Papers awarded for work

The Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot won first place for page layout and

design in the category for weeklies with 11,001 to 25,000 circulation

at a California Newspaper Publishers Assn. awards banquet. It took

second place in general excellence for papers of the same size.

The awards were among several gathered by the Coastline and its

sister papers at the 2003 Better Newspapers Contest luncheon Saturday

on the Queen Mary.

Nine judges appraised the best work from newspapers all over the

state. Winning entries were announced Saturday at the luncheon.

The San Francisco Business Times nabbed first in general

excellence.

The Coastline’s sister papers -- part of a family of five

published by Times Community News, a division of the Los Angeles

Times -- also fared well.

Former Daily Pilot photographer Sean Hiller’s March 2 photograph

of California Highway Patrol officers reaching over the railing of

the Costa Mesa Freeway interchange, trying to prevent a suicidal

Tustin man from falling onto the San Diego Freeway, won first place

for spot-news photo for daily newspapers in California with

circulations of 25,001 to 75,000.

The Huntington Beach Independent placed second in front page, page

layout and design and spot-news photo for weeklies with a circulation

of 25,001 and above.

“It’s all about the staff,” Coastline Pilot City Editor Alicia

Lopez said. “Our paper’s staff is small, but their enthusiasm and

dedication make up for that.”

The sentiment was shared by Thomas H. Johnson, publisher for the

Coastline Pilot, the Independent and the Daily Pilot.

“This is a credit to the staffs of these papers,” he said. “They

are the ones who are really doing the work. They are the ones who

really deserve the credit.”

“I’m proud of the work our staff does,” said Tony Dodero, editor

for the trio of Orange County papers and Times Community News

editorial director. “This is just validation of the fact that we

produce some of the best community news in the state.”