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DIVISION I (circulation of 250,001-plus and all non-newspaper entries)
DIVISION II (circulation of 100,001 to 250,000)
DIVISION III (circulation of 50,001 to 100,000)
DIVISION IV (circulation of 50,000 or under)
DIVISION V (staff category)
DIVISION VI (student publications)
(Note: To avoid
any conflict of interest, judges did not receive and were not allowed
to vote on entries from their own newspapers. Decisions on those
entries were made solely by the three other judges. Entrants' photos appear if submitted.)
DIVISION
I
Newspapers with circulations of more than 250,000 and
all non-newspaper entries ($500 in cash and an engraved plaque)
Judges:
Douglas Backstrom, copy/slot editor, Chicago Sun-Times (chairman)
Jake Jacobson, news editor, The Kansas City Star
Carol Carpenter, copy editor, Times-Picayune
Gene Foreman, Foster professor, Pennsylvania State University
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DUNN
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Winner:
Rachel Dunn, Los Angeles Times
Judges’ comments:
Travelers
in cold,
then hot
water
Pair walk and swim to
cross Bering Strait, only
to be detained in Russia
for border violations
As the deck explains, these two men walked and swam to cross
the Bering Strait, only to be detained in Russia for border violations.
The allusion to "water" works literally and figuratively.
Wombs
for rent,
cheap
Surrogate mothers
in India are a bargain
for foreigners, and the
women reap a bonanza.
But some observers say
they pay a price.
Nice wordplay in a difficult one-column headline over a story
about how women in India offer their services at low prices for
foreigners seeking surrogate mothers.
Fear and
posing in
Baghdad
In a city where
violence defies logic and
nearly anyone could be
on a hit list, pretending
to be someone else
makes sense
Again, the deck explains the story succinctly. The “posing”
wordplay is a bit strained for me.
Forget haute,
it’s plain hot
The sheen in Paris is
sweat, not glamour. And
air conditioning? That’s
just a “bourgeosis deal.”
This head about the Paris heat wave is amplified nicely by the
deck.
In Caracas, the poor shall
inherit the golf course
In Caracas, authorities are going to seize two elite country
clubs and build houses for low-income tenants. An outstanding head.
What I found most refreshing about Dunn’s headlines is that she
moves away from the boring formula headline, but still is able to
keep it simple and interesting. A reader doesn't have to know the
specific details in a head, he just needs to have his curiosity piqued.
This is surely done in “Wombs” and “Forget Haute.” I just want to know more
about these stories. And in some cases, the heads are MUCH more
interesting than the copy itself.
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WALSH
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Award of Excellence:
Bill Walsh, The Washington Post
Judges’ comments:
In dog genome,
scientists see
man’s best hope
Tells the story -- the dog genome may make dogs the chief
tool for understanding people’s genetic diseases. “Man’s best hope”
is nice wordplay.
The senator’s gentile rebuke
Sen. George Allen said a questioner cast “aspersions” by
asking about the possibility that he has Jewish ancestors. Wordplay
works for me.
Needless to say, there's nothing spectacular about these headlines.
However, I've found the simple phrase works well with readers. Yes,
attention-grabbers and terrific word plays (Haute, hot) get notice
and awards, but Walsh’s heads are easy on the eyes and brain. Readers
are spending less time with newspapers, so the simpler the head,
the better.
It's who? You know
That meddlin' town? Some chafe at council's reach
To spend less
on gas, lose
the spare tire
DIVISION
II
Circulations between 100,001 and 250,000 ($500 in cash
and an engraved plaque)
Judges:
Brian Throckmorton, copy chief, Lexington Herald-Leader (chairman)
Barbara Tarshes, news editor, (Riverside, Calif.) Press-Enterprise
Nancy L. Cherry, co-copy desk chief, The (Bergen, N.J.) Record
Raleigh Mann, associate professor emeritus, University of North
Carolina
Winner:
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DONAHUE
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Peter Donahue, The Providence Journal
Judges’ comments:
Defending their rite
(overline:) A hoped-for equality found in Canada
(deck:) Frank Ferri and Tony Caparco, and Dr. Andrew Snyder and
Robert Waters, recently legally wed in Canada, say they’ll
continue to fight for gay marriage in Rhode Island
“Defending their rite” shows readers that this story is about
marriage between members of the same sex. Donahue’s deck does a
good job of filling in key details. It’s fact-rich, and it leaves
no question in the reader’s mind. Good job. … I love the way this
headline subtly reinforces the fact that these weddings are a ‘rite’ but
not a ‘right.’ The phrase includes non-standard use of the spelling of ‘right,’
helping lead the reader to understand that the weddings are not
considered standard yet. Elegant!
Many, many months of Mae
(overline:) Friends, relatives celebrate her 107 years
(deck:) Rhode Island’s oldest resident lives life to the fullest
We’ve all handled or seen this type of story, but contestant
used all the right keywords (107, oldest, Rhode Island) to tell
the news and also inject life & humanity (friends, relatives,
celebrate) into the story. And if that weren’t enough, the main
head was a clever and perfect setup for the article that could have stood
alone as a lure if the layout hadn’t been as generous with headline
specs. …This is the strongest headline in this entry. It seizes
the reader and delivers the story’s center succinctly. Mae has indeed
lived many, many months, probably to the fullest. … the alliteration
helps establish the feature-y tone of the story. And for some reason,
‘many, many months’ is much more effective than just ‘107 years’ at making
me feel what it must be like to be that old.
Taking it up at City Hall
Steeplejack
rises to the
challenge
to fix flagpole
Here again, a common occurrence (replacement of a flag) has
been handled expertly. Kudos to the photographer and/or assignment
editor who saw the news in this and elevated (no pun intended) the
package to a display position. Otherwise this could have been a
routine stand-alone photo and caption that said “Flag replaced at City Hall.”
The photo itself is compelling but Donahue ran with it. People every
day have issues they raise with their government, so he took the
common phrase ‘Taking it up at City Hall’ and used it literally.
And then he completed his mission in the drop head by telling the
reader what the ‘issue’ is -- steeplejack rises to the challenge to fix flagpole.
… Headline and deck deliver key information adequately without grabbing the
reader. … Evocative and interesting without being cute or trying too hard.
Getting ‘city hall’ in
such a prominent place really helps the story, since we can’t see
any of the building itself.
Feat accomplished,
arches can finally rest
Workers ease and install the
new Providence River
bridge -- part of the Route
195 relocation project --
atop its piers
Headline adequately summarizes its story, but the deck does
the heavy lifting (sorry!) that tells the reader what it’s really
about. The writer missed an opportunity here to express the unusual
way the engineers used the tide to lower the arch into place. …
The play on feet and arches matches the story’s light tone, with its reference
to ‘a natural delivery.’ The wordplay is so subtle that a lot of
readers probably missed it, but Donahue used it so dexterously that
the joke didn’t obstruct the headline’s main task. Those readers
who did notice it were rewarded with a little day-brightener.
Tray bien!
Waiters hurry through a course -- and are careful
not to tip -- in annual Bastille Day race
Playing on a French phrase works in this case because the event
was held on Bastille Day. The deck delivers the goods to tell the
reader exactly what to expect from the story. Effective. … Très/tray
-- the writer found a very economical way of conveying “waiter”
and “French” in just four letters, without any unwanted overtones of
meaning. Donahue’s headlines are clear, concise and clever, immediately inviting
the reader into the story. Plus, they work perfectly with the art
to provide a package that screams: must read me! Others had two,
three or four strong headlines in a portfolio of additional entries,
but Donahue had five terrific headline packages. He left me wanting
to see more of his work. … Three of Donahue’s heads and decks serve the reader
well, and the other two do an adequate job of delivering the news
clearly.
Award of Excellence:
Rebecca Young, News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.
Judges’ comments:
Say ‘toy boat’ 5,000 times
A Gig Harbor resident has
collected toy boats since he was
a toddler. You can see 800 of
them at the Working Waterfront
Maritime Museum in Tacoma.
This headline makes me smile. … This head invites me to interact,
it makes a sound in my head, and it conjures an appropriate sense
of fun.
Steaks on a plane
(overline:) New security rules force creativity
(deck:) Food sellers that cater to tourists
scramble for solutions to the new ban
on carrying cold packs onto airplanes.
Customers at Seattle’s Pike Place
Market check or ship their salmon.
With all the plays on that stupid movie title, this is one that
works. In this case, carrying steaks is almost as ripe for disaster
as snakes. … The headline writer pounced on this cliché while
it was still fresh and viable. The word ‘plane’ really helps introduce
that angle of the story, which is not at all evident from the photograph.
Win me the little boat, please, Dad!
(photo overline)
Another that makes me smile. … Wow! An amazing photo, with
a headline that makes it even better. This headline slam-dunks the
intended humorous context and takes it one step beyond, inviting
the reader to imagine a gigantic kid and an even more gigantic dad
in this play on scale.
A gal just can't resist a sperm donor who loves his mom
(overline:) Mr. 401 is a popular guy
(deck:) A certain sperm donor who
has fathered 11 kids so far is
6-foot-4 and has a waiting
list. Moms of his biological
children have become pals.
This sold me on the story so much I read it. … The headline
promises lots of intriguing details. It capitalizes on the strengths
of the story instead of showboating for its own sake.
A NASA guy's fantasy: A look
at Victoria Crater's secrets
The little brief headline that could.
DIVISION
III
Circulations of 50,001 to 100,000 ($500 in cash and
an engraved plaque)
Judges:
Sara Hendricks, assistant managing editor, Victoria (Texas)
Advocate (chairwoman)
Amanda Hiatt, copy editor/news researcher, Winston Salem (N.C.)
Journal
Nick Jungman, senior editor, The Wichita Eagle
Courtney Semple, executive news editor, Florida Today
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ROEHRMAN
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Winner:
Michael Roehrman, Wichita Eagle
Will Pluto stay
a planet? It
looks remote
(overline: ) Planetary definitions
Pruning its branches
To grow, library board looks at closings
Hungry fair visitors
stick with impaled food
2 days,
several
knights
(overline:) Great Plains Renaissance Festival
Legoland clicks with Olathe
If approved,
the resort and
theme park
would open in
2009 on 300
acres
Judges' comments:
I voted for Roehrman because in most of his entries, his
play on words worked the way they should -- not just taking a phrase
and twisting it to fit a purpose but making sure the pun worked
on both levels, playing off both the current concept and the original
meaning. “Will Pluto stay a planet? It looks remote:” Works in that, first,
it's accurate, and second, it's clever AND appropriate in tone. Other particularly
noteworthy headlines: “Pruning its branches/To grow, library board
looks at closings” and “Hungry fair visitors stick with impaled
food.”
No Award of Excellence given
DIVISION
IV
Circulations of 50,000 or less ($500 in cash and an
engraved plaque)
Judges:
John Russial, associate professor, University of Oregon (chairman)
Jane S. Baskett, senior copy editor, Dallas Morning News
Bill MacFadyen, president, Malamute Ventures
Sarah Reddoch, chief copy editor, The (Elizabethtown, Ky.) News-Enterprise
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THOMSEN
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Winner:
Jim Thomsen, Kitsap Sun (Portfolio A)
The death of a
thousand drips
(overline:) Stormwater troubles
(deck:) Reducing stormwater pollution is essential
to saving Puget Sound, officials say, and local
studies may point the way. You can help, too.
Conducting unbecoming?
BI orchestra leader quits
(deck: ) ‘Challenging’ is how conductor Alan Futterman refers
to his style. But others with the Bainbridge
Symphony group say he was ‘demeaning.’
Sisterhood of the traveling chaps
(deck:) The four entrants
in the Fair &
Stampede Queen
pageant are more
friends than rivals.
All dressed up, everywhere to go
(overline:) Festival Fun / The season begins
(deck 1: ) Armed Forces Day /
Downtown Bremerton
paradegoers say the event is
an annual kick in the brass
(deck 2: ) Viking fest / Lutefisk?
Check. Goofy hats with
horns? Check. More people
attending than ever? Check!
Our pay just
isn’t making
the grade, say
OC instructors
State lawmakers get
a near-tearful earful
at a Friday forum
on education issues
Judges’ comments:
All of these headlines generally stand on their own in describing
their stories and inviting in readers. They’re clever without being
cute, and they’re tough counts with full lines to boot.
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PAGE
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Award of Excellence:
Barbara Kerr Page, Albuquerque Tribune
Good news: Beer helps the prostate.
Bad: You’d be sloshed beyond caring.
Click! You've got male! (Thanks, I'll pass)
Alito’s flip-flops fit Bush’s footprints
You want a gamer name that’s BigBadLeroyNoun
(column label: ) My digital toybox
Brawn. James Brawn.
New 007 emerges as an intriguing brute in an ace of a role
Judges’ comments:
Not available
DIVISION
V (staff)
Staff entries from publications of any size (engraved
plaque for the publication and a framed certificate for each contributor)
Judges:
Vince Rinehart, copy desk chief, The Washington Post (chairman)
Scott Rohrer, copy desk chief, National Journal
Rich Holden, executive director, Dow Jones Newspaper Fund
Bill Cloud, associate professor, University of North Carolina
Winner:
Minneapolis Star Tribune
(Michiela Thuman, Courtnay Peifer, Barbara Haugen, Nan Williams,
Holly Collier, Steve Fisher, Vince Tuss, Bob Kyle)
Thief st ikes again
(overline for a photo of a sign from which the “Rs” are missing)
He (subject)
teaches (verb)
grammar (object)
Mike Greiner is old-school
about teaching students
how sentences are built,
despite what one student
wrote: ‘You’re torturing us.’
Could you, would you, try the beets?
Would you eat veggies at your school? Would you say jicama
is cool? Yes we will eat them in our school! Jicama is very cool!
Surveying bodies politic, magazine rates Rybak as fittest mayor
She’s happy --
and she knows it
When Happy, a Bronx Zoo elephant, and
two of her cohorts were given a mirror,
they used it to look inside their mouths and
study their ears – signs they’re self-aware
and cognitively elite, researchers say
To catch a thief: Try the ol’ mini-cam-in-the-chair trick
An apartment resident solved her own mystery by catching the
caretaker in the act. A special note on a dollar bill sealed the
deal
(jump head:) Champlin woman catches thief red-handed, red-faced
She ‘lived, laughed, loved, cried’
-- and wrote it all before she died
Yvonne Henning penned her own obituary and left many spirits
At church or track,
priest cast his lot
with the long shots
Don’t be chicken of the sea
Two major studies have found that the health benefits
of eating seafood outweigh the risk of mercury exposure
A leaping bass-eye? Call it artistic license
A fish that leaps like a bass but
looks a bit like a walleye is on
Minnesota’s next conservation
license plate, due out in ‘07
Judges’ comments:
I thought they were all very clever and different, doing
more than using word plays. I especially enjoyed “Thief st ikes
again” and “He (subject) teaches (verb) grammar (object).” In addition,
the heads didn’t leave me puzzled as to what the story was about.
… The Star-Tribune’s heads did a good functional job of letting readers
know what the story was about. And their own language was by turns poetic
and emotional and funny, as the tone and subject of the stories
demanded; there was also a nice variety in approaches. You could
hear individual headline writers’ voices in these heads, but they
didn’t overwhelm the story. I loved the delightful evocation of
Dr. Seuss in “Could you, would you, try the beets?” and the understated wit
of “Surveying bodies politic, magazine rates Rybak as fittest mayor.”
Award of Excellence:
The New York Times (Portfolio A)
(Jeanne Pinder, Jean Rutter, Lisanne Renner, George Kaplan, Marlene
Bagley, Harvey Dickson, Hubert Herring, Jake Doherty, Kyle Massey,
Ron Wertheimer, Eric Nagourney)
The well-dressed salad
wears only homemade
Newly petite
in skin
that's XL
(kicker:) Skin deep
(deck:) After major weight loss.
many patients face the ordeal
of body contouring surgeries
Tutus and testosterone: Men behaving balletically
Vote makes it official: Pluto isn't what is used to be
(deck:) A congress of
astronomers sends the
ninth planet packing
U.S. hybrids
get more miles
per Congress
When abs are tight,
but lips are loose
Dancers have landed in Iraq.
Marines offer no resistance
Meddler on the roof
Wooz E. Coyote
(photo headline)
Ernest Schwiebert, who'd rather be fishing, dies at 74
Judges’ comments:
There wasn’t a weak head in the bunch, and most of the heads
were simply outstanding -- “Tutus and Testosterone: Men Behaving
Balletically;” “When Abs Are Tight, But Lips Are Loose;” “Dancers
Have Landed in Iraq. Marines Offer No Resistance” especially. …
I think great headlines are often a form of “channeling” for the writer of
the piece. Headlines like “Meddler on the Roof” for a review of
a new musical production of “Mary Poppins” were perfect in that
way. The conversationalism of these headlines stands out; so do
the knowing, appropriate and funny cultural references. “Wooz E. Coyote,”
over a photo of a tranquilized coyote nabbed in Central Park, made me laugh
out loud.
DIVISION
VI (student publications)
Judges:
Jerry Sass, associate professor, University of Nebraska (chairman)
Zac Dillon, associate editor, Ascend Media, and 2005 ACES Headline
Contest Award of Excellence winner in category
Missy Prebula, copy editor, The New York Times
Gerald Price, chief copy editor, Antelope Valley (Calif.) Press
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RAAB
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Winner:
Lauren Raab, The Daily Bruin (University of California, Los Angeles)
Please ask,
please tell --
the quiet is
taking a toll
Time for Democrats to start braying
Republicans grab center stage by being outrageous,
so liberals should take a hint and drop the polite rhetoric
iPod song shuffle
plays on emotions
Conservatism doesn’t always cover the naughty bits
Hitting the books -- and, oh yeah, the ball
Judges’ comments:
Raab showed a nice range and consistency through her portfolio,
which stood head and shoulders above the rest. It’s obvious she
took extra time to consider the nuances of her headlines rather
than -- as many of us do -- grabbing the first bit of wordplay that
came to mind and forcing it to work. The headlines were accurate, appropriate,
intelligent, conversational and catchy. As a bonus, the supporting display
type like blurbs and lead-ins played well off the main heads without
repeating language, and they added another facet to the overall
package. Nice work throughout.
No Award of Excellence given
-- Compiled by ACESnews / American Copy Editors Society / www.copydesk.org
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