Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
BERNALILLO — The Clovis News Journal collected the top prize in its division at the 108th annual New Mexico Press Association Awards over the weekend.
The CNJ was presented the award for General Excellence in the class of more than a dozen daily newspapers in New Mexico that have circulations under 11,000.
The paper also collected 17 individual awards at the banquet held Saturday night at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa.
“This is such a prestigious honor,” said CNJ publisher Rob Langrell. “We have a great group of individuals at the CNJ who have worked well together as a team. They take great pride in the newspaper we deliver to the community, and it shows.”
The General Excellence award is based on the overall quality of the newspaper, which included its reporting, advertising and design. The annual contest was judged by the Utah Press Association. The entries had to have been published between July 1, 2015, and June 30.
In determining the General Excellence award, the judges commented, “Great journalism. I can really appreciate the effort that went into a couple re-designs throughout the year and like how the overall design and layout came together.”
In the other daily newspaper class — papers with a circulation greater than 11,000 — the Santa Fe New Mexican won the General Excellence Award.
For large weekly papers (circulation greater than 5,000), the Taos News won the top prize, while the award for small weekly papers was shared by the Guadalupe County Communicator, Ruidoso News and Mountain View Telegraph.
For the CNJ, the staff won nine individual first-place awards. Eight different staff members received individual honors, including three each by graphic designers Ethan Lewis and Marty Williamson.
The newspaper staff awards were:
• General Excellence, first place
• Design and Typography, first place
• Classified Ad section, first place
• Best News Coverage, second place.
The paper’s individual awards went to:
• General News Photography, Tony Bullocks, second place
• Sports Photography, Tony Bullocks, first place
• Obituary News, David Stevens, first place
• Editorial Writing, David Stevens, second place
• Sports Column Writing, Kevin Wilson, first place
• Sports Writing, Brittney Cannon, first place
• Auto Advertisement, Ethan Lewis, first place and second place
• Retail Advertisement, Ethan Lewis, second place
• Real Estate Advertisement, Marty Williamson, first place and second place
• Community Event Advertisement, Marty Williamson, second place
• Shared/Signature Advertisement Page, Brittney Parks, first place
• Shared/Signature Advertisement Page, Franki Baca, second place
Additionally, Thomas Garcia of the CNJ’s sister paper in Tucumcari, the Quay County Sun, won a first-place award for Sports Photography in a weekly newspaper category.
