The Daily Universe was recently recognized by The National Newspaper Association in the 2008 Better News-paper and Better Newspaper Advertising Contests with more than a dozen national awards.
At the NNA conference this past weekend, The Daily Universe won a total of 14 awards and three honorable mentions. The NNA holds the annual contest to recognize newspapers in areas of journalism and advertising.
“We like to think we’re doing a good job, but it’s always gratifying to get some outside, objective evaluation in support of that thinking,” said Rich Evans, editorial manager for The Daily Universe.
The Daily Universe won first place for General Excellence, in the College Division. The judges said the contest was a close one, but the quality of writing and overall news content that recognized a readership with broad interests gave The Daily Universe the edge.
“When reading this newspaper, I never had to ask about any story if I would decline to run or hesitate to run it in my newspaper,” wrote a judge for the contest.
Sweeping the Best Newspaper Promotion award, The Daily Universe took first, second and third place and re-ceived the honorable mention for the promotions “12 Days of Christmas,” “Front row fanatics” and “What would you do … front row tickets.” Judges commented on the grabbing photos and interesting and new concepts to promote the events.
Shayne Durrant, advertising director for The Daily Universe, said the newspaper’s affiliation with a national association is a benefit to the college and its students. It gives BYU an opportunity to compete with some of the best small- to medium-sized papers in the country, not just other college campus newspapers.
“We have some of the most talented and gifted students I’ve ever met,” Durrant said.
He said the readers of The Daily Universe have also contributed to the success of the newspaper. While large newspapers have been faced with lower profits and decreased distribution, smaller papers are able to succeed because of their ability to report local news to their readers.
“The students want to know about what’s going on,” Durrant said. “If we do that well, we’ll thrive.”
Entries were received from 172 newspapers, with a total of 2,318 entries. Of those, 592 were selected as winners. The Daily Universe won the second most total awards in the Best Newspaper Advertising Contest.
Other winners include:
General Excellence- College Division, Daily & Non-daily Division
1st place: The Daily Universe, Provo, UT
Best Single Ad Idea-Color- Daily Division
1st place: “Housing fair,” by Libby Egan
3rd place: “Ream’s worst case scenarios,” by Russell Parrish
Best Series Ad Idea- B&W- Daily & Non-Daily Division
2nd place: “Music for … (Tantara Records),” by Anthony Fonseca
Best Single Ad Idea- B&W- Daily Division
1st place: “Step into a dancer’s paradise without tripping over …,” by Alyssa Watson
Best Sales Promotion Section or Edition- Daily Division
1st place: “Bridal guide,” for March/Summer 2007 by Drew Pepper, Barbi DeSoto, et al
2nd place: “Housing guide,” by Glade Cox, Libby Egan, Seth Hill and Jesse Royston
Best Newspaper Promotion- Daily Division
1st place: “12 days of Christmas,” by Anthony Fonseca and Alyssa Watson
2nd place: “Front row fanatics,” by Joseph Brady and Libby Egan
3rd place: “What would you do… front row tickets,” by Libby Egan, Anthony Fonseca and Alyssa Watson
Best Editorial- Daily Division
1st place: “Mining reform needed,” by Brandon Dabling
Best Business Feature Story- Daily Division
3rd place: “Springville company gets the names out there,” by Lacie Hales
Best Health Story – Daily Division
2nd place: “Organ donation creates lifelong bond,” by Mallory Bateman
Best Environmental Story- Daily Division
3rd place: “Ready, set, recycle/Off campus recycling,” by Kaye Nelson
Honorable Mentions
Best Newspaper Web site, Daily Division
Best Multiple Advertiser Section, Daily Division
Best Newspaper Promotion, Daily Division
Copyright Brigham Young University 30 Sep 2008
