North Dakota newspapers recognized for general excellence
5/01/26 (Fri)
North Dakota newspapers were recognized Friday for general excellence during the North Dakota Newspaper Association’s 140th Annual convention held April 30-May 1, at the Gateway to Science in Bismarck.
In conjunction with the A-Mark Foundation, reporters and news outlets also shared in the award of $15,000 in cash prizes.
The full list of awards along with judge’s comment can be found here:
https://portal.newspapercontest.com/northdakota/winners/entries_list.php
Taking home the top awards in NDNA’s Better Newspaper Contest were The Grand Forks Herald, The Cass County Reporter of Casselton, the Hillsboro Banner and the Steele County Press of Finley. The General Excellence category covers all aspects of the newspaper, including news and advertising, layout and design, and even headline writing.
In addition, ad designers, reporters, editors and photographers were recognized for their best work in 60 different categories. All awards are made in four circulation categories, according to circulation size.
In the largest circulation category, judges summed up The Herald’s pages as “Impressive.”
“Love ALL the local news. Design is solid. Sports photos POP! Editorial includes different POVs (points of view). Ads are crisp and well designed,” the judges said.
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead placed second and the Bismarck Tribune, third, in the category for newspapers above 5,000 circulation.
In the smaller circulation categories, judges noted the consistency of the The Cass County Reporter, including “vivid front page photos,’ well written articles and solid ad design. Other placers in the 1,651-4,999 circulation division were: Jamestown Sun, second; Walsh County Record, Grafton, third; and The Journal, Crosby, honorable mention.
Judges praised the Hillsboro Banner for great use of fonts to distinguish different types of content, and fantastic photos.
“This is an excellent newspaper,” the comments concluded. Other placers in the Banner’s circulation division were: Wahpeton Daily News, second; Ransom County Gazette, Lisbon, third; and New Rockford Transcript, honorable mention.
In the smallest circulation division, for newspapers under 900 circulatoin, judges said the Steele County Press is “a great little newspaper.”
Other placers in that division: Grant County News, Elgin, second; News Monitor, Hankinson, third; and Center Republican, honorable mention.
The Forum won Photo of the Year in the largest circulation division for a shot of fireworks at the Red River Valley Fair by Dave Samson; in the small circulation divisions, the photo of the year was a rodeo photo by Cory Erickson of the Hillsboro Banner.
Several special awards for which only one winner is selected were also announced, including:
Grant Coursey, Bismarck Tribune, Rookie Reporter of the Year;
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, for reporting on secret government meetings, The First Amendment Award;
Evan Butow, Dickinson Press, for reporting on an outside contract awarded to the Dickinson assessor, Public Notice Journalism;
North Dakota Monitor (Jacob Orledge and Mary Steurer), reporting on the ND Ethics Commission, Community Service.
A-Mark Foundation awards for investigative journalism
Three journalists and their outlets received cash awards in the A-Mark Foundation contest recognizing investigative journalism. The contest is run in conjunction with NDNA’s Better Newspaper Contest.
First place was awarded to Jacob Orledge ($5,000) and the North Dakota Monitor ($2,500) for in depth reporting on the lack of transparency of oil company production charges to mineral owners.
Second place went to Hannah Shirley ($3,000) and the Grand Forks Herald ($1,500) for reporting on a mother’s quest to get answers about the officer involved shooting of her son.
Third place went to Joey Harris ($2,000) and the Bismarck Tribune ($1,000) for reporting on a Basin Electric loan exemption.
The awards are aimed at rewarding news outlets devoting resources to subjects that might not otherwise become public knowledge.
Board of Directors elections
Jill Friesz of GS Publishing received the gavel from outgoing NDNA president Alyssa Meier and will lead the organization for the next year. Friesz is the first person in 100 years to hold the position twice. She last served as NDNA president in 2013.
Friesz owns and operates seven weekly newspapers in southwestern North Dakota.
Joy Schoch of the Dickinson Press was elected first vice president; Kelsey Majeske, NorDak Publishing, was elected second vice president. Also elected were three new board members: Blake Nicholson, Bismarck Tribune; Ben Cartwright, Westhope Standard; and Mark C. Robinson, Devils Lake Journal. They join Art Hagebock on the board and Meier, who serves a year as past president.
The NDNA Education Foundation re-elected Allison Olimb, Walsh County Press; Jackie Thompson, Walsh County Record; and elected new board member Karen Bauer of Bismarck State College.
For further information, contact the
NDNA Executive Director,
866-685-8889 or director@ndna.com