Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association awards

The News-Review was named the best newspaper of its size in the state during the annual Summer Publishers Convention of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association in mid-July.

In addition to winning the General Excellence award, the newsroom staff took home 25 awards in the ONPA’s Better Newspaper Contest.

I won three awards in the contest, which judged work printed in 2008.

I was given the second-place award in the “Best Feature Story: General” category for a story I wrote about Roseburg’s Charlie Company of the Oregon National Guard. I spent the weekend with the soldiers in Redmond, Ore., and wrote a story about their one-weekend-a-month training. The soldiers have since deployed to Iraq. Here is the link to the story.

I won third place in the “Best Feature Story: Personality” category for the story I wrote about Frank Lane, a local man who grew up on a California homestead. Here’s his story.

I also won third place in the “Best Writing” category. This category required me to submit three pieces of writing to be judged. I submitted the story about Frank Lane (see above), an enterprise story about women smoking during pregnancy and a health feature about a young man who was battling cancer. Blake Krieg died from cancer in December 2008.

It’s been humbling to have my work recognized by my peers during my first full year as a reporter.

Society of Professional Journalists awards

The News-Review picked up seven awards in the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2008 Pacific Northwest Excellence in Journalism competition.

The newsroom staff shared a second-place award in the multiple-day comprehensive coverage category for its six-day series titled “Without A Net,” which concerned the federal timber safety net’s effect on Douglas County’s budget.

My story in the series focused on the possible closure of the Douglas County Health Department’s Prenatal Clinic. I spoke with a young woman who relied on the clinic for health care. She said without the prenatal clinic, she likely would not have received any health care during her pregnancy nor been able to kick her drug habit. A local physician group, the local hospital and the health department have since worked out a partnership to keep the clinic’s doors open.

As for individual SPJ awards, I was given an honorable mention award in the personalities category for a story I wrote about a local man who grew up on a California homestead. Here is the story of Frank Lane.

The News-Review competed against other newspapers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska with circulations of less than 25,000 subscribers.

The award winners were announced in late May.