Best Small Weekly in State

New Mexico’s oldest weekly newspaper was named the ‘best’ small weekly newspaper in the state during the New Mexico Press Association’s convention, conducted Saturday evening at the Clyde Hotel in Albuquerque.

El Defensor Chieftain staffers took home 23 awards at this year’s event, including 13 first and 10 second-place awards. The Nevada Press Association judged the contest.

Editor Jessica Carranza Pino took home top honors in the environment or agricultural writing for her story on 1,000 wild horses run wild near Alamo. Judges commented, “In the West, wild horses and how to manage them will always be a hot-button issue — and this story does it justice. Jessica Carranza Pino does a nice job incorporating nuance into a short word count.” She also placed first for her ongoing overage of the “Four-day school causes ruckus.” Judges commented, “At the end, I felt “fully informed” about this issue, though it was all new to me. Her final first-place honor was for a sports column entitled “Country Mouse in the Big City.” Judges commented, “Nice descriptive opening about being from a small community and running a race in Chicago.”

Carranza Pino also won second place in feature photography. She also shared a second-place award in the magazine contest with Publisher Wanda Moeller, Assistant Editor Russell Huffman, and Office Manager Denise Ortega for the newspaper’s annual publication, “The Source.” Judges wrote, “The clear design makes stories easy to read.”

Assistant Editor Russell Huffman garnered top honors in the categories of sports writing, sports and feature photos. Huffman’s story, “Socorro’s Untold Tales of the People’s Champion (Muhammad Ali),” earned him rave reviews from the judges. “Nice way of retelling a nearly 50-year-old story. Good work on finding people still around since 1976,” they wrote.

His first-place sports photo was a classic favorite with the judges. It involved Socorro High School Wrestling Coach Joel Partridge being “pinned” by his champion heavyweight wrestler David Guterrez Jr. after his win at the state wrestling meet. Huffman also took home top honors in feature photography with the sports photo of the Warrior football team carrying Old Glory onto the football field. The judge wrote, “Honestly, the player tying his shoe off to the side did it for me.”

Huffman also shared first-place honors with Publisher Wanda Moeller and graphic artist Doug Brown for the annual El Defensor Chieftain calendar. “Great photos and layout, and lovely way to increase revenue,” Judges wrote.

He also received second place in feature writing for a sports story about Magdalena basketball players learning the art of officiating, “The Perfect Assist.” Judges commented, “It’s a fun story written well.”

Publisher Wanda Moeller was the recipient of 10 awards, including first place in Headline Writing, Best Editorial, and Best Newspaper Subscription and Print Promotion. Judges commented that her editorial entitled, “Hop on the Bus Governor,” provided readers with an “Excellent argument for resisting the “one-size-fits-all” mentality that sometimes exists in lawmaking. Very persuasive combined with giving the readers feel for life outside the urban areas of New Mexico.” Her headline “Bumps in the Road” on a story about neighbors arguing against speed bumps, according to Judges, was “an apt use of a succinct phrase that really sums up the issue. Nicely done.” Finally, her first-place Christmas subscription promotion harkens to the theme of all newspapers, according to judges. “It’s a gift that keeps giving.”

Moeller was also honored with several second-place honors. She took home second-place honors in the breaking news category, a column on her mother’s death, explanation of news operations, best rate card, and best front-page design, where judges commented, “Some good work has gone into finding ways to add interest to page one when the stories are text heavy and potentially more serious. Good use of photos to separate stories.” She also received a second-place honor for the newspaper’s Media Kit.

Office Manager Denise Ortega also brought home first honors for EDC’s classified pages and second-place honors for EDC’s obituary pages. Judges wrote, “Another fine example of an obituary and classified pages. These two items provide good readership and are an important community service. Well, done.”

Former advertising sales rep Tamara Lombardi garnered first place in the best use of advertising in a special section and second place in the best advertising campaign.

The most prestigious award of the night came late in the evening when El Defensor Chieftain was named the General Excellence Winner as the best small newspaper in the state. “The clear winner, with the most robust news coverage and best photography,” wrote the judges.

“El Defensor Chieftain continues to strive to be the best small weekly in the state, providing quality information to our dedicated readers,” said Moeller, noting this is the seventh time in the past nine years the local newspaper has won the General Excellence honor. “Our staff of five individuals represents more than 101 years of experience and dedication to the local community newspaper. Even though times are crazy, and a lot of unknowns lay ahead of us. Trust me, there is still a terrific group of El Defensor Chieftain employees right here in our community ready to continue the tradition of quality reporting. Our readers are the individuals who drive us to succeed.”