LVN captures 12 state, national newspaper awards

The Lahontan Valley News and its staff won nine awards Saturday night at the Nevada Press Association’s annual convention in Elko.

Editor Steve Ranson won a first-place award in Best Explanatory Journalism for his eight-part series on embedding with two Nevada Army National Guard units in Afghanistan.

This was the second time Ranson covered Nevada Army National Guard troops in Afghanistan, the first trip occurring in 2011.

Ranson’s editorial “Band-aid solutions do not work” placed third in Editorial of the Year, a category open to all newspapers including the Las Vegas Review Journal and Reno Gazette Journal.

The LVN garnered four second-place award to include Steve Puterski’s “Riding the Pine” in Best Sports Column, Rick Seley’s “Almost Clever” Best Non-staff Column, Dave Price’s account of the North Maine Street Ballpark in Best Sports Feature and David C. Henley’s “My Turn” in Best Local Column.

Thomas Ranson took third in Best Sports Column with “Behind the Plate,” and the LVN earned third place for General Excellence.

Most awards are divided among five classes. The LVN is in Class II, involving newspapers printed more than once a week with circulation of less than 15,000.

The Nevada Press Association is the trade organization for the state’s newspaper industry. It represents seven daily and 35 weekly newspapers in Nevada and the Lake Tahoe region of Northern California and is led by former Barry Smith.

The National Newspaper Association also announced its winners in the Better Newspaper Contest.

Steve Ranson was awarded first place in Best Feature Photo for portraying a young boy waiving an American flag at the 2012 Fallon Fourth of July parade.

He also placed second in Best Feature Story with an account of retired Navy Capt. Carroll Lefon, who died in a jet crash at Naval Air Station Fallon in February 2012.

Price was awarded second place for his feature on the North Maine Street Ballpark.

Established in 1885, the National Newspaper Association is a not-for-profit trade association representing the owners, publishers and editors of America’s community newspapers. NNA’s mission is to protect, promote and enhance America’s community newspapers. Today, NNA’s 2,200 members make it the largest national newspaper association.