"Local Papers Honored by California Newspaper Publishers Association" by News Blog

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Local Papers Honored by California Newspaper Publishers Association

May 8, 2012

It turns out Saturday wasn’t just a celebration of Mexican independence—if you happen to work at a Monterey County newspaper, that is.

The annual Better Newspapers Contest put on by the California Newspaper Publishers Association honored daily and weekly publications from all over California with awards ranging from best coverage of youth or education, to best front page design.

Going up against the top tier weekly papers from all over the Golden State in the “A” division—comprising newspapers with a circulation of 25,000 and above—Monterey County Weekly took first place for best environmental coverage thanks to thorough and comprehensive reporting on the controversial fumigant methyl iodide.

Here are links to the methyl iodide coverage:

March 10, 2011 The Midas Touch, The Midas Effect
March 12-18, 2011 “EPA’s Chemistry Lesson”
July 7-13, 2011 “Methyl Madness”
Aug 11-17, 2011 “Mounting Methyl Problems”
Oct 6-12, 2011 “Lunching With Lobbyists”

And as if that weren’t enough, the Weekly was also awarded first place in general excellence—the most prestigious award from the CNPA. The judges had this to say about the Weekly: “This is an excellent publication! It’s lively, well written and well designed. The Editorial pages are interesting and non-conventional. This weekly is packed with listings and calendars but manages to look and read like a magazine.”

And let’s not forget the dailies.

The Salinas Californian took first place awards in best photo essay and best investigative reporting for dailies with a circulation less than 15,000, while The Monterey County Herald followed suit with a first place award for best investigative reporting for dailies with a circulation of 15,000 - 35,000.

The truly great honor is to be fulfilling the Weekly's mission to inspire independent thinking and conscious action--including that the research of Mary Duan and Sara Rubin helped inspire the Monterey County Board of Education and others to challenge the State of California regarding methyl iodide. By so doing, you have helped keep water cleaner, babies safer in the womb, and more.

That's a real cause for celebration!