Competing against not only college papers but traditional papers across the country
The Daily Universe, Brigham Young University’s laboratory newspaper, received a General Excellence award in the National Newspaper Association’s 2006 Better Newspaper Contest college division.
Competing against not only college papers but also traditional papers across the country, The Daily Universe also took home six other awards. The Universe received first-place awards for Best Single Ad Idea in Color, Best Series Ad Idea in Black and White, and Best Section or Edition Dedicated to Sales Promotion. It also received a second-place award for Best Use of Ad Color, a third-place award for Best Family Life/Living Section/Pages and an honorable mention for Best Single Ad Idea in Black and White.
“I knew our students were good, but this was a compliment as to just how good they are,” said Robb Hicken, managing director of The Daily Universe.
Hicken attributes the paper’s performance in the contest to the students’ community-focused journalism. “They’re in to help build and promote positive construction of the community they live in,” he said. “A lot of university papers are after muckraking, whereas our students are part of the community and want to help it to grow.”
Other General Excellence winners were Ohio State University’s The Lantern and California State University, Chico’s The Orion. Places will be announced at an awards reception during the NNA’s 120th Annual Convention & Trade Show in Oklahoma City in October.
Though The Daily Universe has entered the contest in the past, “This is the most we’ve won, and the most first-place honors,” said Warren Bingham, Daily Universe advertising design and layout manager. “We’ve become someone where employers are going to say, ‘These guys are serious.’”
According to Sara Dickson, NNA special events coordinator, this year’s competition received more entries than it has in the past 10 years, with a total of 3,513 entries from 253 newspapers.
“Judging the contest is always difficult due to the high quality of so many entries,” said Reed Anfinson, the contest committee chair.
The NNA, established in 1885, represents owners, publishers and editors of America's community newspapers and is the largest newspaper association in the United States.
Writer: Andrea Christensen
