Times staff garners awards

The members of The Arlington Times staff earned a number of awards Oct. 3 when the Washington Newspapers Publishers Association announced the winners of its 121st Annual Better Newspaper Contest during its annual conference in Yakima.

By Scott Frank • October 7, 2008 4:49 pm

The members of The Arlington Times staff earned a number of awards Oct. 3 when the Washington Newspapers Publishers Association announced the winners of its 121st Annual Better Newspaper Contest during its annual conference in Yakima.

The annual competition divides the state’s non-daily newspapers into various categories based on their circulation. The Times was competing in circulation group 1, for newspapers with circulations up to 2,500.

News editor Sarah Arney won the first-place award for Best Story on the Arts, circulation group 1, for her story, “Walla Walla gets a ‘hand’ from local artist.”

Commenting on the award-winning story, the judges wrote “A great community interest story, lots of good quotes … overall the best selection of the group. Good job, well done.”

Reporter Kirk Boxleitner earned a pair of awards. He won first place in the Personality Profile, Long, circulation groups 1-2, for his story “Darrington loses inspirational teen.” The judge wrote, “Seth’s is a tragic story, and this article does a great job of illuminating his short life. It’s a wonderful example of a feature obituary.”

Boxleitner also captured the second-place award in the Best News of The Weird, circulation groups 1-2, for his story “Local woman sports UFO.” About this story the judges said “Interesting piece. Good lead by the reporter and will thought out story.”

The Times staff also won two awards for their collaborative efforts.

The staff received the third-place award for Best Overall Feature Page or Section,” circulation groups 1-2, and the first-place award for Best Use of Graphics, circulation groups 1-4, for “Construction Zone” which illustrated the Olympic Avenue Renovation Project.

“This was a great use of an info-graphic that turned what could have been a routine story about road construction into something packed with useful information for readers. Everything from how banks are changing their drive-thru service to alternate parking suggestions, this graphic proves that simplicity in conveying information works when done well.”