NNA awards announced; upstate N.Y. nonprofit does well; pandemic is prime topic for columns that serve as editorials

This story was updated Oct. 8, 2022.

The National Newspaper Association, the main organization for weeklies and small dailies, has announced the winners of its 2022 Better Newspaper Contest. A list is here. Some that stand out:

The awards for Best Investigative or In-Depth Story or Series went to the Sioux City Journal of Iowa, which won the daily division with "Stolen lives: The epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women," by Dolly Butz; The Maine Monitor of Hollowell, which won among non-dailies of 10,000 circulation or more for "Maine lawyers were given thousands of cases they were ineligible to handle," by Samantha Hogan and Angel Philip; The Highlands Current, a nonprofit in New York's Hudson Highlands, which won for a series on infrastructure; and The Ark of Tiburon, Calif., which won the small-paper category for "Policing and diversity" by Hannah Weikel and Shayne Jones. 

This Adobe Stock photo ran with each story in the series.

The Highlands Current won the sole Civic and Community Service Award for Brian PJ Cronin's "Hunger in the Highlands" series. The judges said the series went "deep into the local nuances of not only the community's problem with food insecurity but also the efforts to find solutions and the people at the forefront of those solutions. The emphasis of this coverage is firmly on making a difference, and the series shows how newspapers can use our roles in our communities to support real results."

Bill Tubbs' editorial; click to enlarge or download

Pandemic commentary scored big in the contest for Best Serious Column, which in many community newspapers serves as an editorial. The award for in newspapers of 12,000 circulation or more went to Rebecca Miller of Farm and Dairy in Salem, Ohio, for a column on her feelings about the pandemic. The judges said, "Readers walk away learning something about the 'primal scream,' farming, and the newspaper's staff. It also wove in some valuable words concerning the importance of local news." Second place went to John Nagy of The Pilot in Southern Pines, N.C., for "Why George Washington Chose a Vaccine Mandate" for his troops.

In the 6,000-12,000-circulation category, the winner was Jennifer Simon of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle for "Toxic masculinity a big reason for spread of Covid." In the 3,000-6,000 category, Bill Tubbs of The North Scott Press in Eldridge, Iowa, won for "Our oath must be to principles, not personalities," reflecting on the attack on the Capitol by laying out the oaths he had taken in his life, starting with Cub Scouts. Cronin and his Highlands Current colleague Chip Rowe won second and third places. The small-paper category was won by Carrie Pitzer of the Stanton (Neb.) Register for her column about an interview with a woman in an assisted-living facility who had seen no one but staff for a year.

In the Editorial contest, the Tribune Eagle won the daily division, the Beaumont Examiner of Texas won the large non-daily category, The Taos News won the 6,000-10,000 category for "Why public officials won't get a pass with this paper." The N'West Iowa Review of Sheldon won the 4,000-6,000 category; Moonshine Ink of Truckee, Calif., won the 2,000-4,000 category; and The Journal of Crosby, N.D. won the under-2,000 category.

The Pilot won for best editorial page in papers of 6,000 or more circulation, and the Tribune Eagle was second; among smaller papers, the Review was the winner, the North Scott Press was second, and The Alamance News of Graham, N.C., was third.

Awards for Best Reporting on Local Government went to the Tribune Eagle (over 15,000 circulation), the Photo News of Chester, N.Y. (10,000-15,000), The Taos News of New Mexico (6,000-10,000), The Standard Banner of Jefferson City, Tenn. (4,000-6,000), Virginia Lawyers Weekly (2,000-4,000) and the Crosby Journal. The judges said most entries in the next-to-last category were about government meetings, and "The stories that stood out often went into depth beyond the meeting: How does the story impact the reader?"

The Tribune Eagle won the General Excellence award for dailies. The winners among large non-dailies were the St. Louis American, The Taos News, the Review and the Steele County Times of Blooming Prairie, Minn. The Taos News won for best website and video journalism. For a PDF list of winners by category, click here; for an Excel file, click here. For an Excel list of winners by paper, click here.