Independent Record staff brings home 11 awards from convention

The Thermopolis Independent Record brought home a whopping 11 Pacemaker awards for small weeklies from the Wyoming Press Association winter convention held Jan. 21-23 in Casper.

The IR staff won first place overall for Best Use of Photographs. This award recognizes publications that practice and promote high-quality photojournalism by providing the best methods of display for their photographs.

Zachary White received first place in the General News Photo category for his photo “Pinewood Derby Finish,” which is shown on the front page of the April 2, 2015, edition to the right. Judges comments were not available but in this category photos are judged on their timeliness and newsworthiness.

Donna Pennoyer earned first place in the Small Ad category for her chamber banquet ad “Great Days of Gatsby.” The judges said “Appropriate use of era-specific fonts and design elements. The arrow at the top helps point out the ad on the page and draws your eye to it. Great ad!”

It was a sweep for Dennis Nierzwicki in the Institutional Ad category winning first with an ad about reading adventures at Hot Springs County School District entitled “Around the World in 8 Hours” and second for his “EMS Week” ad. Judges comments on the first place finish include “Fun ad, draws the eye and contains a great message.” Judges comments on the EMS ad were “Great example of timely, targeted advertising with a message.”

Nierzwicki received second place in the Information Graphic category with his chart “School Enrollment.” Judges said “Clean chart communicates data quickly and concisely.”

Nierzwicki brought home two honorable mentions; one in the Merchandise Ad category with a “TNT Auto Service” ad and another in the House Ad category for his “Hey Humans” ad. Judges comments on the TNT ad include “Great tagline. I really like that photos of the owner were taken and incorporated into the ad and the services they sell.” The house ad included a picture of a kitten calling out to humans and judges said “Playful promotion. Immediately grabs your attention and takes you right to the message.”

Cindy Glasson brought home a second place in Spot News for her story “Rain causes mud slides in WRC.” Judges said “After a short and concise lead the reporter uses quotes, pictures and other descriptions to enhance the story. Working under a pressure deadline, she explains abbreviations and goes into much detail in describing the mudslide, its danger and its close entrapment of a bulldozer operator.”

Glasson earned honorable mention in the General News category for her story “School Board hears about collaboration.” Judges comments include “This well written concise story is one of the best I have ever read on testing standards in American schools.” Glasson also received honorable mention in the News-Feature category for her story “Woman’s birthday wish comes true.” Judges said “Sometimes a great news feature is fun and simple. Glasson’s report on Winnie Guerdon, who simply wanted to ride a water slide, serves as a perfect example of this. Add a great photo of the 90-year-old woman getting her birthday wish, and this report deserves an honorable mention.”

“It takes a whole community to produce a newspaper,” said Independent Record editor and publisher Lara Love. “These honors do not just reflect on the commitment of the IR staff to provide a quality newspaper but also on the citizens making a difference in our community.”

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