The Post-Bulletin won honors for general excellence and received eight other awards in the 2010-2011 Better Newspaper Contest by the Minnesota Newspaper Association.
The contest included work published from October 2010 to October 2011 in a wide range of categories. It compared newspapers of comparable circulation size and publishing frequency, with categories such as weeklies with circulations of more than 5,000 or dailies with circulations of 10,000 and over.
For general excellence, the Post-Bulletin came in second among seven other comparable Minnesota newspapers. It also took second place out of seven newspapers for sports reporting.
For the best use of multimedia among six Minnesota dailies of all sizes, the Post-Bulletin won first place. It won first place among 11 dailies of all sizes for best use of video and first place among 14 dailies of all sizes for its editorial portfolio.
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The following individuals won honors: John Weiss, second place in column writing for his weekly Back Roads column; Jeff Pieters, second place in social issues story for his articles on a home for chronic inebriates; Kevin Hanson, first place in best use of video, for his coverage of Wasioja Civil War Days; Ken Klotzbach, first place in photo story, for coverage of voting by area people in the South Sudan election; and Elizabeth Nida Obert, second place in photo story, for coverage of farmer Pam Benike.
Rochester Community and Technical College
The Echo newspaper at Rochester Community and Technical College took away three awards in the contest among Minnesota college and university newspapers. The Echo won first place for general excellence and general reporting, and second place for typography and design.
Area weeklies
Several area weekly newspapers also won honors in the Better Newspaper Contest. Here is a list of the winners and categories.
• Blooming Prairie Times:Second place among weeklies with circulations of up to 2,500 for best continuing coverage of diversity in the community.
• Chatfield News:First place among weeklies up to 1,500 for human interest story; second place for photo story.
• Houston County News,La Crescent: First place among weeklies between 1,500 to 2,500 for social issues story; second place for use of photography.
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• Kenyon Leader:First place among weeklies up to 1,500 for website and best use of video; second place for portrait and personality photo.
• Republican Leader,Preston: First place among weeklies up to 1,500 for local breaking news coverage.
• Red Wing Republican Eagle:First place among weeklies over 5,000 for editorial page and investigative reporting; second place for photo story and special section.
• Spring Valley Tribune:First place for among weeklies up to 1,500 for feature photo.
• Winona Post:First place among weeklies over 5,000 for general reporting.
