News Release Details

DAVENPORT, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 28, 2004--Mary Junck, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Lee Enterprises (NYSE:LEE), announced today the winners of 2004 Lee President's Awards for News, Innovation and Lee Spirit.

Individuals and teams who won the seven awards will be honored, along with finalists for Enterprise of the Year, at a recognition dinner Nov. 16 in Chicago. The awards carry cash prizes totaling $40,000.

"Again this year, our teams of outside judges had to work very hard to narrow the field from so many impressive entries," Junck said. "These awards honor the very best of exciting and meaningful work we do day in and day out at all of our 44 daily newspapers to benefit readers, advertisers and, ultimately, our company. In celebrating the achievements here, we're reminded over and over how lucky we are to work in such a wonderful business."

EXCELLENCE IN NEWS

The news award recognizes outstanding achievement in any aspect of journalism, from reporting and writing to photography, graphics and design.

The judges selected three sets of winners:

• Carol Talley, David Blymire and Linda Franz, The Sentinel, Carlisle, Pa., for uncovering and pursuing efforts by Penn State to move or close Dickinson School of Law, a Carlisle institution since 1834. The Sentinel's continuing coverage galvanized the community and spurred action by civic leaders, state officials, the governor and the legislature. As a result, the law school will stay and funds are being raised to expand it. The judges also praised the newspaper's use of its website, www.cumberlink.com, to provide online news updates and additional material. Talley, who broke the initial story after receiving a late-night tip, is the newspaper's executive editor. The Sentinel has circulation of 15,100.
  
• Michael Moore and Tom Bauer, Missoulian, Missoula, Mont., for "memorable writing and exceptional photography" in documenting "Lost Boys of the Flathead," the recurring tragedy of alcohol and death among children on Montana's tribal reservations. Their eight-part series, written by Moore and photographed by Bauer, centered on two 11-year-olds who drank and died in a snowy field, a 14-year-old brother who three months earlier passed out and died in a fire, and a 15-year-old boy, soon also dead from alcohol poisoning. The Missoulian has circulation of 29,800 daily and 34,500 Sunday.
  
• The staff of the Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, Wis., for a powerful eight-part series, "Life & Death in Allied Drive, A Neighborhood Left Behind." The judges said: "Strong reporting, meaningful photography and analysis of databases combined for an intense look at the problems of a neglected neighborhood in an otherwise thriving city - and what the community could do to address it." They described the newspaper's seven-month investigation, which has spawned significant and mounting action to address the problems, as "civic journalism that makes a difference." Members of the project team included Dean Mosiman, Andy Hall, Steve Verburg, Craig Schreiner, Laura Sparks, Pat Reardon, Tim Ball, Jason Klein, Jonathan Utz, Joyce Dehli, Phil Glende, William Wineke, Jay Eastlick, Leah Jones, Dee Hall, John Maniaci, Sarah Tews, Tim Kelley and Ron Larson. The Wisconsin State Journal has circulation of 91,400 daily and 154,700 Sunday.
  

Each set of winners will receive $5,000, a plaque and individual crystal engravings.

The judges awarded honorable mentions to:

• The staff of the North County Times, Oceanside/Escondido, for extraordinary daily coverage of the worst wildfires in Southern California history. The fires in October 2003 took 20 lives, destroyed 3,000 homes and burned 750,000 acres.
  
• Carolyn Bright, Independent Record, Helena, Mont., for "The House of Thomas," a compelling series documenting a young woman's life in a cruel, polygamous marriage and how she and her six children escaped it.
  
• Matthew Hansen and the staff of the Lincoln Journal Star, for "strong, gutsy reporting" revealing that the coach of the University of Nebraska football team had been targeted by the athletic director to be fired. One week later, after outraged denials by university officials and a barrage of reader anger, the story proved true.
  

  Judges for the Excellence in News category were Scott Bosley, executive director of the American Society of Newspaper Editors; Loren Ghiglione, dean of Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University; and Juli Metzger, editor of The Lafayette (La.) Daily Advertiser.

  INNOVATION

  The innovation award recognizes an individual or team for creating or significantly advancing a new idea, product or process that drives revenue, builds readership or serves customers better.

  Three sets of winners were chosen:
  

  • Flight Program Leaders - "eight newspaper operations that, through exceptional and creative execution of Lee's frequency advertising program, exceeded their sales goals by astonishing amounts ranging up to nearly 700 percent." The judges added: "As this program emphasizes, smart use of frequency pays off for advertisers, and good selling of that fact pays off for the newspaper and readers. Over the past year, the Flight program generated new revenue totaling more than $13 million." The winning newspaper operations are the Independent Record, Helena, Mont.; The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, N.D.; The Democrat Herald and Corvallis Gazette Times, Albany/Corvallis, Ore.; the Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa; The Southern Illinoisan, Carbondale; the Missoulian, Missoula, Mont.; the Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa; and the Casper Star-Tribune, Casper, Wyo.
    
  • Marketing team of the Billings Gazette, Billings, Mont. - Becky Anseth, Allyn Calton, Karl Leas, Maureen Turpin and Angie Wagner - for "Live Debt Free! The Contest of a Lifetime," a high-energy promotion designed to drive advertising revenue and circulation with emphasis on fun and reader participation. Players collected game pieces in the newspaper and at www.billingsgazette.com, then completed game boards and lined up at a mall for a chance to push buttons on a Coke machine and win prizes ranging up to a year's worth of mortgage payments. By popular demand from advertisers and readers, a repeat of the contest is being planned. The judges said, "As is obvious from the large community involvement, this contest has instant reader appeal, and the idea is already being picked up in other Lee markets."
    
  • Bill Masterson, publisher of the Rapid City Journal, Rapid City, S.D., for leadership in proving the effectiveness of newspapers for political advertising, attracting larger shares of political advertising revenue that normally would be forfeited to electronic media, direct mail and billboards. The judges said: "Through persistence and personal meetings with campaign decision-makers, he has used readership facts to build a convincing case for using newspapers as part of campaign strategies. This effort sets the standard for future print and online success."
  
  

  Winners will receive $5,000, a plaque and individual crystal engravings.

  The judges awarded three honorable mentions:

  
  
  • Rodolfo Schwanz, Shawn Savage and the Power Agent Program of the North County Times, Oceanside/Escondido, Calif., for stimulating real estate advertising by adding a focus on promoting agents as well as the companies and their listings.
    
  • Matt Erickson and The Times of Northwest Indiana, based in Munster, for creating 29 separate "Campus Editions" of the newspaper's annual high school preview section. The intensely customized editions, complete with zoned advertising, were the brainchild of Erickson, sports design team leader.
    
  • "Can-tastic" Team at The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, N.D., for creating a reader game that has inspired other contests in Lee - including "Live Debt Free!" in Billings - that have generated a total of nearly $750,000 of revenue in the last year. Team members are Doug Ding, Dot Frank, Lynae Hanson, Lisa Koch, Tom Kloster, Chad Kourajian, Bobette Miller, Paula Redmann and Jerry Weisgerber.
    

    Judges for the innovation category were Barbara Cohen, president and founder of Kannon Consulting; Herbert W. Moloney III, chief operating officer of Vertis North America; and Mary Alice Shaver, director of the Nicholson School of Communication at the University of Central Florida.

    LEE SPIRIT

    The Lee Spirit Award recognizes outstanding citizenship and personal commitment to the community and Lee.

    The 2003 winner is Bill Wundram of the Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa.

    "Bill cannot be described in any single sentence," Junck said, "and his continuing accomplishments in 60 years and counting at the Quad-City Times transcend imagination. He is Lee's longest-serving employee and remains one of the most active as a household name. He writes an immensely popular column seven days a week, regularly turns out front page stories, edits a monthly magazine and coaches reporters. This fall he is also teaching classes at the University of Iowa. He has written seven books for the newspaper and is working on his eighth. He freely lends his time to groups large and tiny and brings joy wherever he goes. His honors, both for excellence in journalism and for civic accomplishment, would fill the largest trophy case. He has named landmarks, launched institutions, demolished eyesores, goaded politicians, raised money, entertained multitudes, celebrated heroes, comforted the afflicted and changed the course of Quad-City history, always for the better."

    She added: "A few months shy of 80, he has, however, slowed down in one regard. This is the first year he hasn't run away with the circus, another passion, for a week or two to perform under a big top as a clown. But, wait - the year isn't over, and with Bill Wundram you just never know."

    Wundram, who joined the newspaper and Lee in 1944, has served as reporter, city editor, Sunday editor, associate editor and columnist.

    Photos and more information about the Lee President's Awards are available at www.lee.net.

    Lee Enterprises is based in Davenport, Iowa, and is the premier publisher of daily newspapers in midsize markets. Lee owns 38 daily newspapers and a joint interest in six others, along with associated online services. Lee also publishes nearly 200 weekly newspapers, shoppers and classified and specialty publications. Lee stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LEE. More information about Lee Enterprises is available at www.lee.net.

    CONTACT:Lee Enterprises, Davenport
    Dan Hayes, 563-383-2163
    Dan.Hayes@Lee.net
    SOURCE: Lee Enterprises