Moapa Valley Progress
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley Progress won two top awards on Saturday at the annual Nevada Press Association’s “Better Newspaper Contest” including Best Editorial Page and Best Local Nonstaff Column in the weekly community newspaper division.
In awarding the top honors for Best Editorial Page, contest judges praised the Progress’ Opinion page for its locally-generated columns, letters and op-ed pieces stating that “it had more local content than other entries”.
Columnist Dr. Larry Moses won first place in the Local Nonstaff Column category for his weekly column entitled “No One Asked Me But…”. Referring to Moses’ column, judges commented, “Sharp, sarcastic and offers unique prose, and a style not often seen these days in journalism – irony and satire. Probing and critical, injects a dose of common sense into the media.”
In the same category, local columnist Mike Donahue took second place for his bi-monthly “Rural Rants” column. Judges liked the innovative nature of Donahue’s column that celebrates the rural side of life in southern Nevada. “Certainly a unique concept for a column,” they commented. “So very visually descriptive and offers a slice of rural life, both the dark and light aspects. Easy to read and enjoy.”
The Progress also won second place honors in the contest’s prestigious “General Excellence” category. “Great news coverage,” judges in this category said of the Progress, “with easy-to-navigate layout that has a strong community feel.”
First place in the General Excellence category went to the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza.
“This is the first time that the Progress has ever entered this annual contest,” said Progress Editor Vernon Robison. “The competition statewide is obviously very tough. So we were pleased to do as well as we did on our first time out.”
Robison was especially gratified with the recognition of the Progress’ homespun community flavor that was expressed through the awards and the judge’s comments. “Our goal for this newspaper has always been simple,” Robison said. “It is, in essence, to be able to reflect and involve the Moapa Valley community and its people in our pages each week. I was happy that each of these awards, in one way or another, recognized us for that.”
