Cowboy State papers awarded

Kim Dean
NLJ Managing Editor
 
The newspaper industry in the Cowboy State continues to evolve each and every day to meet the changing demands and complexities it faces, and it recently made history by being recognized nationally as the “Best of NNA” in the 2020 National Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper contest, by bringing home a total of 84 awards.
Five newspapers in the state garnered national rankings in the General Excellence category in their respective divisions. In the daily division, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle took the top slot placing first. In the non-daily circulation 6,000-9,999 division Jackson Hole News & Guide took second place, and for
the Non-daily, circulation 3,000-5,999 division Douglas Budget took third place, while the Buffalo Bulletin was awarded Honorable Mention. The News Letter Journal brought home second place General Excellence in the Non-daily, circulation less than 3,000 category.  
The Civic-Community Service Award was a combined Daily/Non-Daily category, and first place went to Jackson Hole News & Guide for “Groping victim let down by cops …,” second place to News Letter Journal for “Mallo Camp,” The Daily Universe of Provo, Utah, took third for “Community Service Award,” and Honorable Mention went to the Buffalo Bulletin for “Veterans’ skilled nursing facility.” Award listings can be found at nna.org.  
“As president of the National Newspaper Association, I am thrilled that Wyoming newspapers continued showcasing their quality journalism, advertising and community involvement this year at the NNA Better Advertising and Better Editorial contests by bringing home the most awards of any single state,” said Matt Adelman, publisher of the Douglas Budget and Glenrock Independent newspapers and NNA president. “Consider that for a moment — Wyoming, with its small population, is home, by far, to more NNA honors this year than the next two states, California and Iowa, which have larger populations, bigger circulation newspapers and do their own impressive work day after day. In the previous two contest years, Wyoming ranked second behind one of those two states, so to do such amazing, beautiful and invaluable work only serves to remind people how important newspapers are to the people of Wyoming.”  
Adelman said this is the first year NNA has recognized the state with the most awards, and that trophy will go to the Wyoming Press Association, which he said is one of only two states in the country with 100 percent of its members also members in the NNA.
He said Utah shares this designation.
“To have my home state win that award while I am president is humbling but does prove what I have long said about Wyoming’s newspapers being some of the best of the best in the United States and beyond,” said Adelman. 
Adelman said the NNA cancelled their June summer board meeting in Cody, Wyo., due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We were truly disappointed as we already had a near record number of attendees planning to show up — and many expressed similar disappointment about not being able to come to Wyoming. We hope to circle back at some point in the near future to showcase our beautiful state and bring the summer meeting to the Cowboy State,” he said.  
Wyoming Press Association’s Executive Director Darcie Hoffland extended congratulations to all the contest winners.
“The Wyoming Press Association is extremely proud of our newspaper members and the excellent work they do. This is an amazing honor to receive for the association, but I’m not surprised at all. Every year Wyoming newspapers are big winners in the NNA contest. Last year we were only second to Iowa by two awards, and this year we won 24 more awards than last year!” She continued, “I’m personally so inspired by the exceptional journalism and hard work done by the WPA newspapers.”
Longtime former director of WPA Jim Angell said he is thrilled Wyoming is getting the recognition it deserves for the quality of its newspapers.
“This is a testament to the work of our newspapers. I really can’t tell you how proud I am. Wyoming’s newspapers consistently come out on top in the NNA’s General Excellence competitions, defeating newspapers from larger states. It’s why I’ve always said that pound-for-pound, I’d put Wyoming’s newspapers against any in the nation,” said Angell.  
The News Letter Journal brought home nine awards in the contest. In addition to receiving second place General Excellence, which judges said was, “well laid out and very informative,” Kim Dean received a second place in the Best Investigative Story category for “Forgotten Memorial” and comments were, “beautiful story that covers so much time and heart in a community. Good research!” NLJ Publisher Bob Bonnar also received second place in the Best Business Feature, Non-daily, circulation less than 6,000 category for “Decker’s Market” and judges wrote, “Good in-depth look at a local family-owned business, its ties to the community and its plans to expand.” 
Judges made note of Kim Dean and Alexis Barker’s shared second place award for Civic-Community Service writing about Mallo Camp. “This entry could easily be overlooked because it’s from a small town; however, that would be a mistake. This is what small-town newspapers do best — dig into the facts and the story behind a controversial issue, present those facts to the public, and, in this case, see real authentic change because of that hard work. This type of work is
why community newspapers are so important. The work done will undoubtedly impact the community.”
For Best Sports Section/Page, Sonja Karp and NLJ staff received third place. Amy Menerey also received  third place for Single Ad Idea , Black and White, for “Afternoon at the Museum” with judges commenting, “Nice looking ad. Makes me want to go to
the program!” For Use of
Color In Ad Idea, Stephanie Bonnar received Honorable Mention for “School Carnival.” Judges wrote, “Really cute ad. Colors, fonts, and artwork work together to create an appealing ad.”
In the Editions–Best Use of Photographs category, NLJ staff received Honorable Mention with judges noting, “full of excellent action photos and photo essays.”
Last, but not least, News Letter Journal intern KateLynn Slaamot was awarded Honorable Mention as “Rookie Reporter of the Year” in the Daily/Non-daily division. Judges wrote, “This young lady has a future in journalism. It’s quite a feat to be able to write as well as she does without a lot of formal training but she does.” 
Bob Bonnar shared his praise for the WPA and all contest winners. “My hat is off to the WPA, all contest winners and to the staff of the NLJ. I am very proud of our team and for our rookie KateLynn. We’ve embraced a young student who has expressed an interest in the industry. Both of our interns, Hannah [Gross] and KateLynn, do important work for us and they have become a vital part of the NLJ team. We have to have faith in our younger generations, and the door is open for the next young person who wants to follow in their footsteps.”  
The newspaper business continues to face many challenges, and some newspapers have made adjustments this year by downsizing the days of their printed product and moving to more online news delivery days. Dean noted that a daily newspaper switched to weekly publication this year, and a newspapers across the country have closed their doors. Dean credits the NLJ staff and the community for these awards and for continuing to produce a local newspaper in Weston County. 
“I’d like to congratulate everyone and thank our community for supporting this newspaper. These awards would not be possible without your support. Thank you for buying our newspaper, for advertising in our paper, and for sharing your stories and allowing the NLJ into your lives every week.”