The Manchester Cricket was tapped for five awards in the annual National Newspaper Association‘s Better Newspaper Contest, announced last week from Washington, DC.
Judges reviewed 1,276 entries of articles, photography, and layout designs that were published in 2019. In the end, The Cricket was among 523 awards won by 92 member newspapers in 34 states.
“2019 was a year of a lot of hard work at The Cricket by dedicated people,” said Erika Brown, The Cricket’s publisher and editor. “It’s amazing to be recognized by our own industry.”
Kris McGinn Straub won first prize for Best Feature Series among newspapers with a circulation of 6,000 and under for her series on Essex, which included, “Thank You, Sylvia Martin,” “The Bubble Factory,” “At Alprilla Farms, It All Works Beautifully,” “The Music Makers,” and “Abigail Proctor Varney: Groundbreaker.” McGinn Straub also won second place for Best Serious Column for “Thank You Sylvia Martin,” her wonderful piece chronicling Martin’s experience growing up in 1930s and 1940s Essex.
The Cricket also won Best Business Feature (third place), for Rus Brown (a.k.a., “the junior editor”) and his article, “Cedar Rock Gardens: A Growing Demand For Fresh” and Best Photo Series (first place) by Erika Brown and Chris Langathianos for the 2019 Manchester Cardboard Regatta. Lastly, the paper won second place for Best Special Section, with Erika Brown, Kris McGinn Straub and Ashish Jha winning for “Around The House”.
Judging was performed primarily by active community newspaper editors and publishers, as well as retired university journalism professors and retired newspaper professionals. The National Newspaper Association is one of the largest and the oldest newspaper associations in the country, dating back to 1885.
Winners will be formally recognized at the awards ceremony Oct. 3, during NNA’s 134th Virtual Convention & Trade Show.
