Inter Lake wins 13 awards in Montana newspaper contest

The Daily Inter Lake won 13 awards Saturday in the 2010 Better Newspaper Contest sponsored by the Montana Newspaper Association.

Inter Lake Managing Editor Frank Miele said he was very pleased with the staff’s performance in 2010, especially in light of the tragedy that befell the newspaper in June, when two reporters died in a plane crash while on a sightseeing tour of the Flathead.

“It was a very difficult year for all of us, with many challenges, but we pulled together and delivered a high-quality newspaper every day despite our personal loss,” Miele said.

Indeed, one of the most meaningful awards this year for the Inter Lake is the third-place award in spot news for coverage of the plane crash that cost the lives of reporters Melissa Weaver and Erika Hoefer, along with two young men from Missoula.

“The newspaper’s staff, under the leadership of assistant managing editor Scott Crandell, worked through tears and fears to tell the story of the missing plane, and eventually of the recovery of the bodies,” Miele said.

Crandell was recognized, along with Features Editor Lynnette Hintze and senior reporter Jim Mann, for their work on the story.

In addition, Inter Lake reporter Eric Schwartz won first place in Spot News for his deadline reporting on the double murder in Kalispell last Christmas Eve of Jaimi Hurlbert and her daughter Alyssa Burkett. Judges called the work “powerful and compelling.”

“Spot news reporting is probably the most important thing we do,” said Miele, “so winning two awards in this category is especially significant.”

The Inter Lake won four first-place awards altogether, and photographer Brenda Ahearn led the staff with three individual awards.

The awards were announced at the newspaper association’s annual convention, which was held in Lewistown this year. Judging was handled by the Wyoming Press Association.

The Inter Lake competes against Montana’s large daily newspapers (those with circulations above 7,500). Here is the list of other Inter Lake winners:

Best Editorials: 1st place to Managing Editor Frank Miele. Judges singled out his editorial on the long-delayed death sentence of Ron Smith, and said it was “By far the most risky, emotional editorial in the group. Takes a position and drives it home. Splendid!”

Best In-Depth Reporting: 3rd place to Kristi Albertson and Nate Chute for their work on a series of stories on how local schools are trying to help homeless students. The judges were struck by the “clarity of the writing and the extent of the research.”

Special Projects: 3rd place for the Glacier Centennial section coordinated by Features Editor Lynnette Hintze.

Best Sports Feature: 1st place to Dillon Tabish for his story about boxer Duran Caferro Jr. The judges wrote, “It is so well-written it almost reads like a movie script.” Brenda Ahearn contributed photography for this story.

Best Sports Story: 2nd place to Dillon Tabish for his coverage of how Whitefish won the state cross-country title.

Best Sports Photo: 3rd place to Brenda Ahearn for a photo of a collision between two Whitefish softball players while chasing a pop-up during a game against Libby.

Best Outdoor Activity Photo: 3rd place to Brenda Ahearn for a February shot of fishing in the South Fork of the Flathead.

Best Feature Photo: Honorable Mention to Brenda Ahearn for a photo of Cedar Vance hugging her horse. Vance overcame Down syndrome and other problems to become a successful graduate of Whitefish High School last year.

Best Editorial Page: 2nd place to Managing Editor Frank Miele. Judges noted the Inter Lake’s opinion pages had “strong editorials with interesting local guest columns.”

Best Advertising Series: 3rd place to Caroline Casteel, Anna Mahlen and Susan Burch.

Best Single House Ad: 1st place to Anna Mahlen.

Prizes also went to a number of other Montana papers owned by the Hagadone newspaper group, the parent company which owns the Inter Lake.

The Whitefish Pilot won the Divisional Sweepstakes Award for best mid-sized weekly newspaper. The Pilot won 12 awards altogether, including six first-place awards for Editor Matt Baldwin. The newspaper also won first-place in General Excellence in its division. The judges called it “a very complete publication,” and noted its “great design, solid local news content, strong photos [and] well-designed advertising.”

In the division for small weeklies, the Bigfork Eagle won 26 awards including five first-place awards for former editor Jasmine Linabary and three first-place awards for current editor Jordan Dawson.

The Lake County Leader in Polson won 13 awards (including seven for editor Ali Bronsdon), the Clark Fork Valley Press in Plains won six awards (including three more for Bronsdon), the Hungry Horse News won four awards, and the Mineral Independent in Superior won two.

Also noteworthy, the Flathead Beacon of Kalispell won the divisional sweepstakes award for papers in its circulation category and also won the Thomas J. Dimsdale Award for best newspaper in the state among weeklies and dailies with circulation under 7,500. The Bigfork Eagle had won the award the previous year.