MANITOWOC — The Herald Times Reporter earned 11 statewide journalism awards including first-place honors for community engagement, local column and local outdoor column in the 2023 Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation Better Newspaper Contest.
The awards were presented March 16 in Madison. The newspaper competes in Division B with newspapers of daily circulation of less than 9,999.
The 2023 contest received 2,144 entries from 102 newspapers. Eligible entries were published between Sept. 1, 2022, and Aug. 31, 2023, and were judged by members of the Kentucky Press Association.
2022 awards:Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter one of two daily papers in state named Best in Division as it collects 14 individual Wisconsin journalism awards
The Herald Times Reporter earned the first-place Community Engagement Award.
The Herald Times Reporter earned the first-place Community Engagement Award in the Daily Division, in which it competed against daily newspapers of all sizes.
The newspaper was honored for three stories: one that reunited a watch with the family of a Manitowoc soldier who left it behind more than 50 years ago, one that reunited a man with the lifeguard who saved him from drowning at the Manitowoc-Two Rivers YMCA in 1973 and one that honored the area’s 2022 People of the Year.
Reporters Alisa Schafer and Patti Zarling and columnist Bob Schuh earned first-place honors for their columns.
Reporters Alisa Schafer and Patti Zarling earned first place in the Local Column category for their “Savor Manitowoc” series in which they share their experiences dining at local restaurants. Their submission featured articles about Tipsy Tomato, Izumi Sushi and .
Columnist Bob Schuh, who writes the weekly “Scoping the Great Outdoors” column, took first place in the Local Outdoor Column category. His winning columns focused on a Lake Erie fishing trip, sturgeon spawning and Mishicot High School trap shooters earning a trip to nationals.
Second-place honors included for environmental reporting, photography, government reporting and sports coverage.
Patti Zarling earned second place in the Environmental Reporting category for her story "Here’s what happens to greasy pizza boxes and other items in recycling bins after they're collected in Manitowoc County."
“The headline and lede (first paragraph of the story) are very accessible to the average reader,” the judge wrote. “I also think that the media attempts to tell stories about what can and can’t be recycled often, but those stories aren’t usually accompanied with why you can’t recycle certain things and what the environmental impacts are. Also, great work on visuals.”
Photographer Gary C. Klein earned a pair of seconds. The first was in the General News Photo category for a photo of volunteers cleaning the tombstones of Civil War veterans at Evergreen Cemetery. “Great photo and love the usage of the Gaussian Blur for impact,” the judge wrote. “Photo stands on its own to evoke an emotion, while working well with the rest of the photos.”
Klein's other second place came in the Sports Feature Photo category for a photo of Kohler at Roncalli/Two Rivers in tennis. “Is disappointment, disgust or a ‘what have I done?’ moment — the picture tells the story — no words are needed. Nice job,” the judge wrote.
Alisa Schafer also earned a pair of second-places, one in the Investigative Reporting category for her story about the use of stun guns in the Manitowoc County Jail and one in the Reporting on Local Government category for stories about the Manitowoc council president being censured, Manitowoc school board candidates being criticized by a county supervisor in letters placed in mailboxes and new strip clubs in the city facing heavy restrictions on where they can be located.
“Alisa did a great job of showing how the things that are happening at the local government level impact everyday people,” the judge wrote of the local government stories.
Sports reporter Tom Dombeck earned second place in the Sports News Story category for Two Rivers football’s run at a state title.
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The paper took third place for local column and honorable mention for business coverage.
Bob Fay, a historian and former executive director of the Manitowoc County Historical Society, who contributes to the Herald Times Reporter’s every-other-week history column “Preserving the Past,” took third in the Local Column category for his columns on Manitowoc County’s last surviving Civil War veteran, Two Rivers’ library history and the electric streetcar system that once connected Manitowoc and Two Rivers.
“I really enjoyed the glimpse into history that this columnist provided,” the judge wrote. “It was full of facts and kept me interested.”
Zarling took honorable mention in the Business Coverage category for her stories about Hartman’s Bakery's journey recovering from a fire, Manitowoc businesses seeing fewer footprints after the SS Badger’s early end to its season and Two Rivers barber John Antonie retiring.
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin won three awards.
Dating to its first issue published Oct. 19, 1898, the HTR is one of Manitowoc County's oldest businesses. Today, the newspaper is part of USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, which also includes daily newsrooms in Appleton, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Marshfield, Oshkosh, Sheboygan, Stevens Point, Wausau and Wisconsin Rapids. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is also part of the news group.
In addition to the HTR’s 11 awards, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin won three awards, including one first place:
- First place: Becky Jacobs in the Business Coverage category;
- Second place: Staff in the Community Engagement Award category for the “Stock the Shelves” campaign; and
- Third place: Staff in the Ongoing/Extended Coverage category for the “Families Matter” series.
