It’s now or never. Nominations for the Maine Press Association Individual and Hall of Fame awards must be received no later than Friday, July 15, 2016. Some require mailing while others can be submitted via email. But please don’t delay if you have a deserving person you’d like to see considered for these awards.

Individual Awards

UNSUNG HERO AWARD: For any staff member, in any department, whose contributions to his or her newspaper have been essential but often overlooked. Nominations may include examples of the nominee’s work and letters from supervisors and/or co-workers detailing his or her contributions.

ADVERTISING PERSON OF THE YEAR: For an advertising employee whose work has been truly distinguished over the course of a year or years. Candidates may have established unique marketing plans or stood out through other measures such as sales record. Work samples may be included with a nomination letter.

BOB DRAKE YOUNG WRITER’S AWARD: For a full-time staffer of an MPA newspaper with fewer than two years of full-time experience as of July 15, 2016. A letter from the staffer’s supervisor must contain a review of the nominee’s experience and accomplishments. School or college newspaper experience does not count as full-time experience. Entries will be evaluated on writing quality, enterprise, imagination, thoroughness, balance and general reporting. As many as six articles may be submitted.

JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR: For an exceptional news employee whose work has been truly distinguished over the previous year or a period of years. A reasonable number of news clips, photographs or other samples of work must be included with a cover letter from the nominee’s editor or publisher. The nominee must be a staff employee of a member newspaper.

Note: If the number of entries is insufficient for any individual award, that award may not be given out. In that case, any nominations will be held over for the following year. Please limit supporting statements and documents to 10 pages.

Mail all Individual Award nominations by July 15, 2016, to: Diane Norton, Executive Director, Maine Press Association, P.O. Box 336, Camden, ME 04843

Hall of Fame Awards: Candidates for the Maine Press Association Hall of Fame must be Maine newspaper professionals who have made lasting career contributions to their craft, in or out of the state. Typically, some of each year’s Hall of Fame class is inducted posthumously. Each nomination should be accompanied by supporting materials that will help committee members as they make their decisions.

Mail all Hall of Fame Nominations by July 15, 2016, to: Jeff Ham, HOF Committee Chair, 26 Elmwood Road, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107. Hall of Fame nominations can also be emailed to Jeff at jeffham36@gmail.com

For questions about Individual awards or Hall of Fame award nominations, contact MPA Executive Director Diane Norton at mainepressmail@gmail.com. This year’s inductees will be announced in late-August and the 2016 induction ceremony will be held at the MPA Fall Conference on October 29 in South Portland.

Account Executive: The Times Record/timesrecord.com/Real Estate PLUS is seeking an account executive. The successful candidate will contact businesses in an assigned area in person/by phone/via email. Assigned area – Topsham, Lisbon Falls and Freeport – contains many well-established advertisers as well as many prospective advertisers. Compensation is a mix of salary and commission. A good sales rep will earn in the upper $40s annually, a great rep can earn $50K or more. Reimbursement is included for mileage and smartphone service.

Successful candidates have come from many backgrounds, including retail, restaurant, or clerical positions. Those that seem to enjoy this role the most like the fact that it is similar to owning your own business – you have a lot of control over your schedule and activities – but you also have the support of a well-established professional organization behind you. The Times Record is doing great business-wise and we welcome those that can help us continue to grow and prosper.

This position reports directly to the Publisher, an experienced newspaper executive with 30+ years of knowledge to share with you. Good performance is recognized, and participation from all on nearly every aspect of our business is encouraged. Ours is a small team but a tight-knit one that welcomes newcomers’ ideas and strengths. The right people make the difference at The Times Record!

Interested in learning more? Send your resume to the Publisher, Michelle Lester, mlester@timesrecord.com and a meeting can be arranged.

Reporter Position – Bath area: The Times Record, located in the college town of Brunswick in beautiful Midcoast Maine, is seeking a talented, community-minded reporter to join our news team. Primary area of focus will be Bath, Maine, a key town in our coverage area, as well as the local shipbuilder, Bath Iron Works. Professional experience and familiarity with AP style is preferable, but we are willing to work with the right person. Candidates should be self-starters, be familiar and comfortable with social media, work well under a daily deadline, and be up for the challenge of covering local government and school boards. The right candidate will quickly forge a trust between themselves and members of the community, and will demonstrate a passion for community journalism.

We have a fun and supportive work environment, and we enjoying pushing ourselves and our co-workers to produce the best possible products for our readers and advertisers. Please send a cover letter, resume, and three clips to jswinconeck@timesrecord.com.

Reporter Position – Features: Business is very good – there are many positive things happening in the communities we cover — so we are expanding our coverage to offer even more value to our readers with this new news position.

The Times Record, located in the college town of Brunswick in beautiful Midcoast Maine, is seeking a talented, community-minded reporter to join our news team. Professional experience and familiarity with AP style is preferable, but we are willing to work with the right person. Candidates should be self-starters, be familiar and comfortable with social media, work well under a daily deadline, and be up for the challenge of generating feature story ideas as well as covering local businesses and economic development, the arts, school events and churches, among other duties. We are passionate about the communities we cover and the successful candidate will demonstrate that he/she “gets it” by quickly adapting to our community-first approach.

We have a positive, fun work environment and enjoy pushing ourselves and our co-workers to produce the best products for our readers and advertisers. Please send a cover letter, resume, and three clips to jswinconeck@timesrecord.com.

Time to gather your winners. The 2016 MPA Better Newspaper Contest commenced on April 22, 2016, with entry materials and guidelines emailed to all MPA members. This year’s contest format will be similar to last year: digital entries for all photography and online categories and tearsheet entries for everything else. Submissions deadline is June 3, 2016. The contest is open to all MPA members in good standing. Winners will be celebrated at the 2016 Annual Conference to be held October 29, 2016, in South Portland.

The Lincoln County News Publisher Chris Roberts has named Deputy Editor J.W. Oliver the next editor of the newspaper.
Oliver will move into the role upon the departure of Editor Sherwood Olin, who announced his resignation in an editorial last week. Olin plans to step down in late February.
Oliver, 31, grew up in South Bristol. He is a ninth-generation resident of Lincoln County. Except for a partial kindergarten year at South Bristol School, he is a product of home schooling from kindergarten through high school.
Oliver holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the University of Maine at Farmington, where he also studied journalism and feature writing and was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper as a senior.
The Lincoln County News hired Oliver in May 2010 to cover the towns of Alna, Dresden, Edgecomb, Westport Island, and Wiscasset. He has since reported from every town in the county, as well as Hibbert’s Gore and Monhegan Plantation.
His byline is most familiar to readers in Bristol, Damariscotta, Newcastle, and South Bristol, where he was assigned from September 2010 until his promotion to deputy editor in May 2014.
As deputy editor, Oliver assists in the management of the news staff, edits staff work and outside submissions, and remains active as a reporter.
Shortly after becoming deputy editor, Oliver spearheaded the newspaper’s ongoing partnership with the Bangor Daily News with the intention of better informing readers about statewide issues.
As a reporter, he oversaw the newspaper’s successful return to competition in the Maine Press Association Better Newspaper Contest after a long absence. The newspaper has collected 33 awards in the last three years of the contest.
“I am grateful to Sherwood for giving me an opportunity as a rookie reporter in 2010, and I am grateful to the Roberts family for entrusting me with the leadership of the newsroom,” Oliver said.
“I have deep roots in Lincoln County and The Lincoln County News has always been part of my life,” Oliver said. “I am dedicated to continuing to serve our readers, preserving the 139-year legacy of this newspaper, and strengthening it as we continue to confront the challenges and embrace the opportunities presented by changes across the industry.”
The Lincoln County News Publisher Chris Roberts said he is pleased to announce the hire.
“We are happy to have as our next editor someone who shares our family’s commitment to serve the community,” Roberts said. “J.W. has a strong sense of fairness, and we believe he has the skills, vision, and work ethic to lead the newsroom forward.”
Oliver represents the newspaper on the Maine Press Association Board of Directors and sits on the association’s contest, legislative, and scholarship committees.
Outside the office, he likes to spend time with family and play basketball. He manages and plays for The Lincoln County News-sponsored team in the men’s league at The First Baptist Church of Waldoboro.
Oliver lives in South Bristol with his wife, Rachael Oliver, and their 4-month-old son, Harrison.

The Boothbay Register is seeking a full-time reporter for the Boothbay region, with a focus on municipal/town/school boards, community organizations/events, spot/breaking news beats.
Applicants with news journalism experience and/or a degree in journalism will be considered first. Experience with word processing, content management systems and social media will be key applicant considerations. Ability to work in a dynamic, distributed team environment with command of a journalistic writing style and positive, objective attitude are a must.
Please send a cover letter, references, writing samples to hr@boothbayregister.com or by mail to Boothbay Register, c/o Human Resources, 97 Townsend Ave., Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538

BIDDEFORD — The Journal Tribune recently appointed veteran journalist Rod Harmon to the position of managing editor. Journal Tribune Publisher Devin Hamilton was thrilled to bring in Harmon, who brings 25 years of experience with him.

“We are excited that a community-minded editor of Rod’s caliber is joining our team,” said Hamilton. “Rod brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the newsroom, including serving as an editor for several years in Maine.”

Harmon, who has worked for newspapers in Illinois and Florida, was an assistant managing editor at the Portland Press Herald for six years before being promoted to executive editor of the Coastal Journal in Bath in 2013.

Harmon started his own freelance consulting and public relations business in January and has been specializing in helping non-profits and small businesses in Maine and New England.

Harmon is ready to help bring the Journal Tribune to the next level. “I saw an opportunity here. There is a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of potential for growth – especially under new publisher Devin Hamilton,” said Harmon. “I like challenges and I like the opportunity to help a product realize its full potential.”

Hamilton believes with Harmon’s leadership the Journal Tribune is positioned to become an even bigger asset to the community – from both the digital side, which includes a new website, and an improved print edition. “We are set for a tremendous 2016. Rod joins our associate editor, Dina Mendros, in leading the way to strengthen our media presence in York County,” said Hamilton.

Harmon lives in Freeport with his wife, Martha, and his daughter, Rachel, who is an eighth-grader at Freeport Middle School. Since moving to Maine in 2007, Harmon says his family has made several trips to York County. “We’ve done the usually touristy things since moving to Maine – Old Orchard Beach, Ogunquit beach, Ogunquit Playhouse. We love the playhouse, we try to go to at least one production there a year. Sometimes we make our way down to the Kennebunks to do some shopping or some sightseeing,” said Harmon.

Harmon is ready to start exploring the rest of the area and getting to know the Journal Tribune community. “I’m excited to be here, and I’m looking forward to meeting new people in the community,” said Harmon.

Here are the winners of the 2015 MPA Better Newspaper Contest’s missing  Weekly News Story category, which was received after the Conference:

1st place: Dan Dunkle, The Courier-Gazette: “Memory of horrific fire haunts local friends, family”

2nd place: Susan Morse & Deborah McDermott, The York Weekly: “‘We were very lucky’: Microburst damage leaves residents busy but thankful,” “Town waiting to release funds”

BANGOR – The Portland Press Herald, The Republican Journal of Belfast, the Mount Desert Islander of Bar Harbor and the Maine Sunday Telegram have been honored by the Maine Press Association for General Excellence print newspapers.

The Bangor Daily News, the Camden Herald/Republican Journal and the Mount Desert Islander took top honors for digital General Excellence in the MPA’s Better Newspaper Contest.

The awards were presented Saturday night at the Hilton Garden Inn in Bangor, concluding a day of workshops for journalists, advertising staff and newsroom managers throughout the state.

Earlier in the day, the association inducted three new members to its Hall of Fame: Lou Ureneck, former executive editor of the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram; Bob Kalish, who wrote for national publications and The Times Record in Brunswick; and longtime Press Herald/Telegram columnist Bill Nemitz.

In the General Excellence competition for print newspapers, the Press Herald was judged the best daily in Maine for the third year in a row while the Telegram was the weekend Newspaper of the Year for the fifth time in six years. The contest judge wrote, “They are far and away the best paper(s) in Maine. They are solid professional newspapers of substance, initiative, energy and readability.”

In the Weekly 1 division, for newspapers with less than 4,000 print circulation, The Republican Journal was described as having a “clean design and nice mix of hard news and features.” The Weekly 2 winner, the Mount Desert Islander, was applauded for its “wide-ranging, eclectic and thorough coverage of community.”

The Mount Desert Islander has been named Newspaper of the Year nine times since 2006 – five times in the Weekly 1 division and four straight years in Weekly 2 (4,000 and over circulation).

The digital General Excellence winner among daily/weekend papers, the Bangor Daily News, was lauded for “featuring an attractive, understated presentation. Frequent updating with fresh news. Easily identifiable points for reader interaction, including news tips, polls and quizzes, and judicious use of video.”

The Weekly 1 winners, The Camden Herald & The Republican Journal, were commended by judges for “doing a fine job of placing fresh news in front of readers who don’t want to wait for the print edition.”

Judges praised the Weekly 2 winner, Mount Desert Islander, for providing a “beautiful, news-forward presentation. Easily navigated. Plenty of fresh content for readers.”

The Advertiser-Democrat of Oxford County won the Freedom of Information first-place award in the weekly category, while the Portland Press Herald took top honors in the daily/weekend division.

The Journalist of the Year award went to Scott Dolan of the Portland Press Herald; the Advertising Person of the Year is Barbara Hendsbee of the Press Herald.

Christopher Crosby, formerly of the Sun Journal in Lewiston, won the Bob Drake Young Writer’s Award; and Bridget Campbell of the Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel, Melanie Creamer of the Portland Press Herald, and Kathy Lizotte of The Lincoln County News were honored by the MPA as the Unsung Heroes of the Year.

A complete list of 2015 award winners will be posted this week on the MPA’s website: www.mainepressassociation.org