The Weyburn Review came away with six awards, including three first-place prizes, in the Better Newspapers Competition, with the results announced at the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association (SWNA) annual convention held over the weekend in Saskatoon.

The first-place awards included Best Editorial Page in the 3,500-6,499 circulation class, Best Editorial Writing by Greg Nikkel for the 3,001 or more circulation class, and Best Sask. Cultural Story in the Fine or Folk Arts category by Kevin Berger.

The Review's editorial page entry was awarded 100 out of 100 points for its local content, general comment, appearance and grammatical form, letters-to-the-editor and use of photos or cartoons.

For Nikkel's award, four consecutive editorials from the month of May, 2002, were submitted for judging. The judges' comments were the editorials were "the best of the lot with its short, pointed and clear writing style and excellent local content."

Berger's award was for a feature story on the Ananda Arthouse at Forget, published on April 3, 2002. The judges said this story "showcases the ingenuity of Saskatchewan's cultural sector and shows the power of the individual, or in this case individuals, in creating cultural experiences."

In addition, Berger won a second-place prize for Best Hard News Photo, for his photo of the seed-cleaning plant fire published on Oct. 9.

Nikkel won a third-place finish for Best Agricultural Story for "Hub of Grain," published on March 20, about Weyburn's place as the largest grain-gathering point in Canada.

The Weyburn Review staff also earned a third-place award for Best Overall Coverage of K-12 education, with stories and photos submitted from the Review's coverage throughout the year.

The Review did well in a number of other categories as well, including fourth place for Best Sports Photo, only one point back of third, for a rodeo photo by Greg Nikkel; and fourth place for Best Health/Healthcare Coverage, again one point off of third place, for a story about women fighting breast cancer.