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Four newspapers earn West Virginia Press Association top editorial honors

The Herald-Dispatch’s Dawson wins Premier journalist award

DAVIS, W.Va. – Four West Virginia newspapers earned first-place General Excellence awards, which honor outstanding achievement by circulation division, in the 2017 West Virginia Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.

The General Excellence Award winners are The Charleston Gazette-Mail in Division I, The Inter-Mountain of Elkins in Division II, The Times Record and Roane County Reporter of Spencer in Division III, and The Record Delta of Buckhannon in Division IV.

Ed Dawson, editor and publisher of The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington was honored with The West Virginia Press Association’s Adam R. Kelly Premier Journalist Award for 2017. Jim Spanner, at right, WVPA president for 2017-18, presents the award to Dawson. WVPA Photo/Dalton Walker.

With the top point total in both editorial and advertising of newspapers in West Virginia, The Charleston Gazette-Mail earned the Newspaper of the Year honors.

Ed Dawson, editor and publisher of the Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, won the WVPA’s highest honor: The Adam R. Kelly Premier Journalist Award.

Rick Barbero of The Register-Herald in Beckley won the 2017 Photo of the Year with a photo titled “The Day After.”

The results of the annual competition, which honors excellence in newspaper journalism, were announced Saturday, Aug. 5, during a banquet at Canaan Valley Resort.

“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 2016, 33 newspapers submitted more than 2,000 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 2017 were as follows:

Division I (Dailies over 16,000 circulations):

—  1st Place – Charleston Gazette-Mail

— 2nd Place – The Beckley Register-Herald

—  3rd Place – The Huntington Herald-Dispatch

 

Winners from the 2017 West Virginia Press Association’s Editorial Awards Competition include, in Division 1, from right, The Herald Dispatch of Huntington, 3rd Place; The Charleston Gazette-Mail, 1st place; and The Register-Herald of Beckley, 2nd Place; and Jim Spanner, the WVPA president for 2017-18, who presented the awards. WVPA Photo/Dalton Walker.

Division II (Dailies 16,000 and under):

—   1st Place – The Inter-Mountain of Elkins

—   2nd Place – The Bluefield Daily Telegraph

—   3rd Place – The Clarksburg Exponent Telegram

Winners from the 2017 West Virginia Press Association’s Editorial Awards Competition include, in Division 2, from right, The Exponent Telegram, 3rd Place; The Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 2nd Place; and The Inter-Mountain, 3rd Place; and Jim Spanner, the WVPA president for 2017-18, who presented the awards. WVPA Photo/Dalton Walker.

Division III (Weeklies over 4,000):

—  1st Place – The Times Record and Roane County Reporter of Spencer

—  2nd Place – Hampshire Review

—  3rd Place – The Spirit of Jefferson

Winners from the 2017 West Virginia Press Association’s Editorial Awards Competition include, in Division 3, from right, The
Spirit of Jefferson, 3rd Place; The Hampshire Review, 2nd Place; and The Times Record and Roane County Report, 1st Place; and Jim Spanner, the WVPA president for 2017-18, who presented the awards. WVPA Photo/Dalton Walker.

Division IV (Weeklies 4,000 and under):

—   1st Place – The Record Delta of Buckhannon

—   2nd Place – Moorefield Examiner

—   3rd Place – The Princeton Times

Winners from the 2017 West Virginia Press Association’s Editorial Awards Competition include, in Division 4, from right, The Record Delta of Buckhannon, 1st Place; The Moorefield Examiner, 2nd Place; and The Princeton Times, 3rd Place; and Jim Spanner, the WVPA president for 2017-18, who presented the awards. WVPA Photo/Dalton Walker.

For more information, contact Smith at 304-550-0454.

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