Daily Herald wins general excellence award from Illinois Press Association
The Daily Herald was honored with 22 awards Friday from the Illinois Press Association, including the prestigious general excellence award.
The editorial page, overseen by Jim Slusher, also was awarded first place.
Other first-place awards went to photographers Rick West, in the spot-news photo category; Paul Valade, in the feature photo category; and John Starks, in the sports photo category.
John Lampinen, Daily Herald editor, accepted the awards Friday afternoon at the Illinois Press Association Annual Convention at the Marriott Bloomington-Normal Hotel and Conference Center in Normal.
“We so honored to receive this recognition. It's a reflection of our talented staff's commitment to quality local journalism and to the welfare of the community,” Lampinen said.
The Daily Herald competes in the largest of six circulation categories.
Other awards are:
Community Service:
Daily Herald staff for “Straight from the Source,” a series of first-person essays by members of the community; second place
Staff Writer Marni Pyke for “Perilous Paths,” a series about the growing number of accidents and fatalities involving pedestrians and bicyclists in the suburbs and ways to address the problems; third place
Sports news
Bruce Miles, “How Did Clubs Clinch National League Central?”, third place
Feature writing
Burt Constable, “Who Killed Tim McNamee?”, third place
Spot news photo
John Starks, “Overcome by Grief,” third place
General news photo
Steve Lundy, “Prayer;” second place
Brian Hill, “Ready To Get To Work;” honorable mention
Feature photo
Patrick Kunzer, “Sky High;” third place
Mark Welsh, “The Wait Of A Lifetime;” honorable mention
Personality portrait
Brian Hill, “Paralyzed Vet Awaiting Care;” second place
Patrick Kunzer, “Face Of A Hero;” third place
Brian Hill, “Back On Her Feet,” honorable mention
Headline writing
Don Friske; honorable mention
Best website, third place
Most innovative project
Kelly Vold, staff, for the Daily Herald's Facebook newspaper; third place
Investigative/Enterprise reporting
Jake Griffin, “On Your Dime,” third place
The work of the Daily Herald staff also was recognized by the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors, which announced awards Thursday.
The Daily Herald's parent company, Paddock Publications, also operates newspapers in Central and Southern Illinois. Among the winners:
John Broux of the Nokomis Free Press-Progress received an honorable mention for his spot news photo “Lone fireman.”
Geoffrey Ritter of the Du Quoin Call received a third place in news reporting for “Tornado marks end of an era at Elkville's Powerade Park.”
Geoffrey Ritter, Holly Kee and staff of the Du Quoin Call received an honorable mention in news reporting for “'God had his hands on us': the southern Illinois Fat Tuesday tornado.”
Travis DeNeal and Michael Dann of the Harrisburg Register received a third in sports news for “A Hawk goes to heaven.”
Michael Dann of the Harrisburg Register received an honorable mention in sports photos for “Putting down the tag.”
Michael Dann of the Harrisburg Register received an honorable mention in page design for “Reason to smile.”
John Homan of the Marion Republican received an honorable mention for a series of original columns.