Herald wins awards at North Dakota Newspaper Association contest

BISMARCK — The Grand Forks Herald and its staff won 51 awards in the 2021 North Dakota Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest.

The results of the contest were announced at the NDNA’s annual convention, held over the weekend in Bismarck.

Of the 51 awards, 15 were first-place finishes – including six first-place awards in advertising by Matt Purpur.

The Herald’s Sam Easter, Sydney Mook and Korrie Wenzel also teamed up to win the First Amendment Award — considered one of the contest’s major awards — for work in reporting on issues in 2021 related to the State Board of Higher Education and issues at Mayville State University.

“The reporting cut through the confusing circular rhetoric of academia and PR and presented the findings in a fair and clear way; editorials showed readers why it was important,” a judge wrote about the Herald’s coverage.

Below are all of the Herald’s awards:

Food ad: First place, Matt Purpur, Rebekah Ness.

Entertainment/liquor ad: Second place, Matt Purpur, Katie Hastings.

Vehicle ad: Honorable mention, Matt Purpur.

Apparel ad: Third place, Matt Purpur, Bethan Loida.

Home/garden ad: First place, Matt Purpur, Tammy Doyle.

Outdoors/sports ad: Third place, Sara Praska, Tammy Doyle.

Single ad: First place, Matt Purpur, Chris Johnson.

Small space ad: Second place, Matt Purpur, Christopher Johnson.

Health care ad: First place, Matt Purpur, Tammy Doyle.

Political ad: First place, Matt Purpur, Luanna Lake.

Use of color in advertising: second place, Matt Purpur, Dan Young.

Promotion of newspaper advertising: First place, Matt Purpur, Katie Hastings.

Promotion of newspaper readership: First place, Sue Lindlauf.

Promotion of community: Second place, Staci Lord, Brenda Lawrence.

Special ad section: First place, Herald staff

Signature page: First place, Sara Praska, Rachel Poser.

Reporting: Third place, Sam Easter.

Reporting series: Third place, Ann Bailey, Brad Dokken, Ingrid Harbo, Korrie Wenzel.

Feature series: Third place, Joe Bowen, Adam Kurtz, Hannah Shirley, Matt Henson.

Government reporting: Honorable mention, Sydney Mook, Joe Bowen.

Government reporting: Second place, Sam Easter.

Government series: Third place, Sam Easter.

Business news: Third place, Joe Bowen.

Sports page as a whole: Second place, Herald.

Sports reporting: Third place, Ann Bailey.

Sports reporting: Second place, Brad E. Schlossman.

Sports series: First place, Brad E. Schlossman.

Sports feature: Third place, Ingrid Harbo.

Sports feature: First place, Tom Miller.

Sports column: Third place, Brad E. Schlossman.

Sports column: Second place, Wayne Nelson.

Editorial writing: First place, Korrie Wenzel.

Editorial page as a whole: Third place, Herald.

Standing news front: Third place, Lauren Wilson.

Agriculture coverage: Honorable mention, Sam Easter.

Personal column, humorous: Third place, Chuck Haga.

Personal column, humorous: Second place, Brad Dokken.

Special news section: First place, Brad E. Schlossman.

Front-page design: Third place, Tanner Larson.

Best website: Third place, Herald staff.

Online coverage of breaking news: Honorable mention, Adam Kurtz, Matt Henson.

Overall design: Third place, Herald staff.

News photo: Honorable mention, Eric Hylden.

Spot news photo: First place, Eric Hylden.

Feature photo: First place, Nick Nelson.

Sports photo: Second place, Nick Nelson.

Picture story: Third place, Nick Nelson.

Pictorial photo: Third place, Brad Dokken.

Portrait photo: Third place, Nick Nelson.

Agriculture photo: Second place, Eric Hylden.