Herald wins MNA awards for advertising excellence, design

The staff at the Grant County Herald took home two awards at the annual Minnesota Newspaper Association (MNA) Better Newspaper Contest. The awards were handed out at its annual banquet Jan. 30 in Brooklyn Park.

The Herald won second place for General Excellence in Advertising. The judges cited great creativity in the way the ads were presented.

The Herald’s advertising team consists of General Manager Ashton Hagen, Graphic Designer Christine Jacobson, and Nikki Eystad (now retired).

The Herald won a third-place award for Typography and Design. The judges praised the entry’s clean design, nice headers and section separation.

The news pages are designed weekly by Mike Mallow from his home office in North Mankato. Mallow formerly lived in Benson and has been a designer for both the Herald and the Swift County Monitor-News.

In addition to the Herald’s awards, Publisher Reed Anfinson won three awards for his editorial page writing. His editorial pages appear weekly in the Herald, as well as the Stevens County Times and Swift County Monitor-News.

Anfinson won first place for the Herman Roe Editorial Writing Award for his column “A Nation Underserving of its Heritage.” The judges called it “One of the most powerful editorials I have ever had the opportunity to read.”

Anfinson also won third place in the same category for “Local Government Must Be Personal Not Remote.”

Herman Roe was the publisher of the Northfield News and a past president of the MNA. The award was established in his honor in 1965.

For Best Columnist, Anfinson won third place for “Nurturing Play Could Lead to New Discoveries.”

 “We are exceptionally proud of the staff we have at the Herald and their creative talents,” owners Reed and Shelly Anfinson said. “Publishing a weekly newspaper is challenging, but that challenge is made easier by the quality of the people we are fortunate to work with as we bring you the news of the area and the advertisements from our businesses.”