Cheers to the NLJ team
Twice a year the News Letter Journal team submits what we believe are our best pieces of work to both the Wyoming Press Association and National Newspaper Association. This work is taken from various categories, highlighting our work in journalism, photography and design.
We do not do what we do for the recognition but we have to say this: The recognition from fellow journalists, who judge our work, makes the long days, difficult conversations and hard feelings we often stir up a little easier to handle.
This year, the staff at the News Letter Journal continued to work tirelessly for the Weston County community, and we’re pleased to report that that our hard work not only paid off for the community we served — but for our dedicated employees as well.
Getting that email announcing each year’s winners, and opening the documents to scour the list of awards looking for the News Letter Journal name, is invigorating and brings excitement to the mundane weeks that start to drag together toward the end of summer.
That was true again this year, as the News Letter Journal brought 11 National Newspaper Association awards home to Weston County. Five of those are first place honors in categories ranging from advertising to writing, and we are proud to offer that kind of representation and recognition for Newcastle and Weston County on a national stage.
This year’s first-place winners are:
• Best Reporting on Local Government
1st Place Non-daily Division circ. less than 2,000
Local ballot errors, Investigation continues,
Alexis Barker
Judge’s Comments: Excellent reporting and follow up. The box showing previous errors was an excellent addition to the story. Quality work all the way around. A+
• Story-Series – Best Localized National Story
1st Place Non-daily Division, circ. less than 2,000
Salmonella outbreak, Mary Stroka
Judge’s Comments: Good piece that goes beyond just looking at a local outbreak and gives information on the impact nationally. Giving actionable information on the illness a real plus also.
• Best Feature Photo
1st Place Non-daily Division, circ. less than 2,000
Any which way you can, Stefanie Roth
Judge’s Comments: Just a wonderful shot -- it’s full of movement and thrilling on a visceral level, but it also piques the curiosity: How did this little rider wind up backwards?
• Best Sports Photo
1st Place Non-daily Division, circ. less than 2,000
Hard ride, Walter Sprague
Judge’s Comments: Extremely close competition between first and second place in this category. This one rises to the top due to the difficulty of getting this good a shot of both cowboy and horse midfall. Well done.
• Best Newspaper Promotion
1st Place Daily & Non-daily Division, circ. less than 5,000
Break our website, Amy Menerey
Judge’s Comments: Great use of font.
Additionally, the paper was recognized for second place for best small-page ad, best sports column and best headline writing. Other awards included third in best coverage of military affairs, third place in best profile feature story and fourth place in the best use of social media for breaking news.
Not only was the News Letter Journal recognized for our hard work, but our fellow journalists across Wyoming secured enough awards to once again receive the Best of NNA Award. This award is given to the state association with the highest number of awards. According to the Wyoming Press Association, this award was started six years ago and our state’s newspapers have won it five times — 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Wyoming is one big small town and we are proud to not only celebrate our own success, but that of our peers across the state as well.
To say the News Letter Journal and other newspapers across Wyoming are blessed with the professionals in our industry is an understatement, and we are honored to be able to share that blessing with Wyoming’s people. We are truly lucky to work with talented individuals who are not only dedicated to their craft but also dedicated to the communities we serve across this great state. At the NLJ, we feel privileged to serve this community, and that fuels our commitment to setting industry standards that are followed across Wyoming and the nation as a whole. We have always said the awards we secure belong to the community as much as they belong to us, and we’re excited to produce work every year that results in Newcastle and Weston County being recognized as industry leaders.
So, as we extend congratulations to the hard-working staff members at the News Letter Journal, we also want to acknowledge all of the hard-working journalists, photographers and graphic designers across the state who also serve their communities tirelessly. We couldn’t imagine being part of a better team to achieve the dream of excellence we all seek — and we can’t imagine serving better communities than these, so we invite you to share in the congratulations as well.
You are our inspiration.