stepleton): Public/private development projects are ripe subjects for watchdog journalism and I’m glad to see you watching this project. Follow the money still rules. Second Award - Living Sussex Sun: (“Kristensen denies accusation” - Joe Trovato): A good effort at showing how the Walker recall effects were trickling down into local politics. Division F First Award - Crawford County Independent & The Kickapoo Scout, Gays Mills: (“Resident requests to view voting machine cartridge” Erin Martin): A good explainer on the tricky world of electronic voting. As more people vote electronically, it is imperative that those handling the process be held accountable. More and more public records are being held through proprietary programs and it’s incumbent on the news media to ensure that the public’s right to review these records be protected. Second Award - Jackson County Chronicle, Black River Falls: (“Student Suicide Investigation Open Records Battle” Matthew Perenchio, Cassandra Colson): Both the second- and third-place entries deal with the ever-more-secret world of