Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Preston-Fillmore County Journal Entry Title: Headlines... Entry Credit: Jason Sethre, Ellen Whalen, Jeff Kale Judge Comment: I love this paper; it's exactly what a community newspaper should look like. The headlines are just right; I especially the paranormal investigators at the VFW (everyone will read that!) and the "Spring Valley graduates keep wheels turning from afar." The whole point of a local newspaper is to have names and faces; this is a great example of using a headline to lead people to a story that does just that.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Elk River - Star News Entry Title: Headline writing Entry Credit: Jim Boyte, Joni Astrup, Erik Nelson Judge Comment: "Adult softball hangs on by the threads of a softball" is creative without reaching; "traffic snarls of 2021 to be continued" is somehow the first time I've seen that in a road construction hed, and I love it! Because it puts just a little bit of a "You know what I mean?" eye roll and smirk to lighten up a story about something really frustrating without diminishing the topic.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Anoka County Union Herald Entry Title: Anoka County Union Herald Headline Writing Entry Credit: Jonathan Young, Connor Cummiskey, Paige Kieffer, Patrick Slack, Emilee Wentland Judge Comment: Really impressed with the "Censorship?" headline. In most publications that probably would've been a lot more appropriate on an op-ed page, but I think with your circulation and the excellent explainer sub hed, it's great here. Yes, it's a huge font, but you went for it rather than burying it. You put it on the front, in a huge Helvetica-style font that will call people's attention to it -- and asked the question. I'd love to know how readers answered! Also: the "Halloween Centennial Success/design haunted Enoka grad for years before it won this year's button contest" is just the right balance of clever without being cheesy.
