The Petoskey News-Review and its sister papers, the Charlevoix Courier and Gaylord Herald Times, took home nearly a dozen awards and a handful of honorable mentions from the Michigan Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest this week.
Those awards include a second place ranking in best digital presentation as well as a second place in the Newspaper of the Year category for the Petoskey News-Review within the Daily Newspaper Class D.
The Charlevoix Courier won first place in the contest’s Public Service Award for its class, and the Gaylord Herald Times won an award for news enterprise reporting.
“It’s so rewarding to see our journalists be acknowledged for their hard work,” said Sarah Leach, executive editor for the Petoskey Media Group of the USA Today Network. “We are deeply invested in our communities and hope to continue providing the community stories our readers have come to expect. Thanks to the MPA and the judges for all their work to help provide positive feedback for our Michigan reporters, photographers and editors.”
The annual awards were hosted via an online video conference Thursday. The competition included 2,909 entries submitted by 96 newspapers or members of the Michigan Press Association. As a Class D Daily newspaper, the News-Review competed against newspapers from across the state with circulations of 5,000 or less. The Gaylord Herald Times and Charlevoix Courier competed in the weekly Class D division, including non-daily newspapers of 3,000 or less.
“It’s clear the huge amount of work our collective newsrooms are doing all over the state to serve their communities,” said Paul J. Heidbreder, Michigan Press Association president and publisher of the Traverse City Record-Eagle. “Covering our beats is crucial work that supports the democratic process in each community in Michigan; it’s work that supports the spirit of each community we serve. We have wonderful examples here of the tremendous talent we have in our state.”
Below is the full list of awards received by the News-Review, the Courier, and the Herald Times:
Petoskey News-Review, in Daily Class D:
- Newspaper of the Year — Petoskey News-Review Staff: second place
- Best Digital Presentation — Petoskey News-Review Staff: second place
- Best Columnist — Jeremy McBain: first place
- Sports Writing — Drew Kochanny: first place for “Rambler seniors leave soccer program forever changed;” third place for “21 outs later: Charlevoix keeps magic going with regional championship;” honorable mention for “Petoskey Juniors claim town’s first-ever Little League State Championship”
- Government/Education News —William Perkins: second place for “Charlevoix business owner named as plaintiff in lawsuit contesting election”
- News Photo — Jillian Fellows: second place for “A homecoming for the ‘Aha’”
- Sports Photo — Drew Kochanny: second place for “21 outs later: Charlevoix keeps magic going with regional championship”
- Public Service Award — William Perkins: second place for “PFAS released at Pellston Airport during routine firefighting test”
- Best Sports Column — Drew Kochanny: third place for “Let’s be happy some athletes can get things started”
- Spot News Story — William Perkins: honorable mention for “Trump account shares private Northern Michigan number, mistaken for Chatfield’s”
Weekly Class D:
- Public Service Award — Annie Doyle: first place for “Norwood Township hopes to reduce ambulance service costs,” in the Charlevoix Courier
- News Enterprise Reporting — William Perkins: third place for “With health and wellbeing at stake, public consensus can be hard to find,” in the Gaylord Herald Times; Annie Doyle: honorable mention for “Charlevoix ‘bomb’ victims want answers,” in the Charlevoix Courier
link