Independent wins two awards in statewide newspaper contest

The Michigan Press Association announced, in time for this week’s celebration of National Newspaper Week, that the Belleville-Area Independent has earned two awards among all entrants in its category statewide.
The Independent won third place in News Enterprise Reporting for the “Court Watching” series written by Diane Madigan and Rosemary K. Otzman.
Otzman also won an honorable mention for her “Extra Things I Know” column in the Local Columnist category.
Three examples of the “Court Watching” series were entered in the contest by the Independent with this explanation:
“We’ve had a lot of police stories where people were arrested, but then it was impossible to get the ends of those stories. Some were let free; some were sentenced to many years in prison.
“The local police didn’t know the ends of the stories because the county prosecutor’s office was too busy to let them know. Often, the court sessions went on and on until the case was finalized. We started following the cases at district court and then to circuit court in Detroit, which was a big project.
“We ultimately named our series ‘Court Watching’ and were able to get a local writer to help follow the cases. It’s been a very popular series and police, especially, are very interested to know how their stories end.”
The judge noted on the Extra Things I Know column: “I loved the snapshots of community events, people, and decisions. The writer is clearly tuned into her local community.”
Members of the Nebraska Press Association reviewed 3,108 entries submitted by 114 Michigan newspapers when they judged the 2013 Michigan Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.
The Independent enters in the Weekly Class C category, which covers newspapers with circulations from 4,000 to 9,999. The Independent has a circulation of 7,000.
The 2013 awards will be framed and hung on the office walls with all the other MPA awards the Independent has won since the paper started publishing in 1995.