The staff of the Aroostook Republican & News claimed four awards including one top pick 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.
Under the business section category, reporter Chris Bouchard and graphic artist Ben Pinette teamed up to earn first-place honors. The judges, who are members of the Massachusetts Press Association, said the Caribou newspaper had “strong focus on the people behind the businesses, and the partnerships between companies and the community. Staff photos and bylines illustrate the priority placed on business coverage.”
Bouchard received a third place award in the education story category for his September 2015 story “Limestone residents cool to plan to bus HS students to Caribou.” Judges said “This report evidences the writer’s ability to balance what could easily unravel into an argument baiting and sensational to narrative — into an informative piece that illustrates both the passions of residents eager to preserve and sustain their district’s identity, and the measured, practical reasoning behind the district’s desire to insulate taxpayers from the unnecessary expense of keeping their local high-school operating.”
Community editor Paula Brewer also earned a third-place award in the arts/lifestyle feature story competition for her November 2015 story entitled “Local woman treasures long-ago Christmas note from Army dad”. Regarding Brewer’s article on a New Sweden woman who was inspired to reply to a Christmas letter from her father that was penned 72 years earlier, judges wrote “The tone of the story matches the sentiment of the subject. Nicely told.”
Contributing photographer Jane Mavor-Small received a third-place award in the sports photo category for her July 2015 photo of local Little Leaguers entitled “Inside-the-Park Homerun.” According to the contest judges, “Kids’ faces say it all!”
