DAVIS, W.Va. – Four West Virginia newspapers earned first-place General Excellence awards, which honor outstanding achievement by circulation division, in the 2017 West Virginia Press Association’s Advertising Awards Competition.
The General Excellence Award winners are Charleston Gazette-Mail and The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington in a tie in Division 1; The Exponent Telegram of Clarksburg Division 2; The Spirit of Jefferson in Division 3; Moorefield Examiner in Division 4.
The Daily Athenaeum won the 2017 Advertisement of the Year with its online promo advertisement: http://www.thedaonline.com/app/pdf/DAPromoVideo.mp4
The results of the annual competition, which honors excellence in newspaper advertising sales and design, were announced Friday, Aug. 4, during a luncheon at Canaan Valley Resort.
“The West Virginia Press Association is extremely honored to recognize these newspapers and their advertising staff,” said Don Smith, executive director of the West Virginia Press Association. Readers throughout West Virginia are able to see such great design and creative work on a daily or weekly basis and now this work has been recognized on a state level. The talent seen at these newspapers is a great example of why newspaper advertising works in West Virginia. An outstanding collection of entries was submitted this year. All the winners should be very proud.”
Newspapers across the state compete in four circulation groups, two each for daily and weekly newspapers. The contest has 24 categories, ranging from Best Small Ad Campaign to Best Process Color Ad and Best Progress Edition. In 2017, 23 newspapers submitted more than 2,000 entries. The overall awards for General Excellence are based on total points earned in the basic categories.
For General Excellence, the West Virginia Press Association recognized three places in each division. The newspapers recognized for General Excellence in advertising in 2017 were as follows:
Division I (Dailies over 16,000 circulations):
— 1st Place – TIE Charleston Gazette-Mail and The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington
— 2nd Place – The Dominion Post
— 3rd Place – The Register-Herald of Beckley
Division II (Dailies 16,000 and under):
— 1st Place – The Exponent Telegram of Clarksburg
— 2nd Place – The Bluefield Daily Telegraph
— 3rd Place – The Inter-Mountain of Elkins
Division III (Weeklies over 4,000):
— 1st Place – The Spirit of Jefferson
— 2nd Place – The Times Record of Spencer
— 3rd Place – The Preston County Journal & Preston County News
Division IV (Weeklies 4,000 and under):
— 1st Place – Moorefield Examiner
— 2nd Place – The Princeton Times
— 3rd Place – The Shepherdstown Chronicle
For more information on the ad contest of the WVPA, contact Smith at 304-550-0454