Door County Advocate reporters bring home first-place awards in newspaper association contest
MADISON - The Door County Advocate received three Wisconsin journalism awards for its business and investigative reporting.
The Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation Better Newspaper Contest awards were presented June 24 during the foundation's annual banquet in Madison. The ceremony honored newspapers from across the state, divided into classes by readership size, in a variety of categories, including reporting, photography, advertising, design and more.
Stories up for consideration at this year's awards were published between September 2020 and August 2021.
Christopher Clough and Daphne Lemke each took home a first-place award.
Clough's award was for business coverage, based on a selection of storries:
"Door County concert series try to plan for 2021 amid COVID-19 uncertainties"
"German Christmas market in Sister Bay expected to be a big attraction"
"New full-service gun shop opening in Sturgeon Bay with innovative indoor shooting range"
Lemke, meanwhile, won first place in Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting for "Amidst Door County's rich tourism industry, working families struggle to find suitable, affordable housing."
"The category had some very solid and well-done entries. This one topped the field with solid reporting and a detailed view of what is happening with area housing," judges wrote in response to the piece. "The overview of the issue was very comprehensive. The real-life examples were quite powerful. Great story organization. Writing flowed well. Thanks for wonderful work!"
Clough and Lemke also shared a second-place win alongside colleague Isabel Koyama, also in the Business Coverage category. Stories recognized as part of this award were:
"Wisconsin Dells, Door County tourism is surging, but businesses are struggling to find employees," by Lemke and Koyama;
"The Dorr Hotel in Sister Bay honors Door County’s Scandinavian heritage, aims for younger guests" by Lemke and Clough
Lemke also took home awards for work she did for the Advocate's sister newspaper, the Fond du Lac Reporter: first place for business coverage and a third-place Rookie of the Year award.
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin wins six statewide awards
In addition to the local awards collected by The Advocate, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin won six statewide awards, including three firsts. Here's more about those awards:
• Network staff, as a group, claimed first place in the Community Engagement Award Daily Division category for its school COVID-19 crowdsourcing. The judge wrote of the project: “This is a clear example of the good newspapers are capable of fighting for on behalf of their communities. The easy-to-navigate database, accompanied by an explanatory, detailed story on the situation, certainly gave parents and community members tools they were missing to make the best decisions for their health and safety. I have no doubt this project was successful in building community trust.”
• Reporters Natalie Brophy and Nusaiba Mizan won first place in the Ongoing/Extended Coverage category for their article series “Businesses say finding employees is their top headache. This series explores the trends behind Wisconsin’s workforce woes.” The judge wrote: “Such a timely series. Many have hear about the worker shortage, but this gives an easy-to-understand look into the intricacies of what is actually happening and what some of the proposed solutions might entail. Wonderful work.”
• Reporter Madeline Heim won first place in the Coronavirus Coverage category for her articles “As Wisconsin hospitals fill up with COVID patients, front-line workers sound the alarm” and “Contact tracers were supposed to be key players in fighting COVID-19. But as Wisconsin’s cases surge, they’re overwhelmed.” The judge wrote: “Madeline Heim takes a deep dive into pandemic coverage, providing readers of USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin with in-depth coverage and personal stories of the public health emergency. The quality of her work, and obvious time and energy invested into her articles, shows. Congrats.”
• Reporter AnnMarie Hilton took third place in the Feature Story (Non-profile) category for her story “Everything you need to know about Wisconsin’s water towers: The good, the ‘evil,’ and the people who swim in your drinking water.” The judge wrote: “Through superb story-telling and fun anecdotes, this piece made waters towers — water towers! — one of the most interesting things in your town.”
• Reporters Jeff Bollier, Brophy and Mizan won third place in the Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting category for their series “Unaffordable: No place to call home.” The judge wrote of the series: “Ambitious project that used situations of a cast of characters as the vehicle to tell a story about the cost of housing. Those voices and their individual set of circumstances made the entire series of stories approachable and relatable. Nice concept, excellent execution.”
• Reporter Frank Vaisvilas, a Report For America corps member who covers Indigenous affairs for the network, was awarded honorable mention in the Investigative Reporting category for his story “American Indians incarcerated at among highest rates in Wisconsin, as many as half the inmates in some jails.” The judge wrote: “Excellent piece which illustrates the difficulties experienced by an often under-represented group of people. Author demonstrates strong research and storytelling skills. Solid piece.”
The Door County Advocate thanks its readers for their continued support, and aims to continue to serve Door County and the surrounding communities with top-notch local journalism. To submit a tip for consideration or join the conversation, email advocate@doorcountyadvocate.com.
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin staff contributed to this report.
Reach Taima Kern at tkern@gannett.com or 920-907-7819.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County reporters net 3 Wisconsin Newspaper Association awards
