Nevada Appeal honored in Nevada Press Association awards

Led by photographer Jim Grant’s sweep of the sports photography category, the Nevada Appeal brought home 17 awards from the Nevada Press Association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest. Winners were announced Saturday evening at the NPA’s annual banquet in Las Vegas.

The Appeal also won Advertising General Excellence, the top award for advertising given out. The Appeal also was second in overall General Excellence.

“We’re pleased with the recognition,” publisher Mark Raymond said. “The Appeal is fortunate to have skilled staffers but we are not done, yet. The Appeal is getting better every week and it takes a full team effort to make that happen.”

• The Appeal also swept the Best Feature Photo category with Grant winning first and second place and former photographer Shannon Litz winning third place for her photo of a deer jumping in front of Gov. Brian Sandoval.

• Darrell Moody won Best Sports Story, for his story on the Carson High girls’ soccer team advancing to the state championship game.

• The Appeal won first place for Best Editorial Page.

“Pretty good mix, especially of letters and local columns,” the judge said.

• The Appeal won first place for Best Page One Design.

• Appeal designer Emily Stott was named Best Page Designer for her work in the Appeal.

“Nice use of color and graphics, flows nicely,” the judge said.

• Jim Grant won first place in Best News Photo Coverage for his photos from Memorial Day.

“A nice set of images from a fairly typical assignment,” the judge said.

Other honors: Teri Vance won second place for Best News Feature Story; third place, overall design; Grant won third place in Best Illustrated Photo; and Sally Roberts for Best Nonstaff Story.

NPA member newspapers serve readers in Nevada and are awarded top honors in the state each year in reporting, photography, graphic design, editorial writing, advertising and general excellence. This year’s awards were for content created March, 2013 through March. 2014. The Appeal competes in the “Intermediate” category.