The News takes top prizes at contest

AMARILLO, Texas — The Eastern New Mexico News was awarded the top newspaper prize in its division at the 107th Annual Panhandle Press Association awards held last weekend.

The News collected the General Excellence award in Division II, which consists of PPA newspapers that are dailies or semi-weeklies. The Canyon (Texas) News was the runner-up. In Division I (weeklies), The Canadian (Texas) Record won the top honor.

Overall, The News won seven categories and took second place in six others. The contest was for entries published in 2016.

“We had a great showing at the PPA awards this year,” said publisher Rob Langrell. “We've undergone a lot of changes in the past year to 16 months, but we're putting out a quality newspaper every day.

“We strive to have something that appeals to all of our different readers,” he added. “We know how important community journalism is. It's, of course, nice to be recognized for our work. We have a great staff that works their tails off on a regular basis to cover Clovis, Portales and all of the surrounding communities. I'm proud to be a part of that.”

The News won awards in the following categories:

• First place, Serious Column: David Stevens

• First place, Humorous Column: Kevin Wilson

• First place, News Writing: David Stevens, Kevin Wilson and Alisa Boswell

• First place, Human Interest Photography: Tony Bullocks

• First place, Spot News Photography: Tony Bullocks

• First place, Society/Lifestyle section: Malinda Montgomery

• First place, Best Website/Online newspaper: Shawn Luscombe and staff

• Second place, Editorial Writing: David Stevens

• Second place, Feature Writing: Alisa Boswell, Kevin Wilson and Brooke Finch

• Second place, Sports Writing: Dave Wagner and David Norton

• Second place, Headline Writing: Jenna Zamie, Kevin Wilson and Malinda Montgomery

• Second place, Sports Photography: Kevin Wilson and Tony Bullocks

• Second place, Front Page Layout: Jenna Zamie and Malinda Montgomery.

Additionally, the Quay County Sun — the weekly paper based in Tucumcari that is also owned by Clovis Media — picked up six awards. They were:

• Second place, Serious Column: Thomas Garcia

• Second place, Sports Writing: Thomas Garcia

• Third place, Feature Writing: Thomas Garcia

• Third place, Sports Photography: Thomas Garcia

• Third place, Best Website/Online newspaper: Shawn Luscombe and staff

• Honorable mention, News Writing: Thomas Garcia