The Forest Park Review was honored Friday as the best small weekly paper in Illinois as it won the award for General Excellence in the annual Illinois Press Association Best of the Press contest. In ceremonies in Springfield, the paper earned eight awards, six of them first place honors.
Judges from the Minnesota Press Association commented on the Review’s “wide range of subject matter, well written stories.” Also noted was the “strong editorial page” and “eye-catching layout.”
Overall, four newspapers owned by Wednesday Journal, Inc., including the Review, won 33 awards, the most of any publishing company in the state. A sister paper, the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark won General Excellence in the mid-circulation range category.
“These awards are great. They reflect our company’s commitment to publishing the most locally focused neighborhood papers we can, even as our company steadily grows,” said Publisher Dan Haley.
In addition to General Excellence, the Review also earned first place nods in News Reporting, Government Beat Reporting, Business Reporting, Personality Profile and Lifestyle Section. The lifestyle section award recognized Tom Holmes’ monthly section on religion.
The time period covered by the awards reflects the work of former Review editor Lorien Menhennett. Menhennett is now associate editor of Chicago Parent magazine, a monthly publication also owned by Wednesday Journal, Inc.
“Lorien was a great community newspaper editor and these honors reflect that hard work and talent. Luckily for us, she is also a great magazine editor and we’re just happy she is still in our company,” said Haley.
