Suburban Life Publications, a group of GateHouse weeklies in the western Chicago suburbs, has received an Award of Excellence for its Opinions page in the Society for News Design’s 31st annual competition.


The group’s Opinions coverage — in print and online — was revamped in May 2009 to establish a vibrant forum for community discussion. In addition to a cleaner and more attractive display, the page now includes multiple features that encourage reader involvement. 


Suburban Life Publications, a chain of GateHouse weeklies in suburban Chicago, had a nice showing recently in the Suburban Newspapers of America editorial contest.

The group won first place for Best Entertainment/Lifestyle Section among large nondailies (Division C). The section, dubbed On The Go, was launched in April 2009 and is focused on hyperlocal dining and entertainment. Its go-and-do approach is presented exclusively through alternative story formats.



Here in Illinois, we had a primary election Tuesday night. And it was, to put it mildly, a nailbiter.

As I write this at about 1 p.m. on Wednesday, we still don't know who the nominees for governor are. Nor do we know the GOP candidate for lieutenant governor or the Democratic candidate for comptroller.

All this led to an exciting night for our Illinois newspapers. I'd like to show a couple things in particular that some of them did to help put this mess into perspective.

With President Barack Obama set to give his State of the Union speech this week, the Canton (Ohio) Repository has come up with a creative callout to involve readers.

The newspaper is asking readers a simple question: How are things for you? They're asking for readers to send in a "Dear Mr. President" letter to share how their lives are going. With a lot of big problems for readers right now, this is a great way to share just how your readers are doing.

After the recent earthquake in Haiti, newspapers around the country looked for connections to the story. The Peoria Journal Star has a connection that's unlike most.

Journal Star photo and graphics editor Eric Behrens (right) is also executive director of Friends of the Children of Haiti, a volunteer group based in Peoria that runs a clinic in Haiti. Eric has been involved with the clinic for quite some time and, under normal circumstances, travels to Haiti twice a year to help out.

For the first time since the Illinois Sportswriter of the Year Award began in 1959, the Peoria Journal Star can claim a winner.

Sports reporter Dave Reynolds, who is the beat reporter for the Bradley University basketball team, has been named co-winner of the 2009 award with Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rick Telander. The award has been dominated by the Chicago publications over the years; Reynolds is only the third downstate winner of the award in its history.

Congratulations to Dave. See the story from the Journal Star below.

The Associated Press Managing Editors association is bringing its popular NewsTrain program to the Chicagoland area in March. The training will focus on ways to become a more effective editor for both print and online publications.

See below for more details.

GateHouse News Service Illinois Regional Editor Casey Laughman can be reached at claughman@gatehousemedia.com.

This coming Jan. 1, the public records laws in Illinois will undergo big changes.

As a way to help reporters and editors understand the changes, the Mid-America Press Institute and the Illinois Press Association are holding a training session at the Rockford Register Star. The training is open to GateHouse employees at other papers as well.

GateHouse papers use callouts a lot, generally to ask for reader photos.

But you can use callouts in some other ways, as well. There are three good examples of that here in Illinois.

Most newspapers have some sort of holiday fundraiser campaign. The Peoria Journal Star, a GateHouse daily in central Illinois, has the Journal Star Christmas Fund. To help the cause along, the newsroom staff pitches in by buying items sent to the paper throughout the year.

Here's some details from Journal Star Managing Editor John Plevka: