Gilroy’s daily newspaper wins General Excellence award in annual
statewide contest
Gilroy – The Gilroy Dispatch has been ranked the top newspaper among its peers by the California Newspaper Publishers Association.
The Dispatch received the 2004 General Excellence award for daily newspapers with circulations of 10,000 or less during the CNPA’s annual awards ceremony held Saturday at The Westin St. Francis in downtown San Francisco. Hundreds of reporters, editors, and publishers from the state’s smallest to largest newspapers gathered in the Grand Ballroom to acknowledge award recipients.
“To say it’s an honor to be recognized by your peers with such a distinction would be an understatement,” Publisher Steve Staloch said. “The General Excellence award is coveted by all newspapers and, while it’s important, I see it as validation of what we do every publishing day: present our readers with the finest community newspaper possible. It’s also testament to an outstanding editorial staff, led by Executive Editor Mark Derry, that passionately focuses on making the Dispatch relevant in our community. As this award proves, sometimes bigger is not necessarily better.”
In addition to taking home the General Excellence award, the Dispatch won nine first-place awards and one second-place honor.
“It’s a thrilling win, and a testament to our continued effort to improve,” said Executive Editor Mark Derry. “Our presentation is better, our staff is stronger, and we’ve made numerous additions to our product. Daily general excellence is what we strive for, and we’re very proud to represent Gilroy well in the state newspaper arena.”
In the last year, the Dispatch has broadened and strengthened content through the addition of a daily Lifestyles section and increased reader responsiveness through the creation of Green and Red Phones, a special feature that gives readers a chance to have questions answered or vent about community issues.
The Dispatch has renewed its focus on local life by using more color photographs, including the popular South Valley landscape photo on the inside page of each day’s issue. And the addition of a fourth reporter has allowed the paper to broaden its coverage and dig deeper into local issues.
Examples of the Dispatch’s work in 2004 flashed across two giant screens during the CNPA ceremony’s hour-long video montage. The highlights included two Dispatch winning photographs – one from a photo essay on Robert Mendez, a local high school student who has found countless ways to engage life despite being born without limbs, and a picture of Gilroy police storming Gilroy High School in response to a death threat aimed at a teacher. Stories accompanying the photographs earned first-place awards in the categories of photo essay and spot news.
This year’s contest drew a total of 4,500 submissions, according to Bryan Clark, CNPA’s director of member services. He said the Dispatch competed against 20 to 30 other newspapers of similar size in each of 27 categories.
“The (finalists) are a culmination of the best of the best from each newspaper,” Clark said.
The judging process for the CNPA awards lasts six months, beginning with a general round up of submissions from hundreds of newspapers across the state. After winnowing submissions to four in each category, top winners are chosen by a nine-member blue ribbon panel of judges. This year, that group included a number of California newsroom leaders as well the editor of the American Journalism Review and a former editor of the Dallas Morning News.
In awarding the Dispatch the General Excellence Award, the judges noted “very strong, consistent local coverage throughout the newspaper” and the presence of “local voices on the editorial pages.”
The Dispatch is one of several area newspapers owned by Mainstreet Media Group. The publishing company also operates the Hollister Free Lance and Morgan Hill Times, which took home a combined nine first and second place finishes. Former Dispatch reporter Conan Knoll, current editor of the Free Lance, steered the newspaper to a second place award for General Excellence. Mainstreet’s most recent acquisition, the weekly Sunday Pinnacle, won 10 awards, including General Excellence for its Hollister edition.
‘Very strong consistent local coverage throughout the newspaper. Well-written stories, local voices on Editorial pages. Very thorough pre-election coverage. Excellent reproduction and good use of color.’
~ CNPA judges comments
What we won
• General Excellence (1st)
• Local Spot News (1st)
GHS lockdown
• Front Page (1st)
Gilroy High lockdown
• Page Layout and Design (1st)
Downtown housing
• Special Issue (1st)
Pride in Gilroy
• Columns, Commentary, Criticism (2nd)
Opinion by Lisa Pampuch
• Arts & Entertainment Coverage (1st)
Fanriffic
• Lifestyle Coverage (1st)
Food/Community
• Photo Essay (1st)
“A life of joy” by James M. Mohs
• Feature Story (1st)
“A life of joy” by Brett Edgerton
• Freedom of Information (1st)
Teacher locked out by Lori Stuenkel
CNPA Blue Ribbon Judges
• Jack Ronald: Editor and Publisher, The Commercial Review, Portland, Ind.
• Ray Laakaniemi: Professor at TIFFN University, Willard, Ohio
• Terry Greenberg: Editor, the Pantagraph Bloomington, Bloomington, Ill.
• Ralph Langer: Former Editor and Executive Vice President, The Dallas Morning News
• Chris Braithwaite: Editor, Barton Chronicle, Barton, Vt.
• Reid MacCluggage: Retired Editor and Publisher, The Day, New London, Conn.
• Rem Rieder: Editor, American Journalism Review
• Tim Harmon: General Editor of the South Bend Trinue, South Bend, Ind.
• John Irby: Former Editor, San Francisco Chronicle
