The West Virginia Press Association (WVPA) announced the winners of their annual Advertising and Editorial Contest during the WVPA convention held in Charleston on August 9-10 at the Four Points by Sheraton.
The Morgan Messenger, one of the state’s remaining independently owned weekly newspapers, earned awards in multiple categories for work produced during the 2023 calendar year.
Members of the media from around West Virginia gathered for seminars, industry updates and the annual awards ceremony over two days.
“We love this time of year,” said WVPA Coordinator of Special Events Stella Gill. “We get to join together as one big newspaper family and showcase the best of what we do.”
In addition to the advertising awards luncheon on Friday, attendees were able to take a tour of the Ron and Stephanie Stovash Mobile Nursing Lab, learn about “The Legal Notice Landscape” from West Virginia State Senator Jack David Woodrum, R-Summers, and discuss “Connecting with Local Advertisers” with Tony Dobies, senior director of marketing at West Virginia University, Rickie Huffman, director of undergraduate recruitment and parents marketing at WVU, and Joey Gresham, director of marketing for the Dutch Miller Automotive Group.
WVPA President Hannah Heishman, publisher of the Moorefield Examiner in Hardy County, welcomed everyone to the convention during the annual President’s Reception.
Guest speakers for the reception included West Virginia gubernatorial candidates Steve Williams (Democratic Party) and Erika Kolenich (Libertarian Party).
During the annual awards event, The Inter-Mountain of Elkins was named West Virginia’s Newspaper of the Year for 2024.
The Register-Herald, The Inter-Mountain, The Hampshire Review and the Shepherdstown Chronicle took home General Excellence in Editorial awards for their circulation size.
The Morgan Messenger tied for third place for General Excellence for weekly newspapers with a circulation over 4,000.
First, second and third place awards go to the top three entries in each of four divisions. The divisions are based on circulation.
Entries of articles, newspaper design, photography and advertising are judged by other state press associations on a contest website. This year, the judges were from the North Dakota Newspaper Association, and West Virginia Press judged their contest earlier this year.
Points are awarded for each winning entry and the newspaper with the most points in each division wins the Best Advertising or Best Editorial General Excellence Award for that paper. The newspaper with the highest points across both categories is named Newspaper of the Year.
The West Virginia Press Association (WVPA) congratulated all of the winners for their hard work this past year.
Messenger awards
Six Messenger staff members and contributors won individual editorial awards this year, along with several awards recognizing the work of the entire newspaper staff.
Kate Evans won third place in Best In-Depth or Investigative Reporting for her stories on Morgan County Schools state testing score. Evans also won second place in Best Legal Affairs Reporting for her story on Morgan County Teen Court.
Lisa Schauer won third place for her story “Striking Back against Identity Theft” in the Best Legal Affairs Reporting category.
Schauer also won third place for Best Business, Economic or Labor Reporting for
her story, “Millennial Couple Opens Mountaineer Machinery.”
Schauer also took a second place for Best Lifestyles Feature for her article, “Holding Onto Summer” about seasonal food and food preservation.
Messenger contributor Stacy Schultz won third place as Best Lifestyle Columnist for her regular recipe and nutrition feature “It’s Stacy—Healthy Eats”
Outdoor columnist Wade Shambaugh won third place for Best Sports Column for his feature “Everyday Outdoors,” writing about hunting, fishing and outdoor activities in the area.
Editor Kate Shunney won third place for Best Governmental Affairs Reporting for her story on the financial difficulties of Greenway Cemetery.
Shunney took first place for Best Editorial for her opinion piece, “Community Journalism is Still Kicking.” She also won the third-place award in that category for her editorial, “RV Proposals Don’t Fit Cacapon.”
Shunney won second place for Best Reporting Generated from Public Notice for her stories about state proposals to place RV campgrounds in Cacapon State Park.
Managing Editor Jody Crouse and photographer Brandi Crouse won third place for Best Front Page for their 2023 Christmas issue cover featuring a grandmother doing holiday baking with her grandchildren.
Messenger staff won third place for overall Best Newspaper Design.
The staff and contributors to The Morgan Messenger won second place for Best Special Section for the 2023 summer edition of Outdoor Morgan County.
Editor Kate Shunney and Managing Editor Jody Crouse won first place for Best Front page with the cover of the August 16, 2023 edition of the weekly paper.
The Morgan Messenger was founded in 1893 by S.S. Buzzerd and is still owned by the Buzzerd family. Todd Buzzerd is publisher of the newspaper.
