WHEELING — The Dominion Post of Morgantown has earned the West Virginia Press Association’s top honor: Newspaper of the Year.
The newspaper excelled in the advertising division earning first place in General Excellence in the West Virginia Press Association’s Advertising Competition. The Dominion Post also scored very well in the editorial competition. It’s combined high overall score in the two contests earned The Dominion Post the 2013 Newspaper of the Year title.
The Dominion Post’s achievement ended a string of seventh straight titles for The Times West Virginian of Fairmont, which had earned the honor each year since it was established.
Editor Geri Ferrarra, managing editor Pam Queen, advertising director Eric Wilson and sales manager Brad Pennington were among the many Dominion Post employees on hand at Oglebay Resort to hear the announcement at the close of the WVPA’s three-day summer convention.
“This is an incredible achievement and is a tribute to the management and staff of The Dominion Post,” said Don Smith, executive director of the WVPA. “Not only does the Dominion Post provide an excellent newspaper for the residents of the Morgantown region, it also has a statewide and national readership, providing an outstanding example of the type of journalism produced in West Virginia.”
The Newspaper of the Year honor was awarded based on the paper’s performance in the advertising and editorial contests. The distinction is given to the state newspaper that earns the most cumulative points in the WVPA’s Better Newspaper Contest for advertising and editorial divisions, regardless of size or circulation.
Newspapers across the state compete in four circulation groups, two each for daily and weekly newspapers in both contests. The editorial contest has 29 categories, ranging from Coverage of Government Affairs to Best Sports Feature Writing and Best Editorial Page. In 2013, 40 newspapers entered 2,216 entries. In the advertising contest, there were 17 categories, ranging from Best Small Ad Campaign to Best Process Color Ad and Best Progress Edition. In 2013, 29 newspapers entered 1,324 entries.
