So ... remember when I wrote about our state newspaper contest a few weeks ago? The banquet was a week and a half ago and I *finally* made it there. (You can read why that's a big deal in just a minute.) I love being around other newsy people, and community weekly journalists are a specific breed. We're not as high-strung as our brothers and sisters who work with daily publications, but that doesn't mean we're less committed to journalistic ideals.
One of the highlights of attending the NPA convention was getting to see my dear friend, Gerri Osborn Peterson, who is deserving of an entire post of her own. Right out of college, she purchased her hometown newspaper, the Hooker County Tribune in Mullen, Neb., and runs it single-handedly. I don't know how she does it, but she does an amazing job — with a smile on her face! Since she lives in the Sandhills and I'm in the northeast corner of the state, we don't get to see each other often. But when we do, it's like we're right back in the basement of Jesse, working on the Sower and imagining what life as a "real" reporter would be like.
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| With Gerri at the awards luncheon. (This is a newspaper-related post — the photo had to be in black and white!) |
(By the way, Gerri was named the Outstanding Young Journalist at the National Newspaper Contest last year, so I have it on good authority that she's awesome!)
Anyway ... here's what I wrote in my newspaper about the event:
If I take your picture sometime down the road and you’re not exactly thrilled about it, I will understand completely — because I hate being in front of the lens, too.
This past weekend was the annual Nebraska Press Association conference in Lincoln. Twice in the past three years I’ve tried — and failed — to attend the conference. The first year, there was a conflict with the spring musical I was performing in at the West Point Community Theatre. The second year, I developed a fairly debilitating ear infection the night before leaving for the conference. So this year, with just six weeks to go before my second child’s due date, I was pretty convinced I would go into labor at some point prior to Friday.
But the third time’s a charm, and I was in the ballroom of the Holiday Inn Downtown on Friday afternoon to accept the Outstanding Young Nebraska Journalist in Weekly Newspapers runner up award. And though I was “that” person, making Elaine take my photo a couple of times — it’s hard to feel photogenic when you have the approximate gravitational pull of Saturn — it was definitely an honor I won’t forget.
Essentially, being under 30 and employed at a Nebraska newspaper made me eligible for the award. What made it happen, though, is the fact that I love what I do and I work with amazing people who, unsolicited, nominated me for the honor.
So when I look at the etched glass plaque on my desk at work (let’s be real: I have a toddler at home — it would remain unbroken for precisely 1.7 minutes in our house), what I see is not so much myself as outstanding, but that I work in an outstanding community, with outstanding people.
The rest of the Wisner News-Chronicle was well-represented in additional awards presentations throughout the weekend.
Jeff Recker won the Best Photograph of 2011 with his shot of the greased pig contest from last year’s Livestock Show. Jamie Parker and Marilyn Raabe took honors in the advertising category. Our 2011 spring agriculture special section and career technical education pages also placed in the competition.
Being one of the smallest newspapers in our judging division, we felt like we held our own quite well.
But a contest only reflects the opinion of one judge, considering single entries just one time. What really counts are the opinions of the people who read the Wisner News-Chronicle every week.
That’s why the most important take away from the NPA conference wasn’t the hardware, but the information shared at workshops about how to make our product better and more engaging for our subscribers.
The goal of our newspaper is to inform you, the readers, of what’s happening in the community and to do so in an effective, clear and attractive way.
If that means including your photo in an issue, I sympathize with your reticence — but just know your image helps make the complete picture award-winning.
On the Lighter Side
Published April 18, 2012
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