The Duluth News Tribune won 13 awards this week in the Minnesota Newspaper Association's 2006-2007 Better Newspaper Contest.
Among the awards were a first place for general excellence among large dailies (daily circulation over 15,000) and first place for use of photography as a whole among newspapers with a daily circulation over 10,000.
The awards were presented Thursday night at the MNA's 141st annual convention, held in Bloomington. The contest covered the period between Sept. 1, 2006, and Aug. 31, 2007. More than 370 newspapers belong to the MNA.
This year's 3,757 entries were judged by the Colorado Press Association.
Editorial page editor Robin Washington won the Herman Roe editorial writing award for "A failure to report," an editorial about how the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice failed to report criminal acts of doctors, even murder, on its Web site and let a physician who punched a 69-year-old woman off the hook without discipline.
ADVERTISEMENT
Photographer Clint Austin won first place for feature photography among all dailies for "Training the country doc."
Other awards included:
* Sam Cook, second place in best social issues feature story among dailies over 10,000, for "Traversing a changing world," a look at Will Steger's trip to Baffin Island to chronicle the effects of global warming.
* John Myers, Janna Goerdt, Brandon Stahl, Chris Hamilton, Peter Passi and Sam Cook, second place in best local news story among dailies over 25,000, for "Winter's Wallop," coverage of the March blizzard.
* Kevin Pates, second place in best sports feature story among dailies, for "Strength transcends sports," about an ailing Nordic ski coach and former Olympic gold medalist from Russia.
* Amanda Odeski, second place in sports feature and action photography among dailies, for "Catch this bare-handed," which depicted a Duluth Huskies baseball player going for a fly ball at Wade Stadium.
* Odeski, second place in photo story among dailies, for "Uncertain waters," about a family of commercial fishermen from Port Wing, Wis.
* Sports staff, second place for sports reporting among dailies over 10,000.
ADVERTISEMENT
* Odeski and Austin, honorable mention each for best press photographer's portfolio.
* Editorial page editor Washington and deputy editorial page editor Chuck Frederick, honorable mention, Freedom of Information Award, for their "First Do No Harm" series that questioned the availability of public information about medical personnel in Minnesota.
