Keizertimes wins first prize for overall excellence

The Keizertimes won five first prizes in the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association’s 2023 Better Newspaper Contest during their summer conference at Eagle Crest Resort near Redmond.

The paper won first place for general excellence. The Keizertimes won the Elmo Smith Award of General Excellence, for its division.

Other first prizes awarded to the Keizertimes were for:

• Best News Reporting, Quinn Stoddard, for his story Keizer’s Invisible Population, about the city’s homeless population.

• Best Educational Coverage for a special section on Chemeketa Community College, awarded to staff;

• Best special section for the 2023 KeizerFEST guide, presented to the staff;

• Best Photo Essay, to Joshua Manes for his photographs of Blue Day at McNary High School.

The Keizertimes also won one second place and three third places.
The staff was recognized with a second place finish for Best Special Section for the 2023 High School Football Season Preview.

The three third places for the Keizertimes went to;

• Best News Story for Madi Lietz, for her story about McNary High School Principal Erik Jespersen’s idea for on-school child care for staff and students.

• Best Lifestyle Reporting to Robin Barney and Lyndon Zaitz for Spotlight on Keizer’s Doers;

Joshua Manes won the third prize for Best Sports Story, With his pen on paper.

At the same convention, Les Zaitz, owner of Keizertimes and Malheur Enterprise in Vale, Oregon, was inducted into the Oregon Newspaper Hall of Fame, a prestigious honor.

The 2023 contest was judged by members of the Oklahoma Press Association.