Enterprise wins national press award

The National Newspaper Association recognized The Clarendon Enterprise as a national award winner during the NNA’s 118th Annual Convention and Trade Show in Denver, Colo., last Saturday.

The Enterprise received a second place plaque in the association’s 2004 Better Newspaper Contest for Best Special Issue among newspapers with circulations under 3,000 for its 125th Anniversary Edition, which was published June 5, 2003.

“This is a very prestigious honor for our newspaper,” said Publisher Roger Estlack. “To be recognized on a national level is rare for a paper our size, a first, as far as we know, for any Clarendon paper.”

NNA President Bob Sweeney, publisher and editor of Villager Newspapers in Denver, Colo., and John Stevenson, chairman of the NNA Better Newspaper Contest Committee and publisher of the Randolph Leader in Roanoke, Ala., presented the awards during the “Toast to the Winners” reception at Denver’s Adam’s Mark Hotel. Ashlee Kidd and Roger Estlack attended the convention to represent the Enterprise.

The NNA contest is the only national competition recognizing the best in community journalism.

Three years of research went into preparing the Enterprise’s 20-page anniversary edition, which gave an extensive history of the Texas Panhandle’s first newspaper from its establishment as The Clarendon News on June 1, 1878. The issue covered all changes in ownership, documented mergers with other newspapers, and outlined the evolution of technology used by the local paper from the 19th to the 21st century.

The issue also included a timeline of major local news events and revealed never before published information about the founder of Clarendon and the newspaper, Rev. L.H. Carhart, and his family.

NNA judges praised the Enterprise’s entry for its “solid writing, photos, and layout,” noted that the photos tied in well with the stories, and also had positive comments about the collage which created the front cover.

The 125th Anniversary Edition has previously received first place from the Panhandle Press Association and first place from the West Texas Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. The edition was also named Best of Show during this year’s Texas Press Association Mid-Winter Convention, beating out all other first place winners regardless of size or frequency.

There were more than 2,900 entries from 44 states and the District of Columbia in this year’s national BNC contest. Of those entries, there were more than 560 award winners.

The Greeley (Colo.) Tribune topped the list with the most BNC wins, garnering 28 awards. The Enterprise lost the first place Best Special Issue award to the Claremont Courier of Claremont, California.

Established in 1885, the National Newspaper Association is the voice of America’s community newspapers and the largest newspaper association in the country. The nation’s community newspapers inform, educate, and entertain 150 million readers every week.