BELLINGHAM – The Free Press Publishing news and advertising teams brought home multiple awards from the Washington Newspaper Association annual meeting Friday, Oct. 8.
Cheney Free Press reporter Paul Delaney led the effort on the “Malden, Babb Fire: The People and Their Stories” section that won the statewide newspaper Community Service Award. Graphic artists John Myers and Walter Willand, Advertising Manager DeeAnn Gibb and Publisher Roger Harnack were also recognized for helping make the project.
The section, which published in the Cheney Free Press and Whitman County Gazette, gave victims of the Sept. 7 Babb Fire, that raced from the Rosalia area southwest almost to St. John, an opportunity to tell their stories in their own words.
Delaney worked with fire victims to record their stories in the aftermath of the fire.
In addition to Malden section, Willand received first-place for Newspaper House Ad, a competition that shows how newspapers promote themselves.
His ad showed a newsie shouting “extra, extra” over the wheat fields of Eastern Washington, and telling readers Free Press Publishing provides the news and advertising rural residents want, need and expect.
Delaney, Gibb and Harnack were recognized for coordinating and publishing the inaugural “Go West Plains” magazine, too. The trio received a second-place award for the publication as a lifestyle/culture section.
Harnack was named runner-up for Photographer of the Year after winning several awards, including first-place in Breaking News for “Flames race across Region,” first-place in Online Photo Essay for “Capitol Lockdown and third-place in General News for “Session Opens.”
Outside photography, he also won third-place for his On the Hot Seat column, which runs in multiple newspapers within Free Press Publishing and across others in Eastern Washington.
Cheney Free Press reporter turned Davenport Times Editor Drew Lawson was also recognized for his photography, winning first in General News Photography with “Covering all the bases,” a photo from the first day of school last year in Medical Lake.
Former Whitman County Gazette reporter Garth Meyer, who recently moved from Colfax to California, racked up a number of individual awards.
Meyer won first-place for government reporting on the Thin Blue Line flag controversy in Palouse, and first-place for color feature photography with his “Giraffe Migration” photo in Colfax. In addition, Meyer brought home three third-place awards in News Story, Long for “What’s next for Manning Bridge;” Sports Personality for “Colfax senior gets early start on college volleyball and Breaking News Photography with “Manning Fire destroys 2 homes.”
Former Ritzville Adams County Editor Brandon Cline was also an award winner for his work with his new employer, the Chinook Observer.
Cline, who previously lived in Ritzville, won first in Government and third in Business reporting. His new employer also won the top General Excellence Award.
Political cartoonist Brad Skiff of Bridgeport, also won a third-place award for his work. Skiff’s cartoons publish regularly in most of the Free Press Publishing newspapers, including the Cheney Free Press, Davenport Times, Odessa Record, Ritzville Adams County Journal and Whitman County Gazette.
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