Bob Uphues’s progressive and innovative reporting were recognized by his peers last week as the Landmark made a strong showing at the annual awards show of the Illinois Press Association.
Two online projects conceived by Uphues – coverage of the floods of September 2008 and coverage of the candidate debate forums this spring – earned top honors. Uphues’s news writing about the impact of the floods also made an impression on judges, as did his wit in editorial writing.
“Every year the Landmark comes in strong in the IPA awards. And it’s all about Bob,” Publisher Dan Haley said, referring to Uphues. “His sense of these towns turns up in our pages every week. The Landmark is what a neighborhood paper is supposed to be.”
The Landmark earned 10 awards. Those honors are among 55 awards that the six community weeklies in the Oak Park-based Wednesday Journal Inc. group of newspapers earned.
-Helen Karakoudas
Managing editor
Bob Uphues’s news reporting in series on flooding: “Engaging and compelling, full of poignant quotes which brought the reader personally into the stories. Other stories can focus so much on impersonal elements like statistics, but Uphues went further to explore how the flooding had affected residents.”
Bob Uphues’s editorial headlined, “Shhh! Intense quiet over library board levy:” “Interesting narrative – exposing governing board’s reluctance to confess mistake to constitutents. The narrative is strengthened by the final ‘graph – recognizing the board’s usual ‘impressive’ work.”
Bob Skolnik’s school board coverage: “A very close second, with … strong stories …”
Bob Uphues’s Lifestyles section: “Strongest entry – I know more about the community’s past, present and future after reading this section.”
Bethany Vogelsberg’s informational graphic: “A good graphic. Wish you had doubled its size – worth it.”
Bethany Vogelsberg’s page design: “Professional look top to bottom. Great use of visuals on a smaller page. Walking the walk stands out as an individual highlight on an overall great design. CLEAN.”
Flooding coverage on Web: “Great example of how the Web can deliver news … Slides demonstrated the flood’s impact. Great team coverage!”
Candidate debate coverage on Web: “Great example of how a simple event like a candidate forum can be used on the Web. Nice job.”
