Eagle Observer wins numerous APA awards at June convention

WESTSIDE - The Eagle Observer again brought home numerous awards from the Arkansas Press Association convention, held last month in Eureka Springs, winning 14 awards and three honorable mentions in the annual editorial contest.

The Westside Eagle Observer won third overall for general excellence, competing against medium-sized weekly newspapers from across Arkansas.

Dodie Evans and Randy Moll each won first place awards - Evans, for an “Off the Cuff” column he wrote, entitled, “The number is 34,” and Moll, for a feature photograph he took, with the caption, “Reading program expands outlook.”

Other awards were presented to Evans, Moll, Janelle Jessen and Susan Holland for articles, photographs and newspaper design. In addition to the two first-place awards, the paper brought home seven second-place awards, five third-place awards and three honorable mentions.

“These awards in the annual editorial contest demonstrate the quality of work and the journalistic excellence of our staff which goes into the Eagle Observer every week,” Moll, managing editor of the newspaper, said. “Of special significance is the award for general excellence, which says we are putting out a quality newspaper filled with news, photographs and other information for our readers each week.”

“Being judged by our peers in the newspaper industry and being told the things we are doing right is motivation for all of us at the Eagle Observer to strive for continued excellence and to work even harder to improve the quality of our publication,” Moll added. “Being able to see the award-winning work of other newspapers helps us see where we might improve and make the Eagle Observer even better in the future.”

The judges of the Arkansas contest this year were members of the Texas Press Association. The Arkansas Press Association contests are judged by members of a press association from a different state each year, and APA members help judge the contests of press organizations from other states.

News, Pages 1 on 07/17/2013