CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Four West Virginia newspapers earned first-place General Excellence awards, which honor outstanding achievement by circulation division, in the 2015 West Virginia Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.
The General Excellence Award winners are The Charleston Gazette in Division I, The Inter-Mountain of Elkins in Division II, The Hampshire Review of Romney in Division III, and The Record Delta of Buckhannon in Division IV.
The results of the annual competition, which honors excellence in newspaper journalism, were announced Saturday, Aug. 15 during a banquet at Embassy Suites in Charleston.
“Our annual newspaper competition always brings out the best our state’s newspapers and journalists have to offer,” said Don Smith, executive director of the West Virginia Press Association. “From the largest daily newspaper to the smallest weekly newspaper, West Virginia residents benefit from the outstanding and dedicated work of journalists throughout the state. Community journalism remains the centerpiece of the newspaper industry in the Mountain State. The West Virginia Press Association is proud to recognize and honor the excellent work produced by West Virginia’s terrific newspapers and journalists.”
Newspapers across the state compete in four circulation groups, two each for daily and weekly newspapers. The contest has 28 categories, ranging from Coverage of Government Affairs to Best Sports Feature Writing and Best Editorial Page. In 2015, 36 newspapers submitted 1,462 entries. The overall awards for General Excellence are based on total points earned in the basic categories.
For General Excellence, the West Virginia Press Association recognized three places in each division. The newspapers recognized for General Excellence in editorial coverage in 2015 were as follows:
Division I (Dailies over 16,000 circulations): First place, The Charleston Gazette; second place, Charleston Daily Mail; and third place, The Herald Dispatch, Huntington.
Division II (Dailies 16,000 and under): First place, The Inter-Mountain, Elkins; second place, The Exponent Telegram, Clarksburg; and third place, The Bluefield Daily Telegraph.
Division III (Weeklies over 4,000): First place, Hampshire Review, Romney; second place, The Spirit of Jefferson, Charles Town; and third place, The Times Record & Roane County Reporter, Spencer.
Division IV (Weeklies 4,000 and under): First place, The Record Delta, Buckhannon; second place, The Moorefield Examiner; and third place, The Princeton Times.
For more information, contact Smith at 304-550-0454