Journal brings home Illinois Press Association awards

Last week, I had the pleasure of representing the Lake County Journal at the Illinois Press Association Excellence in News conference.

The awards ceremony took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield.

I’d like to congratulate the Journal staff for taking home these top honors: first place for best original column (that was a gem written by Judi Veoukas; it humorously detailed how her last name is constantly mispronounced, which it was – once again – at the awards ceremony); and first place for news reporting-single story (another excellent piece written by reporters Colin Selbo and Stephanie Lehman; the story highlighted Pfc. Adam Trost’s welcome-home ceremony and how the community came together to fix up his 2004 Subaru WRX STi).

The Journal also won second place for best website, sports photo and photo series; third place for best newspaper design and general news photo; and honorable mention for best illustration and community service.

In the sweepstakes category  – the overall top honor – the Journal took home third place in its circulation class.

The awards recognize the hard work that goes into each edition of the Lake County Journal.
Kudos to the reporters, photographers, illustrators and designers who contributed to this year’s winning effort.