Staff Report

MOSES LAKE — The Columbia Basin Herald won 25 awards in the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s 2020 Better Newspaper Contest, including the top General Excellence award in the paper’s circulation size category — a first in the Herald’s history.

The longstanding contest’s awards presentation was held virtually for the first time this year due to the pandemic, with WNPA representatives announcing the awards in a livestream event on Friday.

“It’s a very proud moment for the Columbia Basin Herald news staff, who work really hard to provide readers with must-read stories and quality local journalism,” Managing Editor Dave Burgess said in an interview.

“Certainly, it’s not the same as the feeling I get from compliments and thank-you’s readers send us for stories we’ve done,” Burgess added. “But it’s a big time recognition of our efforts, and I love to see so many in our team recognized.”

The awards come a little more than a year after a major overhaul of the paper, a redesign that took place last September in response to a survey of readers in the community. For Herald Publisher Caralyn Bess, this year’s slate of awards for her team is an encouraging sign that those changes had their intended effect.

“That’s exactly why I think we took so many of the awards, and that’s exactly why I think we got first-in-class for general excellence, a first for this newspaper in our 70-some-odd-year history,” Bess said. “That’s huge, that’s a direct reflection of all the changes we’ve made and our relevance to the community.”

Awards include:

General Excellence

General Excellence, group 3, 1st place, Columbia Basin Herald.

News

Lifestyle Feature Story, group 3, 1st place, Charles Featherstone for “Cigar Box Blues.”

General Feature Story, Short, groups 3 & 4, 3rd place, Cheryl Schweizer, for “Meals to Heal.”

Sports News Story, groups 3 & 4, 3rd place, Casey McCarthy for “Time for Nine.”

Sports Personality Profile, groups 3 & 4, 2nd place, Casey McCarthy for “Coaching Tree.”

Sports Page Design, 3rd place, Connor Vanderweyst for “Hunter to Hunted.”

News Headline, groups 3 & 4, 1st place, Charles Featherstone for “Comfy Cowch.”

News Headline, groups 3 & 4, 2nd place, Cheryl Schweizer for “Who’s a Good Officer?”

News Headline, groups 3 & 4, 3rd place, Joel Martin for “Friday Knight Lights.”

Feature Page Design, groups 3 & 4, 1st place, Joel Martin for “Quincy City Administrator.”

Front Page Design, groups 3 & 4, 3rd place, Connor Vanderweyst for “Green Thumbs.”

Community Service, 2nd place, Emry Dinman for “After concerns, Grant Integrated Services to update policies.”

Photography

Color Sports Photo, Feature, groups 3 & 4, 1st place, Connor Vanderweyst for “2 to Tango.”

Color Sports Photo, Feature, groups 3 & 4, 2nd place, Casey McCarthy for “A Perfect Ending.”

Advertising

Use of Small Space, 2nd place, Columbia Basin Herald & HMAC Teams for “Alsted Real Estate.”

Color Ad Smaller Than 1/2 Page, groups 3&4, 3rd place, Columbia Basin Herald & HMAC Teams for “Porterhouse Steakhouse.”

Ad of the Year, 1st place, Dana Moreno & Team for “Coldwell Banker, Blake Rollins.”

Ad of the Year, 2nd place, Dana Moreno & Team for “2019 Senior Picnic.”

Tourism Special Sections, groups 3 & 4, 2nd place, Team for “Tourism Guide 2020.”

Special Events/Festivals Sections, groups 3 & 4, 1st place, Team for “County Fair & Roundup Rodeo 2019.”

Community Guide Sections, 2nd place, Team for “Progress.”

Community Service Advertisement, 2nd place, Dana Moreno for “2019 Senior Picnic.”

Digital

Website, 3rd place, Columbia Basin Herald for columbiabasinherald.com.

Online Ad, groups 3 & 4, 2nd place, Dana Moreno & Team for “Digital Subscriptions.”

Online Ad, groups 3 & 4, 3rd place, Dana Moreno & Team for “Talk About Subscriptions.”