Best All-Round Newspaper
Class 1014 - circ. 3000 to 3999

Judge's Comments

The winners had solid, wide-ranging and well-written coverage, efficient and effective use of space, and consistent execution of good layout and design principles. Through the effective use of colour, headlines, dropheads, photographs and body type, successful newspapers demonstrate that the primary consideration is the reader. Their layouts are pleasing to the eye, uncluttered, and not too grey.

With limited budgets, it's sometimes difficult to find people with the skills to do the job well. Many editorial people are writers first and photographers second. Some papers used too many grip-and-grin photos containing little action. However, regardless of their primary duty, photographers can be taught to be creative, emphasizing interaction among subjects even with set-up shots.

Typography looked tired and outdated. While some successfully use the tried-and-true, most need to update their design features every five years or so. Some are working on this by either completely redesigning or updating some design elements. But others wrapped stories around stand-alone photos when they should have used a more squared-off, modular look.

All-Round: The Taber Times effectively uses available space not just on section fronts but throughout the paper. Stories were well written, and most of page 3 was reserved for a nice human-interest story with a large photo. Well done. Add some dropheads to help draw readers into the stories.

Front Page: Again, the Taber Times stood tall. Though it could probably stand a design upgrade soon, this cover continues to serve readers extremely well, allowing their eye to move easily from element to element. The cover includes easy-to-follow teasers and a good anchor story with photo at the bottom.

Editorial Page: The Powell River Peak wins with its simple, elegant editorial page design with well-written local editorial, local column, local cartoon and masthead that tells people who's who but isn't too big.


Blue Ribbon Recipients:

100 Mile House (BC) Free Press
Canmore (AB) Leader
Grand Falls-Windsor (NL) Advertiser
Meadow Lake (SK) Progress
Pictou (NS) Advocate
Powell River (BC) Peak
Salmon Arm (BC) Observer
Squamish (BC) Chief
Stonewall (MB) Argus & Teulon Times
Strathmore (AB) Standard
Taber (AB) Times
Westlock (AB) News