The Western Producer newsroom usually manages to make its mark at the American Agricultural Editors’ Communications Awards each year and this year is no exception.
Art Director Michelle Houlden, who has a perennial presence on the AAEA awards podium, made three more appearances this year.
Houlden placed third in the Overall Magazine Design — Special Issue section for the edition we like to call “Issue 52.” It’s the last edition of the year, and we like to focus on one topic throughout the entire issue. Last year, we focused on the weather and all its implications, including how it affects farmers and what’s coming down the pike for technology.
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In the category Best Use of Chart and Graph Material — an important category that serves as explanatory journalism — Houlden won second place for her imaginative efforts on the November layout for CRISPR: cutting edge tech for plant breeders. And Houlden won third place for her layout in the Two-Plus Page Design category for her design of a special report we called, “Dairy’s Milky Future.” Houlden’s design, called The Big Squeeze, employed a certain playfulness to illustrate the metaphor.
AAEA membership includes publishers, writers, designers and photographers from across the continent. The awards were announced July 26 in St. Louis, Missouri.
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Readers may note the front-page story carries an important update on the China canola dockage saga, which could have a far-reaching impact on canola marketing. Reporter Sean Pratt worked the story until shortly before deadline on Aug. 15 to ensure we could deliver you the latest developments.
My own background is in daily newspapers, where daily, even hourly deadlines were a fact of life, as sections were sent off to the press. Back in the days before the internet, the big decision was what happens if a developing story changes after we went to press.
Such is the case here, in which we put the edition to bed on a Monday afternoon, with most subscribers getting the paper at their door on Thursday.
My guess is the dockage story will find a solution before the Sept. 1 deadline when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits that country in a few days. However, check online at producer.com for developments, should they move faster than the prime minister.
