Hollister
– The Hollister Free Lance continued its winning ways, pulling
down six awards in the California Newspaper Publishers
Association’s annual Better Newspapers Contest.
Hollister – The Hollister Free Lance continued its winning ways, pulling down six awards in the California Newspaper Publishers Association’s annual Better Newspapers Contest.
The CNPA’s annual competition is designed to recognize the best newspaper journalism in California. Hundreds of reporters, editors and publishers from across California came together Saturday in San Francisco to acknowledge award winners at a luncheon event.
The Free Lance earned first-place awards for a breaking news photograph of the St. Francis Retreat fire taken by photographer Nick Lovejoy and page layout and design work done by Night City Editor Cady McCowin.
The newspaper earned second-place awards in the writing, front page, breaking news coverage and sports coverage categories.
Reporter Anthony Ha’s article, on how San Benito County voting trends closely match those of the state, was selected for a second-place award in the writing category. Former Free Lance Sports Editor Jimmy Durkin earned second place for his sports coverage. The Free Lance’s coverage of the 2006 E. coli outbreak earned the paper a second-place award in the breaking news coverage category.
Free Lance Editor Kollin Kosmicki said he was proud of the newspaper’s accomplishments.
Part of the paper’s strong foundation is Lovejoy. The veteran photographer has earned six awards for the Free Lance in the last four years.
The newspaper took home five first- and second-place awards in both 2005 and 2006. The Free Lance competed against two dozen daily newspapers with a circulation of fewer than 10,000 throughout the state in the contest.
“The Free Lance staff deserves credit for continually putting out a compelling newspaper,” said Steve Staloch, group publisher. “They will undoubtedly keep up the excellent work and continue serving readers’ needs.”
The Free Lance is one of several area newspapers owned by Main Street Media Group. The publishing company also operates the Gilroy Dispatch and the Morgan Hill Times. The Gilroy Dispatch brought home 10 awards, including the coveted general excellence award for the third consecutive year. The Morgan Hill Times won seven first- and second-place awards.
