Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Santa Maria Times Entry Title: Santa Maria Times General Excellence Entry Credit: Santa Maria Times Staff Judge Comment: Lots of locally bylined A1 content and four local sports bylines. Good reader engagement. The design was uneven page to page, with many seas of gray inside and a lack of photos.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Chico Enterprise-Record Entry Title: Chico Enterprise-Record Entry Credit: Chico Enterprise-Record Staff Judge Comment: Clean design and well-done Opinion page. A1 featured a poignant story by a photographer whose father's store, the only one in Berry Creek, burned down. The photos were top notch
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Napa Valley Register Entry Title: Napa Valley Register Entry Credit: Staff Judge Comment: Good use of photos and a beautifully designed Opinion page. 10 Things We've Learned about COVID is a terrific reader service. Would benefit from a better editorial voice and smaller A1 promos, which reduce the size of the front page's real estate.
Place Name: Fourth Place Contestant Name: Marin Independent Journal Entry Title: Marin Independent Journal Feb. 1-2, 2020 Entry Credit: Jennifer Upshaw Swartz, Dave Allen, Vicki Larson, Ian Ross Judge Comment: Contest could use more locally written copy. Design is extremely clean, much like Chico's, and appears to be laid out by a universal hub that serves Chico. Spot A Scam feature is a good reader service
Place Name: Fifth Place Contestant Name: The Union Entry Title: 'It went so horribly wrong' Entry Credit: The Union staff Judge Comment: Needs local sports, less gray and a five-column rather than six-column format because the columns are too narrow.
