The Clarkston News earned five honors in the 2013 Better Newspaper Contest, Weekly Class D, including second place in Editorial Writing, out of 10 entries.
“Readers know where this newspaper stands on issues,” said judges about the editorials “Vote ‘no? on bond issue,” May 2, 2012, “No more blowing off board duty,” Oct. 3, 2012, and “Vote for school board reform,” Oct. 31, 2012. “It doesn’t pull punches. One entry could have used more depth to it. But nice job throughout.”
Staff Writer Wendi Reardon’s “Clarkston pulls last minute win over Lake Orion” earned third place in Sports Writing, out of 15 entries.
“Always good to hear about a come from behind win and this one was covered very well by the writer,” judges said.
Within the sports category, The Clarkston News and Reardon received Honorable Mention for Sports Coverage.
Out of 37 entries in Feature Photograph , Reardon earned Honorable Mention for “Surviving the heat.”
“Proof that black and white photography still has its place,” judges said. “A nice photo showing fun and ‘ahhhh?… A lot to be liked here.”
Editor Phil Custodio earned third place in News Photograph out of 13 entries for “House fire off Holcomb,” Sept. 12, 2012.
“I would have liked to see the left photocropped a bit tighter and played another column bigger. Their faces pushed it to third but we needed to see them easier,” judges said.
The judges, members of Nebraska Press Association, reviewed 3,108 entries submitted by 114 Michigan newspapers in the 2013 Michigan Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.