Investigative Reporting
Third Place

Tim Novak
Chicago Sun-Times
Obama and his slumlord patron

Second Place

George Pawlaczyk and Beth Hunsdorfer
Belleville News-Democrat
Lethal Lapses

First Place

Tim Novak with Art Golab contributing
Chicago Sun-Times
Clout's sick list

COMMENTS: This was an insightful look into the impact of Chicago’s patronage system gone awry. The findings were truly amazing and reflected dogged reporting.  The writing was sharp. The author found clever ways to tell the story.

Kevin Caufield, Allison Ryan, Tom Collins
NewsTribune, La Salle
Operation Cop Watch

Second Place

Jon Krenek
The Daily Journal, Kankakee
Through the Cracks

First Place

Matthew Defour
The Beacon News, Aurora
Road to Riches

Investigative Reporting
Third Place

Sharon Woods Harris & Elaine Krewer Spencer Pekin Daily Times
Open Meeting Act Revision

Second Place

Sharon Woods Harris & Nick Vogel
Pekin Daily Times
City Financial Concerns

First Place

Benji Feldheim & Chris Rickert
Daily Chronicle, DeKalb
Wogen  Series

COMMENTS:By using an impressive combination of up-to-date e-mail probing and good old-fashioned legwork, the Daily Chronicle did an incredible job nailing down a nebulous and difficult story. In this day and age of Web searches and information available on the Internet, it's often easy to forget that getting out on the street and talking to people face to face is as important now as it ever was. The Daily Chronicle showed a great deal of enterprise in this investigative piece.

Public Service
Third Place

Bruce Rushton
The State Journal-Register, Springfield
FOIA package

Second Place

Stephanie Zimmerman & Eric Herman
Chicago Sun-Times
Dead people parking

First Place

Staff
Daily Southtown, Tinley Park
Where is the law?

COMMENTS: This series is a classic example of crusading public service. The problems unearthed by the Daily Southtown were stunning at every turn. Strong reporting and powerful examples made this a story you had to keep reading - especially, we imagine, if you live in Harvey.

Public Service
Third Place

Kavin P. Craver, Nate Legue, Jocelyn Allision, Editorial Board
Northwest Herald, Crystal Lake
McCullom Lake brain cancer series

Second Place

Tom Collins and Yuri Ozeki,
The NewsTribune, LaSalle
Lasting effects of Sin City series.

First Place

Matt Hanley
The Beacon News, Aurora
Bad Water

COMMENTS:Thorough, compelling story-telling.

Public Service
Third Place

Dave Fopay and Nathaniel West,
Journal Gazette, Mattoon,
On the Table

Second Place

Paul Dailing
Kane County Chronicle, Geneva
Voting

First Place

Peter Krowiak, Casey Toner, Adam Nekola, Patrick Graziano, Morris Daily Herald
MySpace

COMMENTS:This series is creatively done. The witers took a popular subject, localizing it and taking several angles to inform the public about the positives and negatives of myspace.com. The writing is fresh and clear, the layout is interesting and the use of personal accounts from local myspace users helps the reader relate to the articles.

Enterprise Reporting
Third Place

Tara Malone
Daily Herald, Arlington Heights
Without a home

Second Place

Tim Novak, Robert Herguth, Steve Warmbir,
Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago’s First Family of Clout

First Place

Kate N. Grossman
Chicago Sun-Times
Inside Room 206: An Experiment in Class

COMMENTS:Education stories often take a less than personal approach, filled with numbers, statistics and government officials. This package was extremely personal, interesting and informative, the kind of story that as parent I appreciate. Ms. Grossman took readers inside the classroom to make our own evaluation on whether this program is working or not. The stories turned the topic into a personal, in-depth look at a group of children who stand to learn a bigger lesson than just what a textbook can teach. The reporter’s dedication to the story shone through each story

Enterprise Reporting
Third Place

Brock Cooper, Allison Ryan and Kevin Caufield, NewsTribune, La Salle
A People Apart

Second Place

Mary Tallon and Mike Frazier
Herald & Review, Decatur
Government Consolidation

First Place

Matt Hanley
The Beacon News, Aurora
Bad Water

COMMENTS:Two years’ work paid off! The range of presentation formats added considerably to the effort — profiles, diagrams, documents, time lines, even a cartoon. Easy (and lazy) comparisons to “Erin Brockovich” were soundly undone by solid investigative and explanatory journalism by Matt Hanley.

Enterprise Reporting
Third Place

Tom Loewy
The Register-Mail, Galesburg
The Big Fire

Second Place

JoAnn Hustis and Casey Toner
Morris Daily Herald
Heroin: Grains of Truth

First Place

Staff
The Register-Mail, Galesburg
The Poverty Among Us

COMMENTS:A thorough look at poverty through the eyes of your residents.
Series allowed people to tell their story. Great work!

Deadline News
Third Place

Staff
Daily Southtown, Tinley Park
Two New Lenox cops shot at L-Way Central

Second Place

Staff
Rockford Register Star
Labor Day Deluge

First Place

Annie Sweeney, Lori Rackly, Rummana Hussain, Andrew Herrman, Chicago Sun-Times
High-rise havoc

COMMENTS:Outstanding package. Excellent lead and top-notch writing throughout with great details. Good team approach, well-planned and executed. Particularly enjoyed the breakout information and graphics. Vignette on worker inside the building and the breakdown of information on victims were effective.

Deadline News
Third Place

 Heather Gillers and Matt Hanley
 The Beacon News, Aurora
 We are America

Second Place

Mike Lyons
The Daily Journal, Kankakee
Grisly account

First Place

 Chris Lusvardi and Mike Frazier
 Herald & Review, Decatur
 Twister strikes near Elwin Cafe

COMMENTS:Engaging!

Deadline News
Third Place

Benji Feldheim
Daily Chronicle, DeKalb
Prrosector: No signs man would kill

Second Place

Peter Krowiak
Morris Daily Herald
I thought a train derailed

First Place

JoAnn Hustis
Morris Daily Herald
Tragedy Plays out for theatre group

COMMENTS:Good background material and some strong quotes from individuals affected by the fire made this a much better than usual fire/building story. The information on the history of the building and how people worked to renovate it and create the theatre building gave meaning to the lede, which talked about how “devastating” it was to Guild members. The article also had a strong ending, something you don’t often see in stories like this. Good reporting (and good photo and headline). Only thing missing from the story was a little more on possible cause of the fire.

Non Deadline News
Third Place

Emily Krone
Daily Herald, Arlington Heights
Blindfolds and blind faith

Second Place

Chris Fusco and Dave McKinney
Chicago Sun-Times
Governor’s office kept clout list

First Place

Frank Main
Chicago Sun-Times
Gang bangers in the ranks

COMMENTS: Concise writing illuminates a threat not only to the military but neighborhoods throughout the nation.

Non Deadline News
Third Place

Heather Giller
The Beacon News, Aurora
The landfill lowdown

Second Place

Rodney Hart
Quincy Herald-Whig
The Main Suspect

First Place

Steve Eighinger
Quincy Herald-Whig
Uprooted Lives

COMMENTS:This drew the reader in from the first paragraph and kept them engaged until the last paragraph. Beautifully written yet full of information and details.

Non Deadline News
Third Place

Ben Botkin and Tom Loewy
The Register-Mail, Galesburg
Heartfelt goodbyes

Second Place

Kate Thayer
Kane County Chronicle, Geneva
Blame absent in family

First Place

Dan Tackett and Jeff Nelson
The Courier, Lincoln
Lincoln Police Department memo flap

COMMENTS:Outstanding coverage of the issue. The is a great example for all newspapers on how to stay on top of the story. If we had one complaint ‹ and it is a small one ‹ is was that, while you became part of the story, you didn¹t need to bring it up as often as you did.

Features
Third Place

Jayette Bolinski
The State Journal-Register, Springfield
Broken Life

Second Place

Janet Rausa Fuller, Lori Rackl and Monifa Thomas
Chicago Sun-Times
Going green

First Place

Amanda Reavy and Sarah Antonacci
The State Journal-Register, Springfield
Girl bullies

COMMENTS:What stood out most, besides the heartbreaking anecdote that leads off the package, is thoroughness and usefulness.

Features
Honorable Mention

Steve Eighinger
Quincy Herald-Whig
 Ho! Ho! Ho! Who? Who? Who?"

Third Place

 Tammie Sloup
 The Times, Ottawa
Preachers and prisoners

Second Place

Tammie Sloup, Dan Churney, Melissa Garzanelli, Charles Stanley and Craig Wieczorkiewicz
The Times, Ottawa
Making Music

First Place

 Justina Wang
 The Beacon News, Aurora,
Mending Mike

COMMENTS:This is a compelling story that held our attention all the way to the end. We liked how the writer worked in little anecdotes that revealed things about the people in the story ("the sister that had once marched up to the neighborhood boys twice her size and scolded them when they made fun of her little brother," etc.).

Features
Third Place

Tim Brooks
Robinson Daily News
Sounds Great

Second Place

Peter Krowiak
Morris Daily Herald
Night Life

First Place

Cigi Ross
The Register-Mail, Galesburg
A year without Kyle

COMMENTS:Passionate and powerful. Emotionally draining to read. Story brilliantly weaved inside a strong lead, and ending. Of the many blue-chip entries in this category -- and there were many -- this one stood alone.

Columns
Third Place

Mark Brown
Chicago Sun-Times

Second Place

Mary Mitchell
Chicago Sun-Times

First Place

Kristen McQueary
Daily Southtown, Tinley Park

COMMENTS:McQueary's verbal punch is exactly what every newspaper should provide. Circulation falling? Get a columnist like McQueary. Customers say "No time to read?" They'll make time for writing like McQueary's.

Columns
Third Place

Edward Husar
Quincy Herald-Whig

Second Place

David Rutter
The News-Sun, Waukegan

First Place

 Jami Kunzer
Northwest Herald, Crystal Lake

COMMENTS:All three judges ranked Jami in their top three; two named her No. 1. Her commentary is genuine and — somehow — accessible to parents and non-parents. Jami’s ability to translate emotion into words is remarkable. The artificial insemination column was tough and gutsy; first-year sleeplessness, such a parenting cliché, breathed new life under Kunzor’s talented pen.

Columns
Third Place

Rick Wade
Pekin Daily Times

Second Place

Dan Campana
Kane County Chronicle, Geneva

First Place

Tom Loewy
The Register-Mail, Galesburg

COMMENTS:Well written stories of the people who too often don't get much attention on our pages. Nice effort to find these stories

General Excellence
Third Place

Pantagraph, Bloomington

Second Place

Rockford Register Star

First Place

Chicago Sun-Times

 General Excellence
Third Place

 Herald & Review, Decatur

Second Place

The Beacon News, Aurora

First Place

 Northwest Herald, Crystal Lake

COMMENTS:Well-rounded, solid package of state, national and local news complemented with readable sports and lifestyle sections. Wheels, Business and Sidetracks give readers great extra value. Well-planned and executed paper. Good, somewhat sassy local editorials. Lots of information. Clearly Number One.

General Excellence
Third Place

Mattoon Journal Gazette

Second Place

Kane County Chronicle, Geneva

First Place
The Register-Mail, Galesburg

COMMENTS:Well-packaged; easy for readers to find specific stories/topics of interest. Nice use of photos. The volleyball (Sept.
12) and basketball (Feb. 9) photos on the lead sports page were particularly impressive. We liked the "At A Glance" on Page 1A and the "Sideline" on 1B, guiding readers to stories they may wish to turn to immediately. Layout is clean, with good use of color. Writing is generally clear and succinct, with nice use of info box graphics inside the A section.

Sports News
Third Place

Nathaniel Whalen
Daily Southtown, Tinley Park
Near perfect

Second Place

Paul Klee
The News-Gazette, Champaign
Memphis hanging hat on Rose's word

First Place

Paul Klee
The News-Gazette, Champaign
Three's Company

COMMENTS:An interesting tale, told in an interesting way and under a tight deadline.  This must have been a real treat for readers.

Sports News
Third Place

 Andy Tavegia
The Times, Ottawa
A Second Chance: Area Golf Tournament Helps Others Survive

Second Place

Dustin Michael Harris
The Naperville Sun
The Reel Deal

First Place

Troy Hayes
Herald & Review, Decatur
 Finding Her Voice

COMMENTS:Finding Her Voice by the Herald & Review’s Troy Hayes makes for captivating, engaging reading. In fact, it has a quality rarely found in newspaper stories of its length – it maintained my interest throughout, and I was actually sorry when the story drew to a close.
 Mr. Hayes draws a portrait of deaf prep student-athlete Tara Holaday of Arcola High School that is honest, insightful, and inspiring though never melodramatic, overly sentimental, or patronizing. After reading this story, I had a very good idea of who Tara is as a person, as a student, and as an athlete. I al almost felt as though I had met her myself. That’s terrific writing!
 I particularly liked the lengthy explanation of how cochlear implants work and how they benefit the deaf, as well as Mr. Hayes’s examination of why exactly Tara refuses to use them. Here reasons for rejecting the implants tell the reader all he needs to know about Tara’s pride, inner strength, self-acceptance and Perseverance.
 I also was impressed with Mr. Hayes’s use of direct quotes to sum up Tara’s worldview. There are some real gems here. For example, she says, “Deaf doesn’t define me, it explains me,” and later, “It’s fun to play sports…I like that I can forget that I’m deaf for a while.” As a reader, I get a real sense of Tara’s wisdom and maturity from just a few carefully-selected words.
 As strong as she is, though, Tara is still faced with various struggles, e.g., trying to convince her parents that an all-deaf college is the right choice for her, trying to keep up with the conversation when in a large group of friends, etc. Again, Mr. Hayes succeeds wonderfully in capturing what it is like to be in Tara Holaday’s shoes.
 The only criticism I have of this story is that the lede is a little weak. It doesn’t engage the reader immediately and is a little drawn-out. Any one of a number of anecdotes (Tara finally delivering her speech in front of the class, or Tara on the basketball court in front of a packed gym, or Tara trying t converse with friends, etc.) would have served as a logical and catchy starting point for his story. Still, that is a minor criticism of an outstanding story which Mr. Hayes obviously toiled over for a long time. And it shows. The attention to detail, inclusion of the many facets of being a deaf student-athlete, the straightforward writing style make this story a winner.

Sports News
Third Place

Kevin Chlum
Daily Chronicle, DeKalb
Knights pull away from BHS

Second Place

Kevin Druley
 The Courier, Lincoln
 Won't forget this Hayes

First Place

Alex Hickey
The Journal-Standard, Freeport
Kings of Pain

COMMENTS:Masterful job of setting the scene and taking the reader there. You had me with the opening sentence-and didn’t disappoint. Good usage of lively verbs and quotes. Very well written.

Sports Columns
Third Place

Randy Kindred
Pantagraph, Bloomington

Second Place

Jim Ruppert
The State Journal-Register, Springfield

First Place

Barry Rozner
Daily Herald, Arlington Heights

COMMENTS:Smooth, conversational and engaging. That's Barry Rozner's style. These qualities augment the writer's obvious command of subject manner, which clearly spans a full range of the world of sports. Barry has a mature perspective and an obvious sense of proportion. His strong vocabulary and command of the language top off his compelling presence as a sports columnist.

Sports Columns
Second Place

Tim Wagner,
The Beacon News, Aurora

First Place

Chris Sosa
Naperville Sun,

COMMENTS:Writer has a nice, readable style; incorporates a comfortable use of narrative; selects interesting subjects for columns and tells their stories well.

Sports Columns
Third Place
 
Mike Cunniff
 Morris Daily Herald

Second Place

Alex Hickey
The Journal-Standard, Freeport

First Place

Jay Schwab
Kane County Chronicle, Geneva

COMMENTS:Good and strong columns that illustrated the emotion of the topics. Columns grab your attention very early

Sports Features
Third Place

John Dietz, Daily Herald
Arlington Heights
From Glory Days to The Meltdown

Second Place

Paul Klee
The News-Gazette, Champaign
The freshman

First Place

Joseph Ryan
Daily Herald, Arlington Heights
Tragedy amid Controversy

COMMENTS:This story stood out among all others in its category because of its originality, news worthiness and meticulous writing. 
It drew from a wide range of sources who were weaved into a compelling, detail-oriented narrative.

Sports Features
Third Place

 Matthew Sprague
The Herald-Whig, Quincy
 Our Boys of Summer

Second Place

Staff
The Beacon News, Aurora
Countdown to 'da Super Bowl

First Place

Paul LaTour
 Naperville Sun
 Ultimate Contradiction

COMMENTS:Superbly written and researched. We thoroughly enjoyed the format. By all counts, this story is the clear winner.

Sports Features
Third Place

Justin Conn
The Register-Mail, Galesburg
Chief’s Last Dance

Second Place

Alex Hickey
The Journal-Standard, Freeport
Blinded by Fate

First Place

Alex Hickey
The Journal-Standard, Freeport
A Reason to be Thankful

COMMENTS:Alex Hickey wonderfully paces us through this narrative of Elizabeth Starliper’s near brush with death, from her initial injury to her ill-fated surgery to the surgeon who pushed through with a diagnosis that saved her life.
And while she won’t be playing sports again, she falls into the category of winners — this in the game of life.
A compelling story, nicely told.

Business
Third Place

Rowena Vergara
Rockford Register Star
Cool Rockford

Second Place

Mike Comerford
Daily Herald, Arlington Heights
McDonald's in China

First Place

Mike Fitzgerald
Belleville News-Democrat
MidAmerica on track for success

COMMENTS: A local airport expands to a cargo hub and the extensive coverage of the News-Democrat gave readers the depth they couldn’t get elsewhere and what it means to the them.

Business
Third Place

Scott Reeder
The Daily Journal, Kankakee
Fly To Flee

Second Place

David Garbe & Andre Salle
The Beacon News, Aurora
What Aurora Could Be

First Place

David Garbe
The Beacon News, Aurora
Testing their mettle

COMMENTS:Extremely well-written. It was like we were there talking to that guy in his kitchen. Written with the authority and sophistication of a reporter who really knows her subject.

Business
First Place

Joanie Stiers, Mike Landis, Ben Botkin
The Register-Mail, Galesburg
Winds of Change

COMMENTS:This was a solid team effort in producing a wide, balanced look at a hot issue that affects everyone. The use of info boxes packs some interesting details into the stories. I especially liked the use of a similar photo up front both days to connect the 2-part series.

Entertainment
Third Place

Sally McKee
Peoria Journal Star
Standing Tall: Amateur Comedians can't stop performing

Second Place

Dan Gire
Daily Herald, Arlington Heights
Who ya gonna call?

First Place

Phil Luciano
Peoria Journal Star
Reliving Nov. 8, 1965

COMMENTS:What a tale! Phil Luciano saw an opportunity to localize the history of a controversial song by a popular country act and seized it. His imagery is brisk, his writing is poetic. He gave meaning and perspective to what the video by Big & Rich was truly about.

Entertainment
Third Place

Mike Mitchell
The Naperville Sun
Glocksen's co-workers stand solidly behind her

Second Place

Craig Wieczorkiewicz
The Times, Ottawa
Coffee and jams

First Place

Jana Thompson
Northwest Herald, Crystal Lake
Stand-up for herself

COMMENTS:We really enjoyed the writer's approach to this story. Going and trying standup comedy herself added an interesting dimension.

Entertainment
Third Place

Peter Krowiak
Morris Daily Herald
Man of Many Sounds

Second Place

Peter Krowiak
Morris Daily Herald
The Circle of Life

First Place

Peter Krowiak,
Morris Daily Herald
King James

COMMENTS:Peter Krowiak takes us to the James Brown concert, really takes us there. By the time you’re done with this story, you’ve lived through the concert and enjoyed it.

Headlines
Third Place

Tony Waf
Joliet Herald News

Second Place

Dean Muellerleile
Peoria Journal Star

First Place

Dean Magnative
Daily Southtown, Tinley Park

COMMENTS:Excellent use of headlines and showed special mastery of the two-word hammer head. To the point without being heavily pun-laden. Works well with outstanding packaging of stories

Headlines
Third Place

Robert Themer
The Daily Journal, Kankakee

Second Place

Tim Yonke
The Daily Journal, Kankakee

First Place

Marc Jenkins
The News-Sun, Waukegan

COMMENTS:Witty, concise, to-the-point headlines that reflect the gist of the stories; the headlines successfully walk the fine line between being eye-catching/reader-appealing and being a little too cute. Not every writer has that talent. Jenkins uses his creative license for sports headline writing well. Nice work.

Headlines
Third Place

Mark Malone
Morris Daily Herald

Second Place

Laura Stakal
Kane County Chronicle, Geneva

First Place

Renita Leichty
Kane County Chronicle, Geneva

COMMENTS:Great, unique takes on stories that could be passed by. Gets the reader to take a second look--with a bit of humor

Informational Graphic
Third Place

Kelley Simms
Rockford Register Star
The Hip Thing

Second Place

Chris Soprych & Kelley Simms
Rockford Register Star
Flight of the Thunderbirds

First Place

Chris Soprych & Margo Pearson
Rockford Register Star
Meet the Press

COMMENTS:Great detail with a lot of small nice touches. We've seen this done before but not with such great overall result.

Informational Graphic
Third Place

Missy Wuellnof
The Telegraph, Alton
Gleaming

Second Place

Mike Bjorklund
The Beacon News, Aurora
Road to Riches

First Place

Scott Nychay
Northwest Herald, Crystal Lake
Rowing: Front Row

COMMENTS:Graphic contains great information that readers need and want to know about. This is the sort of viewer guide that we all need to do more often. Well drawn and full of interesting facts and data. It makes us want to go rowing.

Informational Graphic
Honorable Mention

Adam Nekola
Morris Daily Herald
A Day With Tom

Third Place

Anissa Krause
Pekin Daily Times
 Youth at Risk

Second Place

Anissa Krause
Pekin Daily Times
Understanding your property taxes

First Place

 Anissa Krause
Pekin Daily Times,
Seeing through the Haze

COMMENTS:Overall, interesting combination of photos, fonts and information. Easy to read.

Page Design
Third Place

Chris Grimm
Peoria Journal Star
truth or fiction

Second Place

Dana Croatt
Belleville News-Democrat
Lifestyle

First Place

Linda Fraembs
The State Journal-Register, Springfield
Food--our ultimate Easter Basket

COMMENTS:Very fun, informative, colorful and eye-catching. The subject has virtually universal appeal, making this a "delicious" piece. It pops out, isn't too "heavy" about it and emphasizes fun and flavor in a simple but effective way. Best of all, it's something that can be hung like a poster past Easter season!

Page Design
Third Place

Johnathon Strube
The Beacon News, Aurora,
Bad Water

Second Place

Johnathon Strube
The Beacon News, Aurora
Super Bowl Posters

First Place

 Chris Foster,
The News-Sun, Waukegan
Memories of 9/11

COMMENTS:The judges thought this page design had strong use of photography and text. The typography and photograph combined conveyed a powerful mood and sense of rememberance. This page went beyond eye catching to evoke emotion. It was the most complete design, a well executed concept.

Page Design
Third Place

Inger Koch
Daily Chronicle, DeKalb
Twinkie Twist

Second Place

Anissa Krause
Pekin Daily Times
The Red Thread

First Place

Laura M. Stakal
Kane County Chronicle,Geneva
Bodies found

COMMENTS:Very attractive teasers on top of 1A and overall very good job grabbing attention, especially above the fold. Even black and white contrast is nice. Good labels. Red really tied together well with flag.
Overall design is nice and strong.

Best Newspaper Website
Third Place

Staff
Peoria Journal Star

Second Place

Staff
Chicago Sun-Times

First Place

Staff
Rockford Register Star

COMMENTS:In addition to being a clean, easy-to-navigate Web site, rrstar.com incorporates all of the important elements of a community news site -- breaking news, local focus, community features, databases, multimedia and a strong sense of place. One judge said, "It looks like the newsroom staff is really working to get things ready for the Web throughout the day. Having lots of local updates of substance is great, and they seem to be thinking about the rest of the home page throughout the day, too.
The sum of it makes me feel like I am seeing a carefully considered view of what is important now, not from hours ago."
The inclusion of the Spanish-language and RockfordWoman editions show great insight into audience and offer niche sites in a smart way. The Entertainment section is smartly packaged and easily navigated.
Overall, this site is well-edited, well-presented and obviously well integrated with all aspects of the Rockford newsroom.

Best Newspaper Website
Third Place
 
Staff
The Telegraph, Alton

Second Place

Staff
The Daily Illini, Champaign

First Place

 Mike Weiler & Staff
Northwest Herald, Crystal Lake

COMMENTS:Although all of the newspaper sites submitted were of a high caliber, we think that the Northwest Herald takes community journalism to the next level with the interactivity of their site.  They make good use of multi-media and offer numerous ways for readers to connect not only with the news staff but the community at large. The site has a clean design, is easy to navigate and the drop-down menus and subheads keep everything organized.
Highlights:
 The use of a “Morning Edition” banner to distinguish the a.m. edition and the “Today’s Most-Discussed Stories” feature give the site a sense of timeliness.
 Multi-media: The Herald’s site offers local content video, photo and audio slideshows which they have managed to seamlessly integrate with the AP video feed.
 The in-depth Opinion section offers editorials, letters, endorsements, columnists and cartoons. Comment area also included in the letters section that appears to be well-used by readers.
 Special section PDFs, where each page of the printed section is available to view
 The Herald was the only contestant that offered a downloadable PDF of the front page of the daily paper .
 Newspaper ads and coupons are categorized by topic.
 Staff blogs provide a conversational, behind-the-scenes outlet for writers
 Interactivity: Reader polls, local stories, multi-media and letters section all have reader comment areas.
 Content: The site offers a comprehensive overview of all aspects of life in Northwest Illinois with news and sports coverage, briefs, business, neighbors, police blotter, weather, lottery, announcements, story archives, ads, recipes and more.

Best Newspaper Website
Second Place

Ken Exum
Register Mail, Galesburg

First Place

Adam Nekola & Rob Showers
Morris Daily Herald

COMMENTS:The Morris Daily Herald was the clear winner of the two, the use of top navigation makes the site easy to navigate. Also just putting the headlines up for local news makes room for a lot of news to be placed above the fold.
Nice use of top navigation.
Multimedia box is well done, I’d make the three links across the top do something though.
Photoblog was fun to read.
Great use of ads, standard sizes. Kind of placed helter-skelter, but hey, it’s all about revenue this year remember!

Matt Hanley
The Beacon News, Aurora
Enterprise reporting, Bad Water

COMMENTS:Great example of storytelling combined with a hard news story. The subject matter is compelling and scary, handled with a deft hand. The package includes plenty of explanatory information about how any of us could be exposed to the same danger and what local officials are doing to protect us. The profiles were short and readable so each one made a big impact. Despite the harrowing accounts from these Nicor workers, the reporter was fair in presenting the company's actions and position. This was a hard-to-beat package of stories.

Staff
Register-Mail, Galesburg
Enterprise reporting: A four-part series, The Poverty Among Us

COMMENTS:Galesburg Register-Mail Staff, Tom Martin editor: 1st-place finisher in Division C Enterprise A four-part series on "The Poverty Among Us"

This entry stood out among a very good group of individual category winners. It's no wonder it won the Enterprise competition: It is a standout piece, well researched, extremely thorough and very well written.

It details the community's plight after the closing of two factories there through 18 stories, 12 summary boxes, 20 locally created charts and graphs, and 29 pictures. Most importantly, the series raised an issue to the surface that most of the community wasn't aware of.

Pieces like this are what community newspaper reporting at smalltown newspapers is all about.