The California Newspaper Publishers Association (CNPA) recently distributed 480 first- and second-place awards in its 2009 Better Newspapers Contest.

The CNPA’s annual contest recognizes the outstanding journalistic achievements by California’s daily and weekly newspapers. Nearly 4,000 entries from newspapers across the state entered their best work in 28 categories and nine circulation divisions.

The Acorn Newspapers’ award-winning photography team took home two first-place finishes. A photo in the Breaking News category by Jann Hendry and one in the Sports category by Iris Smoot both appeared in the Camarillo Acorn . The paper also earned a second-place award in the General News photo category. Hendry’s first-place entry is shown on page 32.

The Acorn —covering Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Oak Park and Westlake Village—won second in the state in the coveted General Excellence category for large weekly newspapers. Candidates were given points for story selection and breadth of coverage, editorial and graphics excellence and editorial opinion.

“The Acorn prides itself on well-written, comprehensive local news and feature coverage,” said John Loesing, Acorn managing editor. “The General Excellence award confirms our belief that Acorn readers are receiving the best local product possible.”

The Simi Valley Acorn received a finalist mention for an Editorial Comment written by editor Kyle Jorrey.

The Simi Acorn also earned a finalist award for General News Photo. Other finalist mentions went to the Moorpark Acorn for Photo Essay and The Acorn for Breaking News Photo and Feature Photo.

“Our team executed well and once again delivered on its promise of giving top attention to the local stories people care about,” said Jim Rule, Acorn publisher. “We see more good things ahead in 2010.”

The five Acorn newspapers—Acorn, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Moorpark and Simi Valley—are distributed weekly to 134,000 homes and businesses. Visit us online at www.theacorn.com.