Another list of awards from another strong list of contenders

My boss was at the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association conference in Austin, Texas, last week.

She was presenting to the group of newspaper executives, explaining how we organized ourselves over the past few years in building two fully functional video studios and trained our journalists to be multimedia pioneers in feeding our extensive video operation.

It’s one of the things that makes NewsOK (and our publishing company) truly unique.

Another thing that set us apart? The honors and awards that we often receive.

While she was there, she picked up a handful of awards from the SNPA contest.

• Best Website: First (50,000 and over circulation), NewsOK.com.
• Videos: Second, for “Stories of the Ages: Depression Era Gangsters.” And honorable mention, for the sports special: “OU Football Preview: It’s better to receive.”
• Best Use of Multimedia: honorable mention, for “Stories of the Ages: Depression Era Gangsters.”
• Best Local Story: Third, for the series about Oklahoma politicians who tried to keep secret the birth dates of public employees.
• Feature Photography, honorable mention, for Sarah Phipps’ photo of a prayer service at a correctional center.
• Print Quality, (Over 100,000 circulation category), Second. The Oklahoman.

And here’s something of note: In judging the “Best Website” category, the SNPA made a point to focus on the site organization and the journalism involved.