BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- The Grand Forks Herald won multiple awards this week from the Minnesota Newspaper Association, including a prestigious honor for the paper’s coverage of addiction in the region.
The Herald nabbed 18 awards in 16 categories from the MNA’s Better Newspaper Contest for 2017. One of those awards was for Category X, which focused on local law enforcement coverage.
The Herald took first in that category for its six-day series titled “Hooked in the Heartland.” Articles focused on how the rise in drug use has threatened the Grand Forks region, as well as how law enforcement and the community reacted to the problem.
Judges praised the Herald’s coverage of opioid abuse as “solid enterprise work.”
The Herald won 11 awards from the MNA contest two years ago and 17 last year, publisher Korrie Wenzel said.
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“To me, that shows that we're not only producing quality content, but we're able to do it at a greater rate,” Wenzel said. “I'm proud of these awards because I know the hard work it took for our staff to win them.”
Newspapers that are MNA members entered news coverage and advertisements that were published between Sept. 1, 2016, and Aug. 31, 2017. The “Hooked on the Heartland” series ran in December 2016.
The Herald also swept the design portfolio category.
The award-winners were announced Thursday at MNA’s annual convention in Bloomington.
Here is the full list of awards.
First place
- Business story -- Tom Dennis
- Design portfolio -- Carli Greninger
- Explanation of news operations/newspaper ethics -- Korrie Wenzel
- Category X: Local law enforcement coverage -- The Herald
Second place
- Typography and design -- The Herald
- Sports reporting -- The Herald
- Human interest story -- Andrew Hazzard
- Social issues story -- April Baumgarten
- Arts and entertainment story -- Pamela Knudson
- Design portfolio -- Stephanie Proffer
- Feature photo -- Eric Hylden
- Use of informational graphic -- Carli Greninger
- Editorial portfolio -- Tom Dennis and Korrie Wenzel
Third Place
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- General reporting -- The Herald
- Headline writing -- The Herald
- Government and public affairs reporting -- Andrew Haffner
- Portrait and personality photo -- Eric Hylden
- Design portfolio -- Darian Brevik
