IPA honors dailyherald.com as best news website in Illinois
The Daily Herald newsroom was awarded the Stuart R. Paddock Memorial Trophy in the annual Illinois Press Association competition for large-circulation newspapers.
The newspaper was honored with 46 individual awards and placed second for general excellence among large newspapers across the state.
All told, the newspaper received 18 first-place awards, including those for Best Website, Best Sports Section and Investigative Journalism.
Photo Editor Rick West and Senior Staff Photographer Brian Hill won four awards each.
“We're overwhelmed by this recognition,” Editor John Lampinen said. “It easily has to be the largest number of awards we've earned at any single contest. It's a testament to the talent and dedication of our hardworking newsroom.”
Lampinen accepted the awards on behalf of the newspaper at the IPA's annual convention Friday at the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel in Springfield.
The Stuart R. Paddock Memorial Trophy was established in 1978 and contributed by the Paddock family in memory of the late publisher of the Daily Herald.
It is awarded to the large-circulation newspaper earning the most points in a wide range of contest categories.
Among the first-place honors were:
• West, for General News Photo; Feature Photo; and Portrait/Personality Photo. “This is so fun and creative,” judges wrote of West's photo showing a Medieval Times knight using his weapon to smash a pumpkin in midair. “The composition is great and the focus on his face is perfectly captured.”
• Assistant Managing Editor Travis Siebrass and staff for Best Website.
• Sports Editor Mike Smith, former Sports Editor Tom Quinlan and staff for Best Sports Section.
• Transportation Columnist Marni Pyke, receiving the Knight Chair Award for Sustained Investigative Journalism, for her coverage of irregularities at the Illinois Toll Highway Authority.
“A classic series of relentless watchdog work that exposed insider dealings and misuse of public funds and a betrayal of trust by the Illinois tollway board,” the judges wrote. “The series of more than two dozen stories is a superb demonstration of why sustained investigative reporting is needed.”
• Deputy Managing Editor Jim Slusher, for editorial writing related to the paper's tollway coverage.
• Staff Writer Eric Peterson, for school board coverage on teacher contract negotiations in Palatine-Schaumburg Township High School District 211.
• Lampinen, for Feature Series and for Feature Writing/Personality for his work on the Last Kiss series on coping with the loss of a spouse and his writing, in particular, on the grief of an Arlington Heights barber's widow.
• The Daily Herald staff, for Localized National Story for coverage of student protests in response to last year's Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shootings.
• Assistant Director of Visual Journalism Paul Valade, for Video Journalism chronicling those student protests.
• Managing Editor Jim Baumann and staff for Special Sections for last fall's “The Newspaper Partnership” section.
• Baumann for Humorous Column for the Grammar Moses column he writes each Sunday.
“I really enjoyed this light (and educational!) column,” one judge wrote. “The humor reaches across all aisles.”
• Senior Sports Writer Kevin Schmit for Sports News for his reporting on the major changes coming in Illinois High School football scheduling.
• Senior Director of Visual Journalism Jeff Knox and staff, for Online Photo Series/Gallery for, “Through the Film Magnifier,” a compilation every other Monday of the daily print photo column of historical images.
“A beautiful, interesting series,” the judges wrote.
• Staff Photographer Joe Lewnard, for Sports Photo for a photo of a suburban high school basketball player who hit the game-winning shot in the state title game.
“Love the juxtaposition of emotion here — the excitement in the foreground vs. the disappointment in the background. A beautiful photo,” the judges wrote.
• Film Critic Dann Gire, for Best Review for his critique of “First Man.”
In addition, the newspaper received 10 second-place awards, 11 third-place awards and seven honorable mention awards.
The Daily Herald's downstate sister publications, meanwhile, won eight awards in a variety of categories for small-circulation newspapers.