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The Almanac won the top award in the annual state-wide “Better Newspaper Contest,” conducted by the California Newspaper Publishers Association, it was announced Saturday.
The Almanac won in the category of “general excellence” among weekly newspapers with a circulation between 11,000 and 25,000.
First-place awards were won by the Almanac in two other categories: public service and feature writing. A second-place prize was awarded in the “freedom of information” category, which recognizes efforts by newspapers to gain public access to information about government activities.
A certificate of merit was awarded for environmental reporting by staff writer David Boyce.
The awards, recognizing work done during 2006, were announced at the CNPA annual meeting Saturday at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
“The depth of coverage, while not shortcutting on the basics, makes this newspaper quite impressive,” said the CNPA judges in awarding the “general excellence” prize.
Public service
The public service award was given for a cover story by News Editor Renee Batti, and editorials by publisher Tom Gibboney, that focused on controversial decisions and practices by the Menlo Park City Council when it was controlled by the majority of Nicholas Jellins, Mickie Winkler and Lee Duboc.
The March 15 cover story — “How public is the process?” — examined three issues that had roiled the community: the privatization of the city’s new aquatics center, and attempts to allow a golf course to be built at Bayfront Park and to privatize the city’s child care services. Editorials criticized the council majority’s actions, lack of openness and circumvention of the public process.
Here is a link to the March 15 story: http://www.almanacnews.com/story.php?story_id=1358
Feature writing
Ms. Batti’s cover story on the disinfectant chloramine, which had been added to the Bay Area’s drinking water in 2004, won the feature writing award. The story gave accounts of people who have suffered severe health problems since the substance was added.
Here is a link to the story: http://www.almanacnews.com/story.php?story_id=1682
Freedom of information
The “freedom of information” award was given for stories by staff writer Andrea Gemmet on the refusal of the Atherton city attorney to disclose information about an investigation into improprieties in the town’s building department, which oversees home construction projects in town.
The stories reported allegations of favoritism and numerous examples of a department rife with questionable practices. At the center of the imbroglio was a private investigator’s report on an eight-month investigation into improprieties by building department staff. Atherton’s city attorney Marc Hynes, claiming it was a confidential personnel matter, refused requests, not just by the public but by the council itself, to see the report.
The Almanac’s reporting and an editorial resulted in a partial victory, with council members given access to the report. Although the newspaper’s public information act request was denied, an investigation by the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury turned up evidence of employee misconduct and blamed senior town officials for failing to take action.
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