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| 1 - Stoney Creek (ON) News |
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| 2 - Duncan (BC) Cowichan News Leader |
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| 3 - Sechelt/Gibsons (BC) Coast Reporter |
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Judge's Comments
Organization of the paper is an issue for many in this class. Having a flow of news and advertising throughout the newspaper would make reading easier. Train your reader to the newspaper with consistent layout and progression.
I was disappointed in how few had good local editorials. The op/ed pages might also better serve communities by adding voices to the discussion. Some papers removed the letters from the op/ed pages and buried them in the paper. Keep the feedback with the editorial as a package for readers.
Photography could be improved in three areas. The first is composition, using more imagination in setting up stock photos. Second is cropping to highlight the main subject, and third, some reproduction quality was poor.
To those who use clip art headings on feature pages, consider how a reader reacts to these. Is this a page that doesn't matter, or was put together by the ad department? Being creative is different than expedient or gimmicky.
Editors, mine your reporter's stories for good leads. I read many stories with a great lead buried in the third or fourth paragraph. Use those punchy sentences to engage the reader, rather than rehash the headline or deck in the lead paragraph.
Front Page: The Oakville Beaver has a well-organized, easy-to-read front page. Limited fonts used in varying weights make it easy to enter and navigate the page. Good use of photography illustrates stories well.
Editorial Page: The Stoney Creek News, Cowichan News Leader and Coast Reporter had all the elements needed for a good op/ed package. Specifically, they dedicated space to opinion columns and letters with strong comments on local issues. All had well written columns, and Cowichan played opposing views well. Each of these papers allowed readers access to the paper with streeters and good letters space.
Blue Ribbon Recipients:
Campbell River (BC) Mirror
Courtenay (BC) Comox Valley Record
Delta (BC) Optimist
Duncan (BC) Cowichan News Leader
Duncan (BC) Pictorial
Georgetown/Acton (ON) Independent/Free Press
New Westminster (BC) Record
Oakville (ON) Beaver
Sechelt/Gibsons (BC) Coast Reporter
Stoney Creek (ON) News
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