Winners to be honored at virtual convention in September
WV Press Association Report
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Recognizing the best work from the state’s newspapers, the West Virginia Press Association has completed judging its annual newspaper competition, which honors top journalists, advertising staffers and overall newspaper performances.
Unlike in previous years, when the WVPA has presented the newspaper awards at its annual summer convention in August, concerns over COVID-19 mean the 2020 awards program will be held later in September during a virtual convention and as part of the association’s celebration of National Newspapers Week, Oct. 4-10.
Executive Director Don Smith said the premier awards — Newspaper of the Year, Advertisement of the Year, Photo of the Year, Adam R. Kelly Award, and newspaper General Excellence Award winners — will be announced at the September convention, but the WVPA has released the list of individual winners to newspapers around the state.
“The work of staff members at our newspapers is outstanding. These editorial and advertising awards are for work completed in 2019. We had 2,290 entries in our competition this year. Winning is never easy. The WVPA is honored to announce the names of the employees and their newspapers now. We will recognize everyone again in September at convention, when we announce our top newspapers and our premier individual awards,” said Smith.
“The residents of West Virginia count on the state’s newspapers to provide accurate and informative local news and advertising,” Smith said. “This year’s contest entries show our newspapers are meeting that need.”
Details for the September convention will be finalized soon and updates posted on WVPress.org.