It appears the South Whidbey Record still has what it takes to be a stellar newspaper.
At the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest in Lake Chelan this past weekend, The Record took home 13 awards in news, photography and design. The paper also took third place in general excellence, a category that weighed us against other newspapers around the state with comparable circulations.
If you’re curious, the contest is judged by industry professionals in other states that belong to publishers associations similar to WNPA.
As always, the honor belongs to The Record’s rock star lineup of news hounds, sales professionals and creative specialists. In the editorial department, which claimed nine of the 13 awards, veteran news and sports reporter Ben Watanabe claimed first place in photography for his shot of a car that came to rest precariously on a power pole support wire.
Features reporter Celeste Erickson, a first-year newswoman who has since moved on to new adventures in Eastern Washington, proved her story-telling skills with a first-place award for best personality profile of South Whidbey’s ever-inspiring Jacqueline Gabelein. Erickson also earned a third-place honor for her piece on a Valentine’s Day flash mob.
Editorial intern Grace Swanson made it clear she has a bright future in journalism as well, winning third in the best education category for her story on John Goettle, a South Whidbey High School graduate with Asperger’s syndrome.
Whidbey News-Times editor Jessie Stensland, a regular contributor to The Record, took third place for her article on a deceased candidate who won a cemetery board election.
As for myself, I took first place in news for a piece on the finding of Captain George Vancouver’s missing anchor, or so treasure hunters believe. I also earned awards in photography.
Finally, creative artist Rebecca Collins took two third-place honors for ads she designed for Linds Jewelry and Ace Hardware, and newspaper staff earned third place for best front page design, which was credited with having the best layout of all the tabloid-size papers.
This was a year of great change for The Record — longtime editor/mentor Jim Larsen stepped down (he set the bar high having brought home first-place general excellence awards in 2012 and 2013), the paper moved into new digs in Freeland and a few new faces were welcomed to the ranks, including myself, media consultant Nora Durand and features reporter Kate Daniel.
Despite the upheaval, the paper’s staff managed to show its mettle as one of the best twice-weeklies in the state, and I couldn’t be prouder of the accomplishment.
