Newspaper awarded first place in press contest

As part of National Newspaper Week, the Michigan Press Association announced the winners of its Better Newspaper Contest. This year, judges studied more than 4,115 entries submitted by 138 Michigan newspaper members. College member newspapers submitted 672 entries from 15 schools. The Presque Isle County Advance submitted only one entry this year, in the category of ?Spot News Coverage.? It took first place in the category for coverage of the downtown fire in February, which destroyed two businesses and severely damaged a third. While covering the major story, the newspaper staff had to set up shop in a rented building the day after the fire, and produce the newspaper with borrowed equipment two days later.

?THE JUDGES appreciated the feat we were able to pull off in the hours after the fire destroyed our building. Since I wasn?t able to find all of the newspapers to enter in all of the other categories of the contest before the contest deadline, I submitted the one entry we all were most proud of,? said Richard Lamb, Advance publisher. ?We printed a regular issue of The Advance just days after the fire, showing the dedication of the staff and the tremendously kind support of the community. Winning in this category is special because the entire staff pulled together to keep the newspaper going through trying times.? Staff members include Peter Jakey, Beth Kowalski, Cella Bade, Shari Fleming, Amanda Polaski, Tina Derry, Riconda Lamb, Ann Przybyla, and Peggy Schaudt. ?I am very proud of the people I work with and admire their dedication to the newspaper,? Lamb said.

THE ADVANCE has been honored in nearly every other category of the Better Newspaper Contest over the past few years including general excell

ence, design, sports coverage, news coverage, editorial page, photography, special sections, feature stories, and columnists. Since 1940, the Newspaper Association Managers have sponsored and supported National Newspaper Week, a weeklong celebration showcasing the impact of newspapers on the everyday lives of citizens. Community newspaper readers are looking for news that’s important to them – births, deaths, school and sporting events, local government and classifieds – and that’s what they find in the pages of their local newspaper, Those things have been a staple of The Advance since 1878.

LOCAL NEWSPAPERS are committed to the community and to the people who live in them. Presque Isle Newspapers, Inc. also publishes the Onaway Outlook and its online edition at PIAdvance.com. Construction on the new Advance building continues, but no move in date has been set. Until the newspaper returns to its home on the corner of Third and Erie Streets in Rogers City, it continues to operate at 141 West Erie Street, next to J and L Camera and Electronics.

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