Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

DHJ staff receives five awards at state convention



BLOOMINGTON, MN – Delano Herald Journal took home five awards Thursday night at the annual Minnesota Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest.

Awards were presented at the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel by Minnesota Newspaper Association President Jake Benson, publisher of the Proctor Journal.

Five second-place awards were received by Managing Editor Ryan Gueningsman and Sports Editor Matt Kane. The awards are for:

• Typography and design. Judges comments: “Nice clean layout, great mix of fonts – very eye-catching and easy to read. Good photos, nice use of color, good news and photo coverage. Good self-promotion. Overall appearance was clean and easy to read.”

There were 16 entries in this category’s circulation class and the first place award went to the Sleepy Eye Herald-Dispatch.

• Sports reporting. Judges comments: “Great layouts that weren’t too overwhelming. That, along with the photos and headlines tied the paper together nicely.”

There were 13 entries in the category’s circulation class, and the first place award went to the Jackson County Pilot.

• Sports story (Kane). Story on 8-year-old skier Abby Swanson of Loretto, published Feb. 22, 2010. Judges comments: “To find a story like this is not an easy thing to do. All too often when covering high school kids and beyond, it’s the little ones doing amazing things that get overlooked. Great photos to accompany the story. Really showed her determination.”

There were 24 entries in this category’s circulation class, and the first-place award went to Adam Hoogenakker of the Renville County Register.

• Local breaking news coverage (Gueningsman and Kane). Coverage of the Loretto apartment fire, published Dec. 21, 2009. Judges comments: “Close second. Obviously a ton of work went into this piece. I appreciate the depth of coverage and the writer’s detailing of the personal effect the fire had on the apartments’ residents and those who witnessed it. Some structure and repetitive elements in the writing held it back, but this is a story to be proud of.”

There were 20 entries in this category’s circulation class and Michelle Leonard of the Farmington Independent took first place.

• News photo (Gueningsman). Photo of newborn Ellie Fix in a fire helmet being held by Gary Zitzloff, published Sept. 21, 2009.

Judges comments: “The photographer did a good job of setting up a special, creative photo to go along with a special story.”

There were 15 entries in this category’s circulation class and Seth Schmidt of the Tracy Headlight-Herald took first place.

A presidential citation was also presented by Minnesota Newspaper Association President Jake Benson to family and co-workers of former Herald Journal and Dassel-Cokato Enterprise Dispatch Editor Lynda Jensen Thursday night at the convention.

Jensen, 42, of Dassel, died June 15, 2010.

The presidential citation was given “in recognition of Lynda’s support of the Minnesota Newspaper Association. Lynda’s enthusiasm for the Minnesota Newspaper Association served as a shining example to all journalists.”

The Herald Journal, based in Winsted, was also honored with a second place award in the general excellence category, one of the toughest awards to win.

Herald Journal also received a second-place award for its classified section, which is also published in the Delano Herald Journal, with the judges noting: “Very clean, large headings, east to read. Nice self-promotion.”





















































































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