Jefferson Herald awarded four first place plaques at annual INA banquet

Staff Report

The Jefferson Herald was nominated for 10 awards at the Iowa Newspaper Association convention Feb. 2 in Des Moines and came way with four first place plaques.

The Herald placed fifth in Weekly Class II General Excellence with 23 points.
The Estherville News finished first with 41 points, followed by runner-up Rock Rapids-Lyon County Reporter (33 points), Cascade Pioneer (29) and the Sioux County Capital Democrat (24).

The Ackley World Journal won newspaper of the year with 110 points. The Jefferson Herald was 23rd overall out of 88 papers across Iowa.
The Herald staff was awarded first place for best coverage of court and crime. Managing editor Brandon Hurley won a first place award for best breaking news story for his piece titled “A catastrophic whirlwind” following the derecho that brought on five local tornados last winter.

“This was the strongest news writing in the category,” a judge’s comment noted. “Thoroughly reported, stylistically clean and easy to read.”

Hurley also won a first place award for best sports story for his article headlined “A championship stunner” on Greene County wrestler Kale Petersen’s state championship victory last winter in Des Moines.

“An interesting piece of reporting on wrestler Kale Patterson, who proclaims himself top dog in the country at his weight,” judge comments said. “It takes guts to make such a statement at any age, and the reporter nails Patterson’s personality. Love the bravado and reporting.”

Additionally, Hurley nabbed a first place plaque for for best sports columnist in the Weekly II division, submitting a column on a return trip to Kinnick Stadium, a feature on the new disc golf course at Daubendiek Park in addition to a column on McKinley Robbins’ career highlights as a Greene County wrestler.  

“The writer stood above the competition,” a judge’s comment said. “No problems grabbing the reader’s attention.”

Hurley has won 13 first place awards as a member of the Jefferson Herald staff over the last seven years, serving as sports editor as well as managing editor.

Rick Morain placed third in the Master Columnist category, submitting a piece titled “Appreciating time with our grandkids and a unique visitor,” another story named “Dissecting the issue of Critical Race Theory” as well as “An ineffable Beethoven experience.”

The Herald won 10 awards in total last week, five of which were either second or third. The paper secured honors for best sports story, best use of social media, best personality feature story, best sports feature story and best continuing coverage.