The combined websites for the Boothbay Register and Wiscasset Newspaper were judged top in the state for small weekly newspapers at the Maine Press Association’s 2014 Better Newspaper Contest on Saturday evening, Oct. 18. The awards presentations were made following a morning session of seminars, the MPA Hall of Fame induction ceremony luncheon and dinner, all held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Auburn.

The award for General Excellence-Digital (websites) was followed by the Boothbay Register receiving another Special Award, a third place for General Excellence-Print.

The Register also received second place for its 2013 Windjammer Days guide (Supplement/Special Section), second place for the cover of its 2014 Summertime (Best Supplement Cover), and second place for its 2013 March Mainea online project in the Best New Revenue Idea for Weekly newspapers category. 

Individual staff awards were presented to Lisa Kristoff, who received second place for spearheading the online domestic violence community resource page with a special feature on the newspapers’ websites (Special Online Project/Section/Weekly); and Suzi Thayer, who received third place for her feature story, “Alligators, Jimmy Carter and the Extraterrestrial Highway,” the 2013 story of Westport Island resident and photographer Bruce Barlow’s, 39,583-mile drive across the country in 2012.

Also, new Register reporter Bill Pearson, while working as a reporter at the Ellsworth American, received a second place for his Business story on the Bucksport paper mill’s training program for high school students.

In her comments about the Boothbay/Wiscasset websites, contest judge Courtney Lamdin, editor and reporter for the Milton Independent in Vermont, said, “This site took first place for its well organized design .... Story pages are clean and easy to read, sometimes with multimedia included included in the form of a large main photo to draw the eye or imbedded video clips. There are also many options to share stories on various social media networks .... Ads are relegated to the left third of the page, many are static and not distracting to the reader. The top navigation bar uses catchy titles for sections, e.g., “Play,” “Culture,” “Talk.” The calendar is well organized as well, and provides good online advertising opportunities. Listings are also very detailed.”

Lamdin gave second place to the Courier-Gazette/The Camden Herald/The Republican Journal and third place to the York County Coast Star.

Though finishing behind the York Weekly and York County Coast Star (first and second, respectively) in the General Excellence-Print category for Maine’s small weeklies, contest judge Cynthia Simison, managing editor of The Republican in Massachusetts, said about the Boothbay Register, “Still tied to its ‘old school’ wide web, but stands out among the competitors for providing readers good, solid content.”

Contest judge James Quinn, deputy publisher of the Valley Breeze Newspapers in Rhode Island, said about the 2013 Windjammer Days guide, “With such an inviting cover and graphics, you’re compelled to look inside, where graphics (oh, and the pirates, too) steal the show. From the calendar to the festival highlights to the boats themselves, it feels that this is truly a comprehensive, well thought out, well executed section. Bravo!”

Attending the Maine Press Association’s 150th anniversary conference were MPA board member and editor at-large Joe Gelarden, editor Kevin Burnham, and reporters Susan Johns and Bill Pearson.