Daily Herald wins top honors in AP contest

The Daily Herald won 15 awards in the 2008 Illinois Associated Press Editorial Excellence contest, including first place in general excellence among papers with a daily circulation of more than 40,000.

"We've done exceptionally well this year, and it's a tribute to our hardworking staff and commitment to public service," Editor John Lampinen said.

Though the newspaper industry in general is enduring hard economic times, the Daily Herald's outward-looking focus hasn't been compromised, he added.

"We still have a mission to make the world a better place, and we strive to do that every day," Lampinen said.

The Daily Herald's first-place finish in the general excellence category was determined in part by the quality of the entire paper on three dates predetermined by the judging committee.

Other Daily Herald winners in the top circulation division were:

• Anna Marie Kukec, Deborah Donovan and Tim Broderick, who won first place in the Public Service category, for the series, "The Dream Foreclosed," which focused on suburban families facing foreclosure and how others can get help.

• Joseph Ryan, who took first place in the Investigative category for his three-part series "Toll Gridlock," which revealed systemic flaws in the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority's violation enforcement and fine collection system.

• Susan Stevens, the first place winner in Features for "Deadly Legacy," about a family with Huntington's disease that is passing it from generation to generation.

• Barry Rozner, who won first place for Sports Columns.

• Steve Lundy, the first-place winner in the Spot News Photo category, for "Lightning Fire," an image of a firefighter battling a house fire as a bolt of lightning strikes in the sky behind him.

Other winners:

• Jamie Sotonoff, second place in Features for her look at how sex education is taught in schools.

• Vince Pierri, second place in the Columns category.

• Dann Gire, second place in Entertainment for "Statuesque."

• Steve Lundy, second place in Sports Action Photo, for "Over The Top," a picture of two high school baseball players entangled during a game.

• Daniel White, second place in Sports Feature Photo, for "High-Flying Win," a picture of a coach leaping to touch his toes as his girls softball team watched.

• Emily Krone, Tim Sheil, Catherine Edman and Jameel Naqvi, third place in the Public Service category for their multipart series on school finance.

• John Patterson, third place in Non-Deadline News, for "Why Is He Still Licensed To Teach?", an examination of how the state monitors accusations of sex offenses by teachers.

• Tim Broderick, third place in Page Design for "Luna Guilty," the page reporting a guilty verdict in the Brown's Chicken case against Juan Luna.

As well, the entire Daily Herald staff won third place in the Deadline News category for "Horror Hits Home," the paper's coverage of the Northern Illinois University shootings.

Lampinen said these many awards are but one form of feedback used to measure how well the Daily Herald is meeting its goals.

"Ultimately the readers judge our paper, but (the awards are) heartening for the paper and our staff," Lampinen said.