“Willie,” first place, Portrait, Miguel Juarez With a total of 42 editorial, photography and advertising awards, Greater Media Newspapers had its best showing ever in the weekly division of the New Jersey Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest for 2005. The newspaper group, based in Freehold, publishes 12 weeklies, serving Monmouth, Middlesex and Ocean counties, and a monthly Spanish language newspaper.
The highlight of the showing was the prestigious General Excellence for Classified Advertising award, which was announced at the awards dinner April 20.
The tally included 12 awards for photography, nine for writing, 17 for classified advertising, and four for retail display ads.
The newspaper group also swept three categories, including first, second and third place in Coverage of Government.
“This year, our advertising department won its most awards ever, and we are extremely proud of them,” said Gregory Bean, executive editor of Greater Media Newspapers.
“Finger Foul,” first place, Sports Action, Chris Kelly “We were also honored by our peers for our outstanding photography and reporting. The fact that we swept the Coverage of Government category, which is our bread and butter, is particularly satisfying. There’s a lot to be proud of as we look to the coming year.”
Photography awards were presented for:
Spot News – third place, Jerry Wolkowitz, News Transcript.
General News – first place, Jerry Wolkowitz, Examiner.
Sports Action – first place, Christopher Kelly, The Hub; second place, Miguel Juarez, Sentinel.
Feature – second place, Jeff Granit, Sentinel; third place, Miguel Juarez, Sentinel.
Portrait – first place, Miguel Juarez, Brick Township Bulletin; third place, Miguel Juarez, News Transcript.
Pictorial – second place, Jeff Granit, Tri-Town News; third place, Chris Kelly, Atlanticville.
“Outdated Land,” first place, General News Picture Story, Jeff Granit General News Picture Story – first place, Jeff Granit, Examiner; second place, Jeff Granit, Examiner.
Editorial awards for writing were as follows:
Reporting, Writing and Illustration, Headlines – first place, “Campaign Experiment Winds Up FACE Down,” “The Cartridge Family,” “A Thoreau Examination,” Karl Vilacoba, Independent.
Reporting, Writing and Illustration, Freshest Treatment of a Tired Topic – third place, Karen Bowes, Independent
Reporting, Writing and Illustration, Special Subject Writing – second place, Jane Meggitt and Jennifer Kohlhepp, Examiner.
Reporting, Writing and Illustration, Column Writing (Humorous) – second place, Greg Bean, News Transcript.
Reporting, Writing and Illustration, Coverage of Government (Art Weissman Memorial Award) – first place, Colleen Lutolf, Woodbridge Sentinel; second place, Kathy Baratta, Tri-Town News; third place, Clare Marie Celano, News Transcript.
Reporting, Writing and Illustration, News Writing – second place, Dan Newman, Dick Metzgar, Karen E. Bowes, Karl Vilacoba and Michelle Rosenberg, Independent.
Responsible Journalism, Editorial Comment – second place, Patricia Miller, Woodbridge Sentinel.
The Classified Department had its best year ever, garnering 17 awards, and sweeping all three spots in two categories: Best Recruitment/Miscellaneous Display Ad and Best Agency Produced Ad.
Awards were presented as follows:
Best Real Estate Display Ad – black & white – first place, “Karen Loftus Holiday Ad,” News Transcript; second place, “Re/Max Holiday Wishes,” Tri-Town News.
Best Real Estate Display Ad, single color – third place, “Century 21 Mack-Morris Iris Lurie,” News Transcript.
Best Recruitment/
Miscellaneous Display Ad, color or black & white – first place, “Curialle Tree Service”; second place, “Paint Works”; third place, “Williams Paving,” all in the News Transcript.
Best Agency Produced Newspaper Ad, color or black & white – first place, “Circle Hyundai Holiday Savings Ad,” Independent; second place, “Straub Lincoln-Mercury Mariner Hybrid,” The Hub; third place, “Gold Coast Cadillac-New CTS,” News Transcript.
Best Non-Newspaper Special Section – first place, “Spring Home Makeover”; second place, “Fall Home Makeover,” both News Transcript.
Best Classified and/or Telemarketing Pages – first place, “Halloween Fun”; second place, “Happy Jewish New Year,” both News Transcript.
Best Classified and/or Telemarketing Directory – first place, “Make Your House a Home Page,” News Transcript.
Best External Classified Promotion Idea – first place, “Classified Media Kit”; second place, “Display Ads Now on Web,” both News Transcript.
In the Retail Advertising category, awards were presented for the following:
Best Single Ad, single color, smaller than 31.5 inches – first place, “Country Roads Day Camp,” Suburban.
Best Single Ad, black & white, smaller than 16 inches – third place, “Park Nursery School,” North/South Brunswick Sentinel.
Best Ad Campaign or Series, color, all sizes – first place, “Dina’s Dinette’s & Leather,” Independent.
Best External Special Promotion Mailing Piece – third place, “Spring Home and Garden,” News Transcript.