World staff earns General Excellence award from WNPA
World staffers display the 27 awards earned Saturday at the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association's annual Better Newspaper Contest.
World photo/Jacob Ford
By Pete O'Cain, World news editor
OLYMPIA — The Wenatchee World earned 26 awards Saturday at the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s annual contest, including first place in General Excellence.
"I couldn't be more proud of my team for the time and work they put into their community and craft," said Managing Editor Nancy Niles. "They truly care about the people we serve, and recognition is the icing on the cake."
The World competed against publications in Group 4 — those with circulations greater than 6,000 — the WNPA’s highest circulation group.
"Receiving First Place for General Excellence in our class of papers, is an award that our whole organization should be proud of," said Publisher Sean Flaherty. "I am personally thankful for the hard work and daily commitment of our staff to producing he quality print and digital content that they do."
Donna Etchey, general manager of the Ellensburg Daily record and vice president of the WNPA, along with Omak-Okanogan Publisher Teresa Myers, hand out awards to Wenatchee World Managing Editor Nancy Niles, News Editor Emily Thornton and Publisher Sean Flaherty at the WNPA awards banquet in Olympia Saturday. The event capped off a two-day convention filled with industry speakers and workshops.
Provided photo
Held at the Indian Summer Country Club in Olympia, the awards ceremony capped off a weekend convention that included workshops and guest speakers. The Better Newspaper Contest considered advertising, special sections, news, digital media, photography and general excellence. The contest was independently judged by the Arizona Media Association.
"It is always nice to have the important work our news team is doing reflected back to them and to our community in this kind of recognition," Flaherty said. "The Washington Newspaper Publishers Association is a respected group that has been supporting newspaper organizations in our state for over a hundred years."
Along with the top award in General Excellence, page designer Stephanie Daugherty earned a “Sweeps Award” for taking first, second and third place in Feature Page Design, and Sports Writer Rand Stevens earned third place Sports Writer of the Year.
Stories and page design entries from The World earned five first-place awards, 12 second-place awards and seven third-place awards.
Pete O'Cain
Also on Saturday, news editor Pete O’Cain, a Marine Corps veteran, was honored as one of Military Veterans in Journalism’s Top 10 Veterans in Journalism at its annual conference in New York City.