The Hollister Free Lance captured five awards in the annual
California Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspapers
Contest in a broad range of categories this year, including the
coveted General Excellence award.
Hollister – The Hollister Free Lance captured five awards in the annual California Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspapers Contest in a broad range of categories this year, including the coveted General Excellence award.
“It’s truly an honor to be recognized by your peers and it confirms my conviction that publishing a quality newspaper begins with quality people who are passionate about this profession,” Publisher Steve Staloch said. “I’m especially proud of the leadership Editor Conan Knoll and City Editor Marcus Hibdon have demonstrated over the past year.”
The Free Lance won awards in the following categories: General Excellence, Front Page for a page designed by Hibdon, Editorial Page, Editorial Comment, Sports Photo for a shot by Photographer Nick Lovejoy that captured a rodeo cowboy being driven into the ground by a horse.
The new Lifestyles section – which also appears in the Free Lance’s sister publications – won awards for Lifestyles coverage and Arts and Entertainment coverage. The Free Lance competes against other California daily newspapers with a circulation of 10,000 or less.
Free Lance staffers will learn whether they won first or second prize in those categories at the annual CNPA convention in July.
“There have been a lot of changes at the Free Lance in the last year, and it’s gratifying to see that our effort to bring the community a better newspaper is being recognized,” Knoll said. “This really is a tribute to the hard work and talent of the Free Lance staff who are dedicated to producing an informative and lively paper everyday.”
In addition to the first or second place awards, the Free Lance earned Certificates of Achievement for Photo Essay, Local Spot News coverage and Investigative or Enterprise Reporting.
In the last year, the Free Lance completely redesigned its look, become a morning paper and added a daily Lifestyles section with new features such as the Harvard Medical Adviser column that unravels the mysteries surrounding medical procedures, the Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet feature, Community Camera, which allows local people to get their photos in the paper and a host of fresh comics.
“We’re building a new relationship with our readers that invites them to actively participate in communicating the news and views that not only help make the Free Lance an outstanding newspaper but also strengthen the communities we serve,” Staloch said.
The Free Lance began life as the Hollister Enterprise in 1873, just one year after the city incorporated and four months before disenfranchised residents of Hollister and San Juan Bautista broke away from Monterey County and formed San Benito County.
In the 132 years of its colorful past – one editor of Hollister Enterprise was shot and killed on the courthouse steps by the editor of a rival publication that later merged with the Enterprise – the paper has chronicled the entire history of San Benito County.
The awards for first or second place will be handed out on July 9 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.
