Times brings home six awards from press association convention

SHAWNEE - The Oklahoma Press Association (OPA) presented its Better Newspaper Contest Awards during the OPA Annual Convention, June 6-7, at the Grand Casino Hotel and Resort.

Also announced during the two-day convention were the recipients of the OPA H. Milt Phillips Award and the Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation’s Beachy Musselman Award.

The Comanche Times received six awards, including two first place awards. 

Owner/publisher Todd Brooks won first place in the news story and sports story categories. His story on the anniversary of the death of Noah Presgrove titled, “A year later, Presgroves still keeping the faith,” won for news story.  His story on Brook West winning her first state wrestling championship titled “Queen of the Mat” won the top sports story award. 

Brooks also received a second place in column writing, a third place in news story with a story on Chuck Ralls resigning as city manager, and a third place in feature story on Ainsley Turner, a Comanche 7-year-old cowgirl, who had brain surgery.

The newspaper also received a “Perfecta” Award, given to newspapers which had a 100 percent rate of placing OPA ads.

Receiving the H. Milt Phillips Award was Russell M. Perry, publisher of The Black Chronicle in Oklahoma City. The OPA Board of Directors selects the recipient of the Milt Phillips Award.

Russell M. Perry is an American businessman, banker, publisher and broadcaster. He started The Black Chronicle, which focuses on the state’s African community, in 1979. At the same time he founded the Perry Publishing and Broadcasting Company. 

Receiving the ONF Beachy Musselman Award was Corey Jones, public service journalism reporter at Tulsa World. His investigative series reporting on fatal pursuits involving Oklahoma law enforcement, particularly the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, over several years continues to receive national attention. 

Jones’ investigation revealed that about one in four people killed in Oklahoma car chases are innocent motorists not involved in the pursuits. It also showed that the vast majority of fatal chases were prompted by traffic violations or property crimes. Only two deadly pursuits began because of violent offenses. Jones continues to report on OHP’s fatal pursuits as all other area law enforcement agencies do not allow this tactic.

The recipient of the Musselman Award is selected by the Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation Board of Trustees.

Sequoyah Award winners in the OPA Better Newspaper Contest also were announced at the OPA Convention. In the divisions for multi-day and online-only publications, winners were Enid News & Eagle, McAlester News-Capital and Choctaw Times. Sequoyah winners in the weekly divisions were the Midwest City Beacon, The Purcell Register, McIntosh County Democrat, and Minco-Union City Times. The Cameron University Collegian was the winner in the college news media division.

The Sequoyah Award, which is the highest honor in the Better Newspaper Contest, is determined by the number of points accumulated in eight of the contest’s categories: news content, layout & design, advertising, editorial writing, photography, sports coverage, sales promotion and community leadership. The eight divisions are based on publication frequency and city/town population. 

Individuals were able to receive awards in 16 categories.