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DFJ brings home honors

Banning named best sports columnist

—Daily Freeman-Journal photo by Chad Thompson The Daily Freeman-Journal staff brought home seven first place honors from the Iowa Newspaper Association convention held in Des Moines on Thursday and Friday. Sports editor Troy banning was named best sports columnist for daily newspapers with circulations under 10,000. Pictured above are Adri Sietstra, Daily Freeman-Journal reporter, left, Anne Blankenship, Daily Freeman-Journal managing editor, and right, Cory Bargfrede, advertising manager.

The Daily Freeman-Journal staff brought home seven first place honors from the Iowa Newspaper Association convention held in Des Moines Thursday and Friday.

The awards were part of the Better Newspaper Contest the association holds each year. This year’s contest was judged by members of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.

Sports Editor Troy Banning was once again named best sports columnist for daily newspapers with circulations under 10,000. The judge commented that Banning has an “excellent way with words and has the ability to capture the emotion of his subjects.”

Banning also received a second place in the best sports story category.

The news staff received a first place for Best Editorial Pages with the judge noting the quality of the personal columns.

“The Daily Freeman-Journal’s (editorial) pages felt comfortable. I got to know the people involved immediately,” the judge commented.

The staff also received first place honors for the Best Use of Social Media.

The three-part Addicted series which was published in September, received a third place in the Best Series category. Managing Editor Anne Blankenship was awarded third place for her three-part story on a young woman overcoming addiction.

The DFJ received a first place award for Best Marketing piece for the “iSubscribe” series of ads.

The advertising staff took first place for Best Ad Series or Campaign featuring Any Service or Merchandise Category for the Seneca Foundry “Casting Our Story For over 100 Years.” Another first place award was received for Best Advertising Featuring Agriculture for Murray McMurray Hatchery’s “Proud to Call Webster City Home for the Past 100 Years.” The DFJ also received third place in that category.

An ad for Van Diest Medical Center and Van Diest Family Health Clinic took top honors in the Best Ad Featuring Financial, Insurance and Other Professional Services.

The special section “The Fan” received second place honors in the Best Special Section Advertising Division. Another second place was received for Best Ad Featuring Automotive, Boats, Aircraft, Tires, Gasoline, etc.

The Daily Freeman-Journal also brought home honors for General Excellence, placing third in the division out of 17 other newspapers who competed in the Daily Class 1 category.

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