The Penobscot Bay Pilot, Boothbay Register, Wiscasset Newspaper won a combined 28 awards, including three special awards, in the 2020 Maine Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, presented at the MPA’s annual conference held virtually on Saturday, Oct. 24.

The awards were made from stories, photography, video, design and press material published in print or online between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020 and were judged by the Oklahoma Press Association.

Because of the pandemic, the annual conference was held virtually, with journalists gathering online from points around the state to visit, joke, encourage and congratulate each other for work well done, especially in trying times. Dr. Nirav Shah, head of Maine’s CDC, spoke eloquently for a few minutes, remotely from his desk, remarking on the importance of the press in being a partner in accurately reporting the facts, and informing the public. 

Keynote speaker Suzette Standring, Executive Director of the National Society of  Newspaper Columnists, told MPA members: “We have to deliver news and commentary, accurately, responsibly, against adversity, and we do. More than ever, readers want trusted sources, and they trust us.  We’re going to get through this evolution because no amount of click bait has ever manufactured the public trust that is ours.”

Pen Bay Pilot won second place for Digital General Excellence in Weekly 2 division; Boothbay Register won second place for Advertising General Excellence in Weekly 1 division; and the Wiscasset Newspaper won second place for Digital General Excellence in Weekly 1 division.

Below are the individual awards won by the Penobscot Bay Pilot, Boothbay Register, Wiscasset Newspaper. A complete list of 2020 award winners will be posted next week on the MPA’s website, www.mainepressassociation.org

Pen Bay Pilot Awards

First place: Sarah Thompson, Spot News Story, “You can keep the cat out of the bag, but you can’t keep it in the tree,” Weekly 2 division.

The divisions are based on circulation: Weekly 1 represents Maine’s weekly newspapers with less than a circulation of 3,000 while Weekly 2 represent weeklies with circulations of 3,000 or more, or online news sites.

First place: Lynda Clancy, News Video, “Route 90 car crash injures three teens,” Weekly division (combined)

Second place: Lynda Clancy, News Story, “Belfast, Rockland hospitals prepared, should Coronavirus 2019 emerge in Midcoast,” Weekly 2 division

Second place: Lynda Clancy, Analysis, “‘Problems bigger than school’: Midcoast educators tackle increase in dysregulated behavior,” Weekly 2 division

Third place: Kristen Lindquist, Critic’s Award, “On Millay and Mount Battie,” Weekly 2 division

Third place: Sarah Thompson, Feature Photo, “Firefighters from multiple towns …,” Weekly 2 division

Third place: Sarah Thompson, People Photo, “Catching an expression as well as a fish,’ Weekly 2 division

Third place: Sarah Thompson, Political Story, “Can robust dialogue fit within Rockland Council Chambers?”, Weekly 2 division

Third place: Lynda Clancy, Game Story, “Firefighters, ski patrol, rock climbers practice together at Snow Bowl lift evacuation drill,” Weekly 2 division

Third place: George Harvey, Sports Columnist, “At the heart of school sports lies community,” Weekly 2 division

Boothbay Register awards

First place: Joseph Charpentier, “Committee hires new principal despite outcry,” Education Story, Weekly 1 division

First place: Lisa Kristoff, “‘Go green’ has a whole new meaning,” Health Story, Weekly 1 division

First place: Bill Pearson, “LePages working at McSeagulls this summer,” News Story, Weekly 1 division

First place: Joseph Charpentier, News Headline, “Life is a fish and then you fry,” Bet’s Fish Fry fundraiser fairs fine for BCA, Weekly 1 division

First place: Joseph Charpentier, Spot News Photo, Konstantinos Rigas arrested, Weekly 1 division

Second place: Steve Edwards, Best Circulation Promotion, “Don’t miss another moment,” Weekly 1 division

Second place: Lisa Kristoff, Business Story, “Windjammer Emporium,” Weekly 1 division

Second place: Lisa Kristoff, Critic’s Award, “Fishin’ For Fashion,” Weekly 1 division

Third place: Kevin Burnham, Feature Photo, “The beginning of the end for Dripping Wet,” Weekly 1 division

Third place: Lisa Kristoff, Critic’s Award, “SThayerART – Yes, that S. Thayer,” Weekly 1 division

Third place, Staff, Picture Story, “Graduation Activities,” Weekly 1 division

Wiscasset Newspaper awards

Second place: Susan Johns, Outdoors Story, “Paddlers: Dam’s new opening currently no cakewalk,” Weekly 1 division

Second place: Susan Johns, Sports Video, “Sharing racing: Wiscasset Speedway welcomes WACC,” Weekly division

Second place: Susan Johns, Features/Lifestyle Video, “‘Two front teeth and a spitball gun’: Santa fields requests at WCC,” Weekly division

Third place: Susan Johns, News Headline, “Dollar General Sign a no go after no show,” Weekly 1 division

Due to the pandemic, the annual conference, which usually draws over 100 MPA members from around the state, was held via the internet.

Immediately following the morning business meeting, the annual MPA Hall of Fame ceremony was held. Inducted this year were Terry Carlisle, who retired in 2019 after a long career at the Ellsworth American, and Art Guesman, a longtime journalism professor at the University of Maine.

An online silent auction was held for several days leading up to the conference, and a live auction for the benefit of the MPA Scholarship Fund was held in the afternoon, followed by the awards ceremony, hosted by Portland Press Herald photographer Gregory Rec. Over $2,950 was raised for the scholarship fund.

Sarah Morley of the Boothbay Register and Lynda Clancy of the Pen Bay Pilot are members of the MPA board. Clancy replaces J. W. Oliver of the Lincoln County News as the MPA president for the coming year.

For the second consecutive year The Portland Press Herald, The Ellsworth American, the York County Coast Star, and the Maine Sunday Telegram have been honored by the Maine Press Association for General Excellence in print newspapers.

CentralMaine.com, The Maine Monitor, and The Camden Herald took top honors for digital General Excellence in the MPA’s Better Newspaper Contest.

In the General Excellence competition for print newspapers, The Portland Press Herald was judged the best daily in Maine for the second consecutive year while the Maine Sunday Telegram was the weekend Newspaper of the Year for the tenth time in 11 years.

The contest judges, who hailed from The Oklahoma Press Association, wrote of The Portland Press Herald, “Beautiful page design and use of photos throughout. Strong reporting and local coverage. Good ad design and service directory.”

“Amazing CMP investigation with six pages of stories, photos and coverage that tell the full story,” said the judges about the Maine Sunday Telegram. “Striking feature and news photos. Strong reporting, beautiful front-page feature designs and solid ad design.”

In the Weekly 1 division, for newspapers with less than 3,000 print circulation, the York County Coast Star took the top prize. Judges said: “This is the complete package - good news coverage, well written; good layout with strong headline writing and good photos/reproduction; and excellent political coverage” while the Weekly 2 winner, The Ellsworth American, was lauded for its, “Good mix of local news, strong editorial page, great classified section, well-designed ads, and colorful and well-composed photos.” This was the second consecutive win for both newspapers.

The Maine Monitor won the Freedom of Information first-place award in the Weekly division while the Sun Journal took top honors in the daily/weekend division.

Randy Billings of the Portland Press Herald was named the Journalist of the Year and Joanne Alfiero of the Portland Press Herald was the Advertising Person of the Year.

Meg Robbins, formerly of the Morning Sentinel and now of The Maine Monitor, won the Bob Drake Young Writer’s Award, and Carl Natale of the Sun Journal was honored by the MPA as the Unsung Hero of the Year.

Conference sponsors were Mitchell Tardy Jackson and Broadreach Public Relations.