Category 1 - Best Editorial

First Place - Tri-City News, Jeff Wilder
Suggest a consistent page layout with an editorial on a local issue, local columnists, cartoon and letters. Tell readers to keep them short.

Category 2 - Best Spot News Coverage

First Place - Trimble Banner, Darren Pike
Concise, thorough coverage of what could have been a highly sensational story. No holes and fine adherence to AP style. Informational lead graph.

Second Place - Trimble Banner, Darren Pike
Good lead, thorough reporting. Wish headline reflected lead better. Solid writing.

Third Place - Tri-City News, John Scott
Good analysis using outside sources to confirm violation. Wish there was a quote from a council member.

Honorable Mention - Herald News, Judy Wright
Got the facts, although adherence to grammar occasionally wants.

Category 3 - Best General News Story

First Place - Flemingsburg Gazette, Charles Mattox
Nice use of narrative elements in a general news story, good job of including background info on story in second paragraph.

Second Place - McLean County News, Jessica West Bratcher, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Good reporting, nice quotes, flows well.

Third Place - Trimble Banner, Darren Pike
Good reporting and balance.

Category 4 - Best Feature Story

First Place - McLean County News, Beth Wilberding
Great angle, well written. Nice way to make an otherwise boring story interesting and engaging.

Second Place - McLean County News, Jessica West Bratcher
Neat twist in lead. Interesting story, off-the radar of typical news. Paragraphs a bit choppy, watch for flow.

Third Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Cool quirky little feature, well written.

Honorable Mention - Flemingsburg Gazette, Charles Mattox
Nice lead, but watch that you aren’t slanting your writing in favor of your subject, you can be enthusiastic without being too slanted. Also, watch length of leads (and all graphs, for that matter).

Honorable Mention - Trimble Banner, Darren Pike
Neat lead, good extensive reporting, but don’t bury the current story under the history, bring graph up in text.

Category 5 - Best Column

First Place - Flemingsburg Gazette, Guy M. Townsend
Columns regarding church v. state are obviously biased but well-reasoned and entertaining.

Second Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Well-written, easily digestible pieces about simple things that readily appeal to readers.

Third Place - Trimble Banner, Darren Pike
Well written column about pedestrian issue.

Category 6 - Best Sports Column

No Entries

Category 7 - Best Sports Story

First Place - Flemingsburg Gazette, Brad Laux
It’s not often that I’ll read a lap-by-lap account of a track event, but Laux’s reporting made me want to finish this one. Good work.

Second Place - McLean County News, Jessica West Bratcher
Good game story on volleyball playoffs.

Third Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Another good high school sports story, this one on football.

Honorable Mention - Herald News, Scott Morgan
Good job covering less than exciting middle school football game.

Category 8 - Best Sports Feature Story

First Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
A good read with quotes and detail giving an insight into female football player.

Second Place - Flemingsburg Gazette, Brad Laux
Well done story on former major leaguer that would have been helped by better art or pictures from big league days.

Third Place - Flemingsburg Gazette, Carolyn Schwartz
Another good feature about local athlete in little known sport.

Category 9 - Best Enterprise or Analytical Story

First Place - Trimble Banner, Darren Pike
Excellent piece, well written and balanced!

Second Place - Tri-City News, John Scott
Good news analysis, but be careful not to editorialize.

Third Place - Beattyville Enterprise, Edmund Shelby
Interesting and complicated subject, consider putting official sources closer to top of story, digging around to find the other side, what do their employers think? This perhaps should have been broken up into a series.

Honorable Mention - Flemingsburg Gazette, Charles Mattox
Interesting, good reporting.

Category 10 - Best Investigative Story or Series

First Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Far-reaching series that back up accolades with numbers.

Second Place - Trimble Banner, Darren Pike
Well-written story on timely topic. Wish reporter had more sources.

Category 11 - Best On-Going/Extended Coverage Story

First Place - Beattyville Enterprise, Edmund Shelby
Excellent chronicle of a big story as it unfolds. Best news reporting I’ve read all day. Keep up the good work.

Second Place - Flemingsburg Gazette, Charles Mattox
Intersting story, good follow-up.

Third Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Good reporting and follow-up.

Category 12 - Best Business/Agribusiness Story

First Place - McLean County News, Jessica West Bratcher
Clear, concise account of a buyout that will obviously affect the area. Timeline a great touch.

Second Place - McLean County News, Joanna Spelbring Priester
Localized a national trend in a clean concise manner.

Third Place - Flemingsburg Gazette, Carolyn Schwartz
Ode to a crop of the past. Nice agri-feature.

Category 13 - Best Headline

First Place - McLean County News, Jessica West Bratcher

Second Place - McLean County News, Keith E. Bratcher

Third Place - Flemingsburg Gazette, Carolyn Schwartz

Category 14 - Best Spot News Picture

First Place - Trimble Banner, Darren Pike
Good shot, tells the story.

Second Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester

Third Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester

Category 15 - Best General News Picture

First Place - Trimble Banner, Darren Pike

Second Place - Tri-City News, John Scott

Category 16 - Best Feature Picture

First Place - Trimble Banner, Darren Pike
Very moving composition.

Second Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Love your selective focus, while keeping the children’s expressions in the shot.

Third Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
This composition creates emotion. Good shot!

Honorable Mention - Flemingsburg Gazette, Carolyn Schwartz

Honorable Mention - Trimble Banner, Darren Pike

Category 17 - Best Picture Essay (Spot, General or Feature)

First Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Strong photos, good composition.

Second Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Like the different takes on the prom.

Third Place - Trimble Banner, Darren Pike
Well done, good story.

Category 18 - Best Sports Picture

First Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Love the unique shot. Very different.

Second Place - Lyon County Herald Ledger, Jody Norwood
Great action shot.

Third Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Caught the facial expressions.

Category 19 - Best Sports Picture Essay

First Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester, Gary Emord Netzley

Second Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester

Category 20 - Special Sections

First Place - McLean County News, Jessica West Bratcher
Organized and well-executed. In-house produced editorial will be something readers will keep. Cover is a little busy, read font is a bit dated looking. All in all, good job.

Second Place - Tri-City News, Staff
Editorial organized and useful, shows hard work of staff. Photos should be flush with columns, watch capitals and passive voice in headlines. Clean ad design, overall great resource for readers.

Third Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Great design, cover immediately draws reader, looks like a daily. Nice use of white space.

Category 21 - Best Graphic

First Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Good way to visually conceptualize a potentially complex story. Good use of text within the graphic.

Category 22 - Best Sports Page/Section

First Place - McLean County News, Jessica West Bratcher
Diverse coverage, nice blend of features, news, good photography and design. Good leads.

Second Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Nice use of photography in design, great photos.

Third Place - Flemingsburg Gazette, Brad Laux
Good, diverse coverage of all sports by one writer. Very impressive!

Category 23 - Best Business/Agribusiness Page

No Entries

Category 24 - Best Lifestyle Page

Certificate of Merit - McLean County News, Jessica West Bratcher

Category 25 - Best Editorial Page

First Place - Flemingsburg Gazette, Guy Townsend
A suggestion would be shorter columns to add another columnist or two. Suggest also an editorial on same local subject each week. Columns are fine, good work.

Category 26 - Best Front Page

First Place - McLean County News, Jonna Spelbring Priester
Good photography and design. Perhaps too much weight given to features on front. Prefer thinner mast.

Second Place - Lyon County Herald Ledger, Jody Norwood
Well-designed full quotes and photo box. Shows news balance. Don’t like pink sidebar.

Third Place - Trimble Banner, Darren Pike
Mix up template for front and lose Gothic capitals at bottom. Nice photography and color variance for mast. Good news balance.

© Kentucky Press Association