By Shanti Johnson
Staff Writer
The staff of the Pagosa Springs SUN was presented with a total of 53 awards in the newspaper’s circulation class (medium-size weekly) for the 2013 Colorado Press Association Better Newspaper Contest, including four Extraordinary Achievement awards.
The awards were presented last Friday night in Denver during the awards banquet for the Colorado Press Association and the Colorado Associated Press Editors and Reporters.
Newspapers were judged in a variety of categories by journalists in Arkansas and Virginia, in contests sponsored by the Colorado Press Association.
SUN staff garnered 22 first-place awards, 14 second-place awards, and 13 third-place awards.
Awards came in categories across the board, leading to four Extraordinary Achievement awards --— General Excellence, Photo/Design Sweepstakes, Online Sweepstakes and Advertising Sweepstakes.
Sweepstakes awards are given to the newspaper deemed to be the best in its class, while the General Excellence Award is based on total points earned in the contest’s various categories, excluding website.
The contest period ran from August 2012 to August 2013.
“We’re proud to bring home the General Excellence award for being the top weekly newspaper in the state of Colorado in our division for the third year in a row,” said SUN Publisher and Editor Terri House.
House went on to say, “I’d like to thank our talented and hardworking staff for their dedication and commitment for striving to make our newspaper the best that it can be.
“We are appreciative of our readers and advertisers for their continued support,” concluded House.
For a full list of the awards captured by The SUN, see the ad on page A18.
shanti.johnson@pagosasun.com
