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Voice recognized for 'community service'

by Staff Reports

The Mountain View Voice and its sister papers won top honors in this year's "Better Newspapers Contest" awards, handed out last week by the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Among the winners, Voice photographer Michelle Le won first place for a feature photo she took for the Voice's sister paper in Menlo Park.

The Voice took second place in the statewide competition in the Public Service category for its "Left Behind" series, which explored the effects No Child Left Behind has had on students and teachers in Mountain View. First place in that category went to Voice sister paper The Pleasanton Weekly.

In other categories, the Palo Alto Weekly took first-place awards in General Excellence, Website, Local News Coverage, Editorial Comment, Sports Coverage, Page Layout & Design and Feature Photo. Also, The Almanac in Menlo Park won second place for General Excellence and the first-place award for its feature photograph.

Le's winning photo, "Whirling through Mexico," was taken last May during a cultural arts day at an elementary school in Atherton, and depicts two dancers with Ballet Folklorico Alma de Mexico. Le shoots for both the Almanac and the Voice.

The Pacific Sun, a sister paper in Marin County, won first place awards in the Feature Story and Lifestyle Coverage categories.

The Better Newspaper Contest awards were announced Friday night at the California Newspaper Publishers Association annual meeting in Monterey. The awards are divided by circulation category and daily or weekly publication. Nearly 4,000 entries from newspapers across the state were submitted in 28 categories and nine circulation divisions. A full listing of winners is posted at www.cnpa.com.