Republican lands two national press awards, including General Excellence

    The Imperial Republican staff earned a pair of national awards for their newspaper coverage in 2021.
     In the National Newspaper Association Foundation’s Better Newspaper Contest, the Republican earned third place in both General Excellence and for a photo page essay on last summer’s Smokin’ on Broadway activities.
    The General Excellence competition is considered one of the top awards in the national competition.
    Judges’ comments for the Republican’s General Excellence entries were: “Very good community news coverage, all ages, all events.”
    It continued: “Excellent editorial/opinion page! Good classifieds, legals; sports spotlights youth—big and bold.”
    The judges also gave high marks to the Republican’s overall design, headlines and advertising mix that reflects the area.
    Issues entered for judging were May 19, May 26 and Dec. 15, 2021.
    Taking first in the their category for General Excellence was the Steele County Times in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota. The Ark in Tiburon, California placed second.
    In their comments about the Republican’s Smokin’ on Broadway photo page, the judges wrote: “There’s lots of action in these photos and nicely illustrates the fun at the event.”
    The Imperial newspaper competed with newspapers across the country in the non-daily division with circulations of 3,000 and less.
    The Republican’s sister publication in Colorado, The Holyoke Enterprise, also earned a pair of national awards in advertising.
    The Enterprise placed first for a Melissa Memorial Hospital ad on its cancer walk, and second for  an advertiser section titled Holiday Hide and Seek.
    The national awards will be formally presented at the NNAF’s 136th annual convention in San Francisco Oct. 6-8.