From staff reports:

The Federal Way Mirror won five awards, including first place for community service, in the 2011 Washington Better Newspaper Contest.

The awards were presented Oct. 7 during a dinner at the 124th annual Washington Newspaper Publishers Association Convention in Everett. The Mirror won the following awards:

• First place: Community service, "Quality of Life," a series that ran in February and March 2011. Quality of life relates to the satisfaction people derive from social, cultural and intellectual opportunities in the place they call home. The Mirror's series attempted to show Federal Way residents more reasons to appreciate and invest in their city.

• First place: Best News Story — Short, "South King fire board stops citizen from videotaping public meetings," by Andy Hobbs.

• First place: Color Sports Photo (Action), "Eagles fall to Kentwood in semis," by Charles Cortes.

• First place: Best Video Story, "Federal Way boxer Thompson wins at Battle at the Boat 76," by Andy Hobbs.

• Second place: Best Video Story, "Medical marijuana: Tacoma rally sends Washington state law back to the hot seat," by Andy Hobbs.

The Mirror, with a twice-weekly circulation of about 31,000, competed against other newspapers in Group IV, the highest circulation category. The newspapers were judged on work produced from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011. The contest drew 2,523 entries from 78 community newspapers across Washington state; entries were judged by members of the Texas Press Association.The Mirror is part of Sound Publishing, whose papers gathered 194 total awards this year.

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