Imperial Republican receives three awards in state press contest

Staff at the Imperial Republican were recognized for its news and advertising accomplishments in 2019 in the annual Nebraska Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest.
The Imperial-based newspaper earned three awards for entries from 2019, one in news/editorial, one in photography and one in advertising.
More than 3,400 separate entries were judged by members of the Illinois Press Association for this year’s contest.
Awards for the Republican included:
First place in special single section. The special section receiving the honor was the Snow Day tab. Judges considered things like editorial content and impact on community.
First place in agricultural advertisement. The ad was for the Farm Credit open house and put together by Jana Pribbeno and Jenn Huff.
In photography, reporter Megan Kelley placed third in the breaking news category for her photo from the accident west of Imperial last year involving Perkins County resident Clayton Giesbrecht. The photo shows a rescue helicopter landing on Highway 6 in anticipation of transporting Giesbrecht.
Due to COVID-19, the annual state convention was canceled and winners were announced via a YouTube video.
Sister newspaper awards
Two other Johnson Publications newspapers, the Wauneta Breeze and Grant Tribune-Sentinel, also earned awards in other divisions at the state contest.
The Breeze took six awards including one first place, two second places and three third places.
Breeze Editor Tom Pantera placed first in feature series for his story about cancer survivors at the Cattlemen’s Ball.
Pantera also placed second for a personal column.
The other second-place was for signature page, which is an ad featuring any theme sponsored by multiple advertisers.
The Breeze placed third for editorial page and classified section.
Also earning a third place was Breeze reporter Diane Stamm for a sports feature photo.
The Tribune-Sentinel received nine awards, including three first places, three second places and three third places.
For first place, the Tribune-Sentinel received recognition in the Community Promotion Advertisement section with their schedule for the Perkins County Fair.
Also placing first was Brooke Robertson in sports feature writing for her piece on 2019 Perkins County senior Beau Wood in his undefeated wrestling season.
The Tribune-Sentinel also placed first in Public Notice and Its Promotion. This category is chosen by submitting any two articles, editorials or ads which promote the concept of newspaper public notice as the best was to guarantee the public’s right to know.
Second place was also given in signature page, which was called “Saluting Our Area Farmers,” as well as headline writing.
Third-place recognition was given in agricultural advertisement, sports column and general excellence.
The Loral Johnson Community Newspaper Sweepstakes Award is presented to the weekly newspaper that accumulates the most contest points.
The Orchard/Neligh Antelope County News won the award for a third consecutive year.
This will also be the last year for Johnson’s award, which has been presented for 17 years.

 

The Imperial Republican

308-882-4453 (Phone)

622 Broadway St

PO Box 727

Imperial, NE 69033