Utah Valley Magazine won three awards, including best magazine, at the 2015 Utah Society of Professional Journalists Awards banquet. Utah Valley BusinessQ won second place in the Best Magazine category. (Photo by Rebecca Lane)
Utah Valley Magazine was named the best magazine in the state for 2014 by the Utah chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists at last night’s banquet. Bennett Communications, which publishes Utah Valley Magazine, also claimed second place in the best magazine category with Utah Valley BusinessQ. In total, Bennett Communications earned 14 awards at the annual event.
“I was putting the finishing touches on our next issue of Utah Valley Magazine when I heard the news about our awards,” said Jeanette Bennett, co-founder of Bennett Communications and editor-in-chief of Utah Valley Magazine. “We have an incredibly talented and united team of writers, designers and sales reps who bring creativity and work ethic to our publishing business. We love what we do, and we are honored when others recognize the passion we bring to our pages.”
The Orem-based magazine publisher owns multiple magazines, including Utah Valley Magazine, Utah Valley BusinessQ and Utah Valley Bride. Bennett Communications also creates magazines for the Utah Valley Parade of Homes, Orem Summerfest, Fiesta Days, Utah Association of Realtors, The Layton Companies, and numerous clients in the network marketing industry.
In September 2013, Bennett Communications added a daily news site to its family of glossy magazines. UtahValley360.com provides daily content featuring local news, sports, LDS stories and humor. As 2014 was the first full year of UtahValley360.com, this was the first year the website submitted entries to SPJ.
“Our online presence has been an exciting and versatile addition to Bennett Communications,” Bennett said. “UtahValley360.com is the perfect complement to our bi-monthly, quarterly and annual magazines. We love being able to service our readers and our advertisers in a daily format, which also drives eyeballs to our printed pieces. We believe both print and digital delivery are here to stay.”
The annual SPJ contest brought in 854 entries from various media outlet platforms throughout Utah. Utah Valley Magazine has been named the best magazine in Utah for several years running. Read some of the award-winning articles below.
Utah Valley Magazine
Best Magazine
1st Place – Utah Valley Magazine
Best Single Page Design
2nd Place – “Paint the Town” by Dave Blackhurst/Kenneth Linge
Best Magazine News Story
3rd Place – “Speaker on the House” by Jeanette Bennett
Utah Valley BusinessQ
Best Magazine
2nd Place – Utah Valley BusinessQ
Best Single Page Design
Honorable Mention: Dave Blackhurst/Kenneth Linge for “Small Fish, Big Tank”
UtahValley360.com
Best News-oriented Social Media
3rd Place – UtahValley360.com
Div. B: Spot News
1st Place – “Alpine’s natural rock sliding rock permanently closed” by Amie Rose
Div. B: General News
3rd Place – “Alpine baby born at 100 mph” by Amie Rose
Div. B: Arts and Entertainment
1st Place – “In the writing room with ‘Studio C’” by Kim Christenson
Div. B: Religion/Values Reporting
1st Place – “Early-returned missionaries thrive with acceptance, love” by Breanna Olaveson
3rd Place – “What will happen to Ordain Women’s Kate Kelly?” by Rebecca Lane
Div. B: Sports – Non-Deadline
3rd Place – “Mika talks about his mission call, friends and mentors” by Jeff Call
Honorable Mention – “Last chance: 5 seniors lead a hungry-for-success BYU basketball team” by Steven Potter
Div. B: Humor/Lifestyle Column
3rd Place – “How to lean into your career AND motherhood” by Elyssa Andrus
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