Enterprise wins top honors from state press

The Clarendon Enterprise brought home the Sweepstakes Award from the Texas Press Association’s 2000 Better Newspaper Contest this past Saturday in Arlington.

This is believed to be the first time a Donley County newspaper has won the top award from the TPA.

“We’ve won four first place plaques in the last two years from the state convention,” said publisher Roger Estlack. “This year we had two first place wins, and we placed in nearly every category that we entered.”

Points are awarded for every first, second, third, and fourth place win to determine which newspaper wins the Sweepstakes Award.

Judges from the Nebraska Press Association awarded first place to the local paper in the General Excellence category, which judges the entire paper as one entry.

“In all the entries in this division, I could not find one that stood out until I came to this last one, the Enterprise,” the judge said. “Your front page attracted attention immediately. It seems to give the readers a package they will look forward to.”

The Enterprise also took first place honors in Page Design with the judge saying, “This paper is a pleasure to read.”

The paper received second place certificates in the categories of News Writing, Photography, Feature Writing, and Advertising.

In regards to the News Writing, the judge said, “I liked that you could give us a story and not need 20 or 30 inches of info. You sorted out pertinent info, gave it to the reader, and got out.”

The paper was also awarded a fourth place certificate for Editorials.

This year 199 newspapers submitted 1,423 entries to the TPA contest. The awards were announced during the 121st annual TPA Summer Convention.

The Enterprise competed in Division 9 for weekly newspapers with circulations of 1,200 or less.

“If the current trend holds, we’ll be competing in a different division next year,” Estlack said. “We’ve seen an increase in circulation over the last six or eight months that will move us into Division 8.”

Division 8 covers newspapers with circulations of 1,201 to 2,000.