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The Hood River Glacier, Hood River, OR., June 23, 1921, page 1

GLACIER WINS FIRST AWARD
Contest At O.A.C. Farm Week
Judges Pay High Tribute to Oregon Press - The Hood River News a Close Second
(From the O.A.C. news services of the Oregonian)

The Oregon weekly newspaper rural service contest, judged at Farmers' week, was won by the Hood River Glacier with an almost perfect score. As a basis of awards the committee considered the amount and quality of rural news, features and editorials - written to "play up" farm or the country "doings." The Glacier was finally selected as the winner of the loving cup, first place in the contest.
Second place was taken easily by another Hood River paper, the News. It took the judges considerable time, and thought to decide between the News and the Glacier for first place, as both were declared to be "excellent." The prize for second place was $10 cash.
The Record-Chieftain of Enterprise, Wallowa county, was well in advance of all others for third, and won the $5 cash prize offered.
For fourth place five award -- $4.50 fountain pens -- were given. These were awarded, after a great deal of discussion on relative values of rural service, to find which of seven or eight had to be eliminated, to the Polk County Observer, Dallas; Argus, Ontario; Graphic, Newberg; Washington County News-Times, Forest Grove, and the News-Reporter, McMinnville.
The number of rural stories, total inches rural service, total inches of reading material, exclusive of paid mater, and ratio of rural to total news matter of each of the three highest were as follows:
Glacier -- 51 rural stories, 241 inches rural service, 441 inches total of reading matter. This makes a 54 percent rural service.
News -- 37 rural stories, 178 inches rural service, 359 inches total reading matter, making a 50 per cent rural service.
Record-Chieftain -- 36 rural stories, 201 inches rural service, 445 inches reading matter, making a 40 percent rural
service.
A letter announcing the winners was sent to Professor C.J. McIntosh of the department of industrial journalism, who was conducting the contest, by C.E. Ingalls, editor of the Gazette-Times of Corvallis and president of the State Editorial association; E.E. Flavelle, editor of the Western Farmer, and chairman of the agricultural committee of the Portland Chamber of Commerce, and W.F. Kennedy, advertising specialist for J.M. Nolan & Son of Corvallis, judges.
"Your committee appointed to judge the Oregon newspapers probably would have passed the buck had they known the kind of job they were getting into, said the letter. "It was extremely difficult among so many very excellent country weeklies to select even eight of the top-notchers. In fact, the committee hesitated a long time in making a choice for first place between the two Hood River papers.
"There was no question but that one or the other of them should have it, but which once stumped the committee. The Glacier had a bad make-up on its front page on account of the advertisements, but its make-up on the inside was better than that of the News, which had a good looking front-page. The committee would have declared them a tie had they had another cup, but the decision was finally given to the Glacier on account of having several more articles in the issue on display, of a farm news nature, than did the News.
"Third choice was not so difficult, the committee being unanimous in handing it to the Enterprise Record-Chieftain, which carried a large number of mighty good rural interest stories.
"Your committee was glad that it was permitted to name five "fourth choice" papers, but wished it had been seven. There was no hesitancy about including the Dallas Observer, the Newberg Graphic, the Ontario Argus, the Washington County News-Times and the McMinnville News-Reporter, but there was some hesitancy about leaving out three or four others.
"The committee suggests that the contest be made an annual feature and that some arrangement should be made whereby the papers may be divided into class according to size, whether or not they are county seat papers, whether or not they use ready prints, etc. For instance, there were a number of papers of the smaller size whose proportion of rural interest news was fully as great as that of the larger papers. We understand that the weeklies published in plants that also publish dailies were eliminated entirely because of their evident advantage, but for the same reason there ought to be some scheme devised whereby the smaller papers could be properly "handicapped", as they do in races and golf.
"The committee with greatly impressed with the large number of rural interests news carried by the Oregon press. Most of the papers carried a fine proportion of good editorials.
You may be interested to know that the merchant member of the committee said merchants prefer to advertise in a paper that has a good editorial page."

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CONGRATULATORY LETTER

The following congratulatory letter has been received by the publisher of the Glacier from C.J. McIntosh, agricultural press editor of the Oregon Agricultural College.
"It gives unusual pleasure to let you know that you have won first place in the Oregon Weekly Newspaper Rural Service Contest, because I had myself picked the Glacier as the prize winner. C.E. Ingalls, editor of the Gazette-Times and president of the Oregon Editorial Association; E.E. Faville, editor of the Western Farmer and chairman of the agricultural committee Portland Chamber of Commerce; and W.F. Kennedy, advertising specialist for J.M. Nolan & Sons, Corvallis, are judges of the contest.
"As winner of this contest you have won the engraved loving cup which will be sent you as soon as the emigrating is complete. This is a twenty-two inch cup, I believe, and I hope it will make a nice little exhibit in the Glacier window along with a brief notice of what it stands for.
"The purpose of this contest is to encourage the rural service in newspaper making and to determine what constitutes that service. The volume submitted by you is a whole commentary on the two subjects.
"We are going to check the total rural service, total reading matter exclusive of paid advertising, and total paid advertising. We believe there is a very direct and pronounced relation between the amount and quality of rural service and are trying to prove whether there is or not by an analysis of all papers -- 80 in number -- submitted in the contest.
"Would you mind writing us a two or three hundred word article for publication on what rural service is as you understand it and practice it, and the advantages it has in getting and holding such a rural subscription list as is necessary to make merchant advertising profitable.