The annual Osman C. Hooper Newspaper Contest recognizes the best weekly newspapers in Ohio and is named after an important Ohio journalist. Winners of the 2012 competition were announced at the ONA Convention on Feb. 9, 2012, in Columbus. The General Excellence winners were Division A, Chagrin Valley Times; Division B, WestLife, Westlake; Division C, Morgan County Herald; and Division D, Yellow Springs News.
Please note that the upcoming Hooper Competition for the entry period August 1, 2011 to July 31, 2012 will be through an online platform. To prepare for this, newspaper staff should set aside contest-worthy digital content for those categories they wish to enter (e.g. create a folder on your desktop and save the pages and articles as PDFs). Complete details on the contest and submitting entries will be released later in 2012. If you have any questions about the contest please contact the ONA’s Sue Bazzoli at sbazzoli@ohionews.
org or 614-486-6677 Ext. 18.
Below is the list of 2012 winners. To download the complete judges’ report, please click here.
Winners of the 2012 Osman C. Hooper Newspaper Awards
Class 1: News Coverage
Division A
First Place:ChagrinValleyTimes
Second Place: ThisWeek Hilliard
Third Place: ThisWeek Dublin Villager
Division B
First Place: WestLife
Second Place: ThisWeek New Albany
Third Place: Geauga Maple Leaf
Division C
First Place: The Gazette
Second Place: Fulton County Expositor
Third Place: ThisWeek GermanVillage
Division D
First Place: The Pataskala Standard
Second Place: AmherstNews-Times
Third Place: BeavercreekNews-Current
Class 2: In-Depth Reporting
Division A
First Place: Carl Boon -BarbertonHerald
Second Place: Kelly Kaczala, Melissa Burden – The Press Newspapers
Third Place: Lisa Aurand w/Paul Comstock, Tom Sheehan, Sarah Sole - ThisWeek Grove City Record
Division B
First Place: Pete Wilson, Barbara Summers, Steven Keller – The Telegram
Second Place: Carleta Weyrich – The People’s Defender
Third Place: Felicia Tackett -JacksonCountyTimes-Journal
Division C
First Place: Phillip Collins – Vandalia Drummer News
Second Place: Karen Cornelius, Candace Barczyk – Vermilion Photojournal
Third Place: Sue Reid – Solon Times
Division D
First Place: Lauren Heaton, Megan Bachman, Diane Chiddister - Yellow Springs News
Second Place: Jessica Alaimo, Seth Roy – The Pataskala Standard
Third Place: David Pugh – Archbold Buckeye
Class 3: Best Local Feature
Division A
First Place: Gary Budzak – ThisWeek Hilliard
Second Place: Nate Ellis – ThisWeek Pickerington
Third Place: Sarah Sole – ThisWeek Grove City Record
Division B
First Place: Jeff Donahue – ThisWeek Bexley
Second Place: Bryan Wroten – The Press
Third Place: Carleta Weyrich – The People’s Defender
Division C
First Place: Sue Reid – Solon Times
Second Place: Jim Konkoly – Morgan County Herald
Third Place: David J. Coehrs -FultonCountyExpositor
Division D
First Place: Beth Mlady – North Ridgeville Press
Second Place: Amherst News-Times
Third Place: Lauren Heaton – Yellow Springs News
Class 4: Original Columns
Division A
First Place: David Lange, ChagrinValleyTimes
Second Place: Barbara Christian,ChagrinValleyTimes
Third Place: Marsha Mundy, The News Democrat Sunday
Division B
First Place: Sue Botos, WestLife
Second Place: Tim Troglen,HudsonHub-Times
Third Place: Jessica Hartzler Stock, The Budget
Division C
First Place: Jim Konkoly, MorganCountyHerald
Second Place: Larry Larson, ThisWeek Grandview
Third Place: Dar Nevergall, PutnamCountySentinel
Division D
First Place: Don Haven, The Granville Sentinel
Second Place: Beth Mlady, North Ridgeville Press
Third Place: Jeff Gill, The Granville Sentinel
Class 5: Best Editorial
First Place: WestLife
Second Place: ThisWeek Marysville
Third Place:ChagrinValleyTimes
Fourth Place: The Pataskala Standard
Fifth Place: The Granville Sentinel
Class 6: Sports Coverage
Division A
First Place: ThisWeek Dublin Villager
Second Place:ChagrinValleyTimes
Third Place: Barberton Herald
Division B
First Place: ThisWeek Bexley
Second Place:HudsonHub-Times
Third Place: The Budget
Division C
First Place: Pike County News Watchman
Second Place: ThisWeek Grandview
Third Place: The Gazette
Division D
First Place: Oberlin News-Tribune
Second Place: The Press-News
Third Place:AmherstNews-Times
Class 7: Design
Division A
First Place: The News Democrat Sunday
Second Place: ThisWeek Worthington
Third Place: ThisWeek Hilliard
Division B
First Place: Jackson County Times-Journal
Second Place: WestLife
Third Place: ThisWeek Bexley
Division C
First Place: MorganCountyHerald
Second Place: PutnamCountySentinel
Third Place: Solon Times
Division D
First Place: Yellow Springs News
Second Place: The Granville Sentinel
Third Place: Archbold Buckeye
Class 8: Advertising
Division A
First Place: Chagrin ValleyTimes
Second Place: ThisWeek Dublin Villager
Third Place: ThisWeek Hilliard
Division B
First Place: Jackson County Times-Journal
Second Place: The Telegram
Third Place: ThisWeek Bexley
Division C
First Place: ThisWeek Grandview
Second Place: MorganCountyHerald
Third Place: Vandalia Drummer News
Division D
First Place: Archbold Buckeye
Second Place: Yellow Springs News
Third Place: The Pataskala Standard
Class 9: Best Photo
Division A
First Place: Lorrie Cecil – ThisWeek Pickerington
Second Place: AdamCairns- ThisWeek Grove City Record
Third Place: Lorrie Cecil – ThisWeek Clintonville
Division B
First Place: Eric George – ThisWeek Johnstown Independent
Second Place: Paul Vernon – ThisWeek Marysville
Third Place: Chris Parker – ThisWeek NewAlbany
Division C
First Place: Itamar Gat – Solon Times
Second Place: AdamCairns-ThisWeekCanalWinchester
Third Place: Julie Billings -Pike County News Watchman
Division D
First Place: Megan Bachman – Yellow Springs News
Second Place: Lauren Heaton – Yellow Springs News
Third Place: John McLaughlin – The Press-News
Class 10: Best Headline
First Place: Willard Times-Junction
Second Place: Williard Times-Junction
Third Place: Twinsburg Bulletin
Fourth Place:Huber HeightsCourier
Fifth Place: North Ridgeville Press
Class 11: Special Edition or Section
Division A
First Place: ThisWeek Dublin Villager
Second Place: ThisWeek Hilliard
Third Place: The Press Newspapers
Division B
First Place: The Telegram
Second Place: The Press
Third Place: (Tie) ThisWeek Marysville and The People’s Defender
Division C
First Place: The Paulding Progress
Second Place: The News Democrat
Third Place: The Gazette
Division D
First Place: The Pataskala Standard
Second Place: The News
Third Place: Yellow Springs News
Class 12: Community Service
First Place: Putnam County Sentinel
Second Place: Chagrin Valley Times
Third Place: Archbold Buckeye
Fourth Place: Pike County News Watchman
Best Web Site
Independent Newspaper Web Sites
First Place: Geauga Maple Leaf
www.geaugamapleleaf.com
Second Place: The Telegram
www.thetelegramnews.com
Third Place: Yellow Springs News
www.ysnews.com
Group Newspaper Web Sites
First Place: ThisWeek Newspapers
www.thisweeknews.com
Second Place: The News Leader
www.tnl-news.com
Third Place: The Gazette
www.gazettenews.com
General Excellence Awards
Division A
Chagrin Valley Times
Division B
WestLife, Westlake
Division C
Morgan County Herald
Division D
Yellow Springs News
