Herald lands state newspaper honors

Staff report
DES MOINES — The Jefferson Herald was recognized Friday with seven state awards at the Iowa Newspaper Association’s 2015 awards banquet at the Des Moines Marriott Hotel.

Each year, the INA showcases the best work being done at Iowa’s newspapers.

Judges from the Minnesota Newspaper Association reviewed nearly 4,200 entries in dozens of categories in the 2015 Better Newspaper Contests.

Herald Editor Andrew McGinn was honored with a first-place award in the category Best Personality Feature Story for his feature on Jefferson native Patti Miller, who went South as a college student in 1964 to register black voters as part of Freedom Summer.

Judges wrote, “Outstanding story that is timely with today’s Equal Rights movements. Nice page layout. Great job.”

A story by McGinn about the need for expansion at the Jefferson airport, and what it will mean for economic development, received second place in Best News Story.

The Herald also received third-place awards for its overall coverage of agriculture and business.

Audrey Ingram, of Carroll, who frequently covers school issues in Greene County for the Herald, was honored as one of the year’s Outstanding Young Iowa Journalists.

In the category Community Leadership, the Herald took second place for its efforts to get Greene County veterans an Honor Flight. Judges wrote, “Good job by this newspaper of finding a need and finding a way to address it.”

In the category Total Newspaper Design, the work of McGinn and designers Rob Strabley and Ben Ure received third place, with judges noting, “Beautifully done, staff. We especially liked your teaser images and the Barbie collector package. Great overall papers.”

In Best Headline Writing,  the Herald took third place.

For judging, newspapers are divided by class based on circulation.