Return to Archived Stories

Jacobson received a second place award for Best Agriculture Story and a third place award for Best Environmental Story.

Both awards came in the same class: nondaily division, circulation under 6,000. The Press has a circulation of 2,700.

His winning ag story featured the businesslike approach that Allan and Julie Zenner use on their Lake Henry dairy farm. The Zenners had placed ninth in 2002 in a national farm contest for best management practices. That story was published on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2003.

(The 2004 Better Newspaper Contest covers entries from the 2003 calendar year.)

His third-place prize covered the lake management plan established by the Rice Lake Association and the Koronis Lake Association. That plan directs water-quality improvement efforts in the 311-sq.-mi. lakeshed for Rice Lake and Lake Koronis. That story was published on Wednesday, June 18, 2003. Both stories are available online at www.paynesvillearea.com in the archives for weekly news stories.

These are the sixth and seventh national awards for the Press. Jacobson won a third-place award in 2002 for an in-depth series, and the Press won a third-place award in 1982 for typography. (The Press also won three honorable mention awards in 1982 and 1983.)

Nine Minnesota newspapers won awards in the national Better Newspaper Contest this year, including the Hutchinson Leader, the Litchfield Independent, and the Kerkhoven Banner.