2018 NDNA Special Awards
Better Newspaper Contest Award Winners (for work done in 2017)
Special Awards
	NIE Newspaper of the Year
	Daily: Large	> > >	NIE Newspaper of the Year
	First Place
	Fargo, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead
	Sarah Tyre
	Winner Comments:	What a wonderful, comprehensive, multi-media program to provide newspaper content to 
	young readers. Congratulations on community and school district buy-in to a program that 
	contributes significantly to the education of your youth.
High School Reporter of the Year
	Weekly: Large	> > >	High School Reporter of the Year
	First Place
	Crosby, The Journal
	Lenora Combs
	Winner Comments:	Without experience or training, Lenora Combs was assigned some important community feature
	 stories and handled them like a veteran. Her future is bright.

	Rookie Reporter of the Year
	Weekly: Mid-Size	> > >	Rookie Reporter of the Year
	First Place
	Hillsboro Banner
	Pace Maier
	Winner Comments:	A small town sports editor must be a jack of all sports, and Pace Maier has shown that he can 
	handle it all, from detailed coverage of championships to feature stories about golf course 
	volunteers.

	Public Notice Journalism
	Daily: Large	> > >	Public Notice Journalism
	First Place
	Fargo, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead
	Property owners may face special assessments
	Archie Ingersoll
	Winner Comments:	The Forum took the opportunity not only to draw reader attention to a very unusual public 
	notice, but to explain its importance and to describe how to use the information it presented. A 
			  very good defense and explanation of the value of public notices.

	Community Service
	Daily: Large	> > >	Community Service
	First Place
	Bismarck Tribune
	Bismarck-Mandan homelessness
	Staff 
	Winner Comments:	From breaking news to uncovering difficult to obtain information to heartfelt feature stories, 
	The Bismarck Tribune's yeoman effort to help the community find solutions to its perplexing 
	homeless problem demonstrates a true commitment to community service. This year-long coverage is a prime 	example of a newspaper's value and importance to its community.

	First Amendment
	Daily: Large	> > >	First Amendment
	First Place
	Grand Forks Herald
	Pruitt holds closed meeting in Grand Forks
	Andrew Haffner, Sam Easter, Mike Jacobs, Chris Bjorke
	Winner Comments:	The Grand Forks Herald and its reporters showed great courage in their defense of the community's First 				Amendment right to know what was happening in a closed door meeting involving a cabinet member, 
		congressional representatives, the governor and invited guests. They showed First Amendment advocacy at 			its best, even risking personal safety and security, and they were later vindicated by apologies and admissions
		 that they, and by extension the public, were mistreated. 

	General Excellence
	Weekly: Small	> > >	General Excellence
	Honorable Mention
	New Town News
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	Third Place
	Medora, Billings County Pioneer
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	Second Place
	Parshall, Mountrail County Record
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	First Place
	Park River, Walsh County Press
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	Winner Comments:	The newspaper stood out with large photos and content that showcased an explanatory story 
			  on toxic algae and a folksy feature on a longtime local barber.

	Weekly: Mid-Size	> > >	General Excellence
	Honorable Mention
	Carrington, Foster County Independent
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	Third Place
	Hankinson, News-Monitor
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	Second Place
	Washburn, The Leader-News
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	First Place
	Hillsboro Banner
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	Winner Comments:	Impressive design for a small weekly. Typography and photography used well throughout. The 
	best work was allowed to shine. The news decisions are easy in a publication like this -- the 
		  	  elements do not fight for attention. Visual order does its job.

	Weekly: Large	> > >	General Excellence
	Honorable Mention
	Bottineau Courant
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	Third Place
	Grafton, Walsh County Record
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	Second Place
	Watford City, McKenzie County Farmer
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	First Place
	Crosby, The Journal
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	Winner Comments:	From front to back, the Journal is filled with community news. The reporting is strong and the 
	design is appealing. I also applaud its fight to obtain public records in the pit bull case. That’s 
		   	  community leadership.

	Daily: Small	> > >	General Excellence
	Third Place
	Wahpeton, The Daily News
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	Second Place
	Jamestown Sun
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	First Place
	Dickinson Press
	General Excellence entry
	Staff
	Winner Comments:	Attractive paper, chock full of local news, with content relevant to readers and interesting, well-
	played photos. Ad quality was high too. 

	Daily: Large	> > >	General Excellence
	Third Place
	Bismarck Tribune
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	Second Place
	Fargo, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	First Place
	Grand Forks Herald
	General Excellence entry
	Staff 
	Winner Comments:	The Herald stood out with loads of local news and overall content. Strong photos, local 
	opinions, it was a good read throughout. The issues we read also gave readers a lot ways to get 
			  involved with the stories.

Sweepstakes
	Weekly: Small	> > >	Sweepstakes
	Winner!
	Park River, Walsh County Press
	Score: 2900: 27 first places, 2 second places, 1 third places & 0 honorable mentions

	Weekly: Mid-Size	> > >	Sweepstakes
	Winner!
	Hillsboro Banner
	Score: 4225: 24 first places, 13 second places, 16 third places & 2 honorable mentions

	Weekly: Large	> > >	Sweepstakes
	Winner!
	Grafton, Walsh County Record
	Score: 3625: 15 first places, 16 second places, 17 third places & 5 honorable mentions

	Daily: Small	> > >	Sweepstakes
	Winner!
	Wahpeton, The Daily News
	Score: 4625: 16 first places, 25 second places, 21 third places & 6 honorable mentions

	Daily: Large	> > >	Sweepstakes
	Winner!
	Fargo, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead
	Score: 6000: 26 first places, 30 second places, 19 third places & 9 honorable mentions