I have always had a difficult time coming to terms with the process of submitting and waiting for the announcement of press awards.
Awards, generally, are most important to those receiving them. Those who submitted entries that didn’t win can feel slighted. Comparing awards — what entry won a first place vs. which entry won a lesser award — is a common practice. It’s met with angst if you’re a writer or designer who feels your entry was better than another entry that placed higher.
As publisher of the Monroe Times, I’m proud of our staff and the awards we won in this year’s Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation’s Better Newspaper Contest. To win 38 awards — from first place to honorable mentions to the best in division — is a milestone. These awards are recognition for our dedicated and talented staff at the Monroe Times. I’m happy for our award winners, because they’ve used their skills to provide the community with the caliber of a newspaper it deserves. In the last two years, we’ve earned 63 awards. We will always work to improve, but this has been a special time.
More important than awards are the positive comments from readers who have seen our shift in philosophy in news reporting. We’re an all-local newspaper. Our staff has committed itself to covering our area to the best of its ability.
Choosing to work for a newspaper has unique challenges. Overall, the education required doesn’t match with the financial rewards. You have to love to be a journalist, graphic designer, circulation assistant or newspaper office clerk. All of the work we do is seen by the public. We’re human and make mistakes. People see our errors. People see our best work.
As a young journalist, I wanted to win awards to prove that I had chosen the right profession and I excelled at it. It’s wonderful if you win awards. If you don’t win awards for work you thought was worthy, it can be disheartening. This is why I’ve always tried to downplay the importance of awards among those with whom I work.
One thing I find missing among many newspapers is making allowances for their staff to submit entries for awards. Many journalists do award-winning work, but when the time comes to send in contest entries, there may not be enough time required, or money in the budget, to compile and submit entries. I wish newspapers, who have a lot of young writers, designers and editors on their staffs, were able to enter the awards.
Remembering my early years as an editor and winning some of my first awards, I recall what a boost that was for my morale. I believe so many more young, budding journalists need such support. I believe it’s important to help improve our industry.
I have been on the stage a couple of times accepting awards for newspapers which have won Best of Division and it really doesn’t matter to me if this year is the last time. I’ve had a couple nice moments and would like to see others bolstered by it, too. The “keys to the castle” for winning awards is combining outstanding journalism with multiple entries. The WNAF has employed an online system that makes submitting awards fairly simple. It comes down to the encouragement and support publishers give their staff the ability and encouragement to participate. Earning awards requires a commitment to participation in the contest.
Wisconsin has historically been a leader having outstanding newspapers for its communities.
The Gazette in Janesville was the Daily Newspaper of the Year. The weekly Newspaper of the Year was the Lakeland Times of Minoqua. Other newspapers honored with division awards such as the Monroe Times were the Beloit Daily News, The Ripon Commonwealth Press and The Valders Journal.
No matter how many more entries are submitted to the contest, it would not change the outcome of the top awards among these newspapers, which are excellent in all facets of newspapering.
Wisconsin has many exceptional newspapers that contribute to our state’s tradition of strong journalism.
What can be changed by having more entries is filling some contest categories. The Monroe Times won seven awards this year in combined categories that included newspapers with higher circulation. It’s humbling to see the Monroe Times being recognized for the same award as The Wisconsin State Journal. However, if there were more entries, and these categories weren’t combined, more than 40 additional awards could have been bestowed.
During my career there have been two years in which the newspapers I edited did not win awards. In 2000, I had no time to send in thoughtfully prepared entries and didn’t receive an award. That is the year my son was born. In 2016, I had a pulmonary embolism and was in the hospital and on bed rest during the final weeks of the award preparation time. That year, the newspaper for which I had worked submitted no entries — I wasn’t there to do them. I fully recovered from this life-threatening illness. I believe in both cases something far better happened than winning press awards.
I will always support those who are just starting out in this business and have the drive and desire to be able to say, “I’m an award-winning journalist.” My opinion regarding the awards has changed over time. I no longer have strong feelings about “winning or losing.” I understand the process and how greater participation can provide improved results.
More important than saying “award-winning” is having pride in being a newspaper person. Telling the stories of people in a community, standing up for what’s right, making sound ethical decisions and learning from one’s mistakes is part of the path on this journey.
— Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times.
