CRESTVIEW — The News Bulletin received six 2015 Best of GateHouse awards for its news, sports, commentary and social media efforts.
GateHouse Media, the news organization’s parent company, annually recognizes top efforts from its more than 400 publications nationwide.
The CNB’s awards are as follows:
FACEBOOK PAGE: Thomas Boni, Crestview News Bulletin, First place, Division C. (Other winners were recognized from The Herald-Tribune, Observer-Dispatch, StarNews Media, Pocono Record, The Holland Sentinel, The Independent, Lake Sun Leader and the Stephenville Empire-Tribune)
Tim Schmitt, GateHouse’s newsroom development project manager, praised the CNB’s Facebook page.
“Maybe my favorite Best of GateHouse ’15 win,” he tweeted. “The (News Bulletin’s) Facebook page would put a lot of large metro newspapers’ efforts to shame.”
OPINION SECTION/PAGE: Thomas Boni, Crestview News Bulletin, First place, Division C. (Other winners were recognized from The Standard-Times, The State Journal-Register, Gainesville Sun, Ames Tribune, The Journal-Standard, The Norwich Bulletin, Hannibal Courier Post and the Wareham Courier)
“These are truly excellent pages,” judges said of the CNB’s submissions. “Not only are they entirely local, but they leverage the paper’s social media presence to more deeply engage the community in discussing the issues that matter to readers. Much larger papers could learn a thing or two from this approach.”
NEWSWRITER OF THE YEAR: Brian Hughes, Crestview News Bulletin, Third place, Division C. (Other winners were recognized from the Ocala Star-Banner, The Herald-Tribune, The Columbus Dispatch, The Gaston Gazette, Daily Messenger, Waxahachie Daily Light and Hannibal Courier Post)
“Informative and pithy prose style,” judges said of Hughes’ work. “An excellent writer with a flair for humor that doesn’t get in the way of balanced reporting.”
COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR: Thomas Boni, Crestview News Bulletin, Second place, Division C. (Other winners were recognized from the Thibodaux Daily Comet, Ocala Star-Banner, Times Herald-Record, Houma Today, Pekin Daily Times, Ames Tribune, The Concord Journal and The Shawnee News-Star)
Judges said, "Boni writes in a calm, reasonable voice on hot-button issues — and they are no hotter than in a small town. His columns provide a sense of place and enlighten readers further by explaining how social media impacts public discourse and influences media coverage."
SPORTS WRITER OF THE YEAR: Randy Dickson, Crestview News Bulletin, Third place, Division C. (Other winners were recognized from the StarNews Media, Northwest Florida Daily News, The Herald-Tribune, Burlington Times-News, The Gaston Gazette, Ames Tribune, Hannibal Courier Post and Old Colony Memorial)
“Strong community-based reporting that touched a variety of topics and illustrated the writer’s ability to change voices effectively,” judges said. “The writer made a strong case in the Houston McTear column and had me searching for any updates on a possible movie.”
SPECIAL SECTIONS/NICHE PRODUCTS: Staff, Crestview News Bulletin, Third place, Division C. (Other winners were recognized from the Journal Star, StarNews Media, The Repository, The Herald News, The Times-Reporter, The Daily Telegram, Marshfield Mariner and the Sturgis Journal)
“The football tab is an attractive and essential guide for local football fans,” judges said. The judge enjoyed the different “5 things” approach on team stories, instead of just a straight interview with the coach, and appreciated the fact the cheerleading athletes were given their due.
News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni, who also manages the Santa Rosa Press Gazette’s editorial department, was excited to learn about the six wins shortly after he sent the Press Gazette to press Friday morning.
“We especially look forward to the Best of GateHouse Awards because these represent the efforts of newsrooms nationwide,” Boni said. “To be among ‘the best’ is awesome.”
“I'm so proud of our staff, and honored that, in this time of efficiency and back-to-back deadlines, quality is recognized, and all our hard work and sleepless nights have paid off.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: News Bulletin’s news, commentary sweep Best of GateHouse awards