Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: The Tribune-Phonograph Entry Title: Move Forward; The Best Shot; Good Intentions, Strange Process Entry Credit: Neal Hogden, Kevin O'Brien Judge Comment: An effort to recall for Republicans the will of voters, not of the party . . .
an attempt to put a COVID-19 quarantine in perspective . . .
Making sense of a police initiative seeking donations to save their jobs.
These editorials are a matter of perspective, and the writer shouts them out with calm sense. Good narrative writing leading to measured conclusions and calls to act . . . or at least a "calm" perspective.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: The Edgerton Reporter Entry Title: Tobacco Days; Times to move on murals; Silverwood Park Entry Credit: Diane Everson Judge Comment: •Tobacco: "Enjoy and be proud. . ." not necessarily of the subject, but of its community heritage. A well-focused explanation and support of community festival.
•Murals: A call to hoist this community's features and attractions to its historic walls -- for tourists and for local residents to view and reflect on their significance.
•Silverwood: A salute to a woman of foresight who made a significant land donation to her community.
Good narrative writing brings these messages to readers. They are conversations, one to one. They tell stories and deliver a message to ponder.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Sun Prairie Star Entry Title: Council needs to correct irresponsible Kwik Trip vote Entry Credit: Christopher Mertes Judge Comment: •CUP: on target and written with direct action suggested. However, having the "legal" aspects attributed to a state source would would support the edit's contentions and conclusion.
•Transparency: A bold, critical, scolding reaction to the municipality's closed-meeting vote; well written, though some elements repeated.
•Thankful: Lot's of thankfulness, but a rambling unlinked essay. Needed a conclusion before the wishfulness.
Keenly focused, mostly, on community. First two samples had purpose and direction. Decent writing, but some aggressiveness could have been "softened" to preserve the intent of the message.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Courier Sentinel Entry Title: Community support needed for fireworks display; Use the right tool for the job; Balance needed on Lake Holcombe Entry Credit: Brian Wilson Judge Comment: Fireworks: Last 'graph should be at top, maybe the second 'graph. Took awhile to figure the targeted message. Tools: Again, the last 'graph should be up front, number 2 at least. Lake Holcombe: Still again, final 2 'graphs should be 3 and 4 in this edit. Now for the messages' evaluation: Excellent focus on issues critical and relevent to the local community and neighborhoods. Good writing, good analogies, good anecdotes. The "Editorial Board" message should be at end, not at top of edits. Get the message out first, then let readers know who to challenge.
Competition Comment: Each entry focused on community, with some exceptions tossed aside, Probably the most impressive messages were narrations directed to readers. First-person accounts failed to lead readers to conclusions, and analytical essays would send readers on to other epistles. Leadership is essential in editorials, not just excoriating essays to satisfy an objection. Write for/to readers. Give them a message that leads to THEIR action/reaction. Leave storytelling to other sections of the newspaper.
