Tribal newspaper wins three ONPA awards

Smoke Signals, the Tribal newspaper of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, received three awards in the Associate Member contest put on by the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association for editions published in 2016.

Smoke Signals received first place in the Target Audience category that was judged based on level of interest, relevance, creativity and commitment to the target audience.

Tribal Graphics Designer George Valdez received a second-place award in the Graphics category and Tribal Page Designer Justin Phillips received a third-place award in the Design category.

Smoke Signals remained the only Tribal newspaper in Oregon to receive awards in the ONPA contest and was one of only four newspapers to win the 11 awards handed out in the Associate Member category.

“This is the fourth time since 2009 that Smoke Signals has won the Target Audience award, which is the big award in the Associate Member category in my opinion,” Publications Coordinator Dean Rhodes said. “Echoing the judging criteria, I think that award in particular recognizes the creativity of our staff and the commitment and each and every person in the Publications Department to the target audience – the general membership of the Grand Ronde Tribe.

“And I want to thank our Tribal colleagues and Tribal Council for their support and cooperation. Without them, we could not keep the Tribal membership informed and continue our history of award-winning excellence.”

Entries were judged by members of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association and awards were announced Thursday, July 13, during the annual ONPA convention held in Bend.