At the 2021 Arizona Newspapers Association’s awards ceremony held Friday, Oct. 9, Larson Newspapers won a total of 20 journalism awards and two advertising awards.
The Camp Verde Journal competes in Division I, newspapers with non-daily circulation under 3,500, and won 11 awards. The Sedona Red Rock News competes in the larger Division II, non-daily with circulation of 3,500 to 10,000 and won 11 awards.
The Camp Verde Journal
As a whole, The JOURNAL won two awards: First place for Editorial Page Excellence and second place for Best Use of Photography.
- Sports reporter Michael Dixon swept the Best Team, Sport or Sports Beat Coverage category, winning first place for “Mike O’Callaghan runs Boston Marathon remotely,” second place for “Camp Verde Wrestling” and third place for “Cowboys Basketball.”
Photojournalist Daulton Venglar won five photography awards.
- In the Best Sports Photograph category, he won first place for “Andrew Peterson,” a photo of a Camp Verde High School high jumper, and second place for “Camp Verde runs over Holbrook,” a football photo.
- In Best Feature Photo Layout or Photo Story, Venglar won second place for “Biggest, Baddest, Best Bulls” and third place for “Roping for a Cause,” both rodeo photo packages.
- In the Best Feature Photograph category, Venglar won third place for “What’s so Emusing?” a portrait photo of an emu at Out of Africa Wildlife Park.
Sedona Red Rock News
As a whole, the Sedona Red Rock News won four awards: First place for Best Use Of Photography, second place for Editorial Page Excellence and Newspaper Website and third place for Page Design Excellence.
Individually, four NEWS journalists each won awards for their work.
- Best Multimedia Storytelling: First place, Managing Editor Christopher Fox Graham, “DPS releases full report into the police shooting of Jonathan Messare,” an online story with photos and videos about the Sedona Police Department’s first officer-involved fatal shooting.
- Enterprise Reporting: Second place, reporter Scott Shumaker, “New technology helps biologists track invasive snails,” about the Arizona Game and Fish Department and U.S. Forest Service’s efforts to fight the invasive New Zealand mudnsail.
- Best Sports Photograph: Second place, photojournalist David Jolkovski, “Cross Country Team,” for photos of the team running in profile, reflected by the still water of an irrigated sports field.
- Best Team, Sport or Sports Beat Coverage: Second place, sports reporter Michael Dixon, “Sedona Girls Basketball,” for his extensive coverage of the team that made it all the way to the state finals.
- Best Sports Story: Third place, Michael Dixon, for “Scorpions lose state championship game on buzzer beater,” about the girls team’s defeat at the state finals.
- Best Column, Feature Or Commentary: Third place, Christopher Fox Graham, “9/11 belongs to those who never saw 9/12,” reflecting on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Advertising
Larson Newspapers won two prizes in the Excellence in Advertising Awards.
For the NEWS, graphic designer Brooke Akridge won for “Thanks!,” an ad thanking local health care workers in the fight against COVID-19 that appeared in our Lifestyles of Sedona biannual magazine.
The JOURNAL’s General Manager Kyle Larson won first place for Most Effective Use of Paid Small Space for Goettl’s High Desert’s Summer Special ad.
This year, 36 newspapers entered 884 entries in the Better Newspapers Contest. The contest consists of eight categories that measure the overall quality of the newspapers and 15 categories that honor individuals. The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association judged entries this year.
The Arizona Daily Star and Navajo Times won Arizona Newspaper of the Year in the daily and non-daily categories, respectively.
Tim Steller of the Arizona Daily Star and Krista Allen of Navajo Times were named Journalists of the Year.
Kelly Presnell of the Arizona Daily Star and Arianna Grainey of Scottsdale Independent were named Photographers of the Year. This is Presnell’s fourth consecutive year and Grainey’s second consecutive year winning top honors.
