Summit Daily News wins general excellence award in annual statewide competition

FRISCO — The Summit Daily News was named the best paper of its size in Colorado during the annual Colorado Press Association contest, the winners of which were announced April 30.

The annual awards celebration honors the best in advertising, editorial, and photo and design for newspapers across Colorado.

The Summit Daily team won 48 individual and staff awards including general excellence, excellence in advertising, excellence in photo and design, and excellence in editorial. The excellence distinction is given to the paper that wins the most awards in each category.

“I’ve always been proud of the work we do,” Summit Daily Publisher Meg Boyer said. “The awards the Summit Daily earned at the state level underscore that the community journalism and marketing strategies we provide are top-notch.”

It’s the third year in a row that the Summit Daily has won general excellence, which is awarded to the best newspaper in each of seven circulation categories. The categories are determined by a combination of the number of newspapers printed and annual website traffic. This year, the Summit Daily faced off against The Aspen Times, Montrose Daily Press, Glenwood Springs Post Independent, Cañon City Daily Record, Fort Morgan Times, Colorado Daily and Aspen Journalism in addition to many other print and digital news sources across the state.

Highlighting the awards was the Summit Daily team’s work on Still Standing, a publication that celebrated the 30th anniversary of the newspaper in addition to the history of Summit County and its businesses. The project won best editorial special section, best advertising special section, best series, best informational graphic and best sports story, for Sports & Outdoors Editor Antonio Olivero’s feature on the area’s history of skiing.

Another highlight was sweeping the public service category, which honors “extensive and enterprising coverage of a local issue in an effort to affect the public good.” Summit Daily reporter Deepan Dutta won first place for his coverage of the county’s minimum wage discussions and second place for his work writing about the newly formed Peak Health Alliance.

The Summit Daily team also was awarded for its breaking news, multimedia and photography coverage of the historic March 2019 avalanche cycle, which ripped new avalanche paths and buried roads across Colorado.

“Community journalism has never been more important, and our team members are among the best journalists in the state,” Boyer said.

A complete list of awards and their winners is bellow:

Editorial

Staff awards:

Individual awards:

Photo and design

Staff awards:

  • Photo and design excellence

Individual awards:

Advertising

Staff awards:

  • Advertising excellence
  • Best advertising special section

Individual awards:

  • Best classified page or section
    • First place: MarketPlace, Grant Blair, Zyanya Rodriguez, Jose Rivera, Louise Hanley
    • Second place: Real Estate, Grant Blair, Zyanya Rodriguez, Jose Rivera, Louise Hanley
  • Best news media house ad promotion
    • First place: The gift of golf, Krista DeHerrera
    • Second place: The Longevity Project, Meg Boyer
  • Best real estate ad
    • First place: Slifer Smith and Frampton, Polly ReQua
    • Second place: Merry Christmas from Butch, Polly ReQua
  • Best advertising campaign
    • First place: Great Rubber Duck Race, Dawn Gunderson
    • Second place: Rocky Mountain Golf Card, Krista DeHerrera
  • Best health care ad
    • First place: High Altitude Research native, Lauren Glendenning
  • Best large space ad
    • Second place: Jessie’s Kitchen, Dawn Gunderson
  • Best medium space ad
    • Second place: Pharmstrong, Pat Wren
  • Best restaurant or dining ad
    • Second place: Wine O’clock Somewhere, Pat Wren
  • Best use of color in an ad
    • Second place: Playhouse Project, Meg Boyer