The staff of Houlton Pioneer Times claimed 11 awards for journalism excellence recently in the 2016 Better Newspaper Contest, sponsored by the Maine Press Association.
The awards were presented Oct. 29 during the MPA’s annual awards banquet, held this year in South Portland.
Reporter Joseph Cyr earned first-place honors in the environmental story category with his September 2015 report “Oakfield wind farm now complete”. The judges, who are members of the Massachusetts Press Association, said “Story does a great job presenting the history of the project, giving the reader a sense of its scope and importance. It addresses many different angles, from the need of the project to the science behind it to the creation of jobs and financial impact, both to the present and future.”
Cyr won six other awards including second-place honors in political reporting, as well as photography citations in people photo and spot news photo categories; and third-place awards for sports photo, feature story and opinion column.
Panelists said this about Cyr’s “Cup ‘o Joe” column. “(The submitted samples) are simple but satisfying reads whether or not you know the writer,” one judge wrote.
Reporter Jen Lynds took third-place honors in the court reporting category for her coverage of the Oakfield murder trial. Judges commented that Lynds’ story offered “good detail and use of quotes in this coverage of a long court hearing.”
Among the other top MPA awards claimed by Pioneer Times staff were: business section, local advertisement (Houlton Regional Hospital) and sponsorship page (County Faces).
