2024 NCPA Editorial and Advertising Awards
2024 NCPA Editorial and Advertising Awards
Contact: Philip Lucey, NCPA Executive Director, phil@ncpress.com
For Immediate Release
Thursday, September 19, 2024
(Raleigh, NC) North Carolina Press Association members were honored for excellence in news, photojournalism, and advertising coverage, during the 151st annual convention held in Raleigh on September 19, 2024. NCPA's contest continues to be one of the largest in the country with over 4,000 entries from over 125 newspapers and news organizations. This year, Colorado Press Association members judged the contest.
This year we welcomed new magazine members to NCPA and created a new division where magazines competed against each other. Walter Magazine won the overall General Excellence award for the magazine division.
The Henry Lee Weathers Freedom of Information Award honors journalists or newspapers for exceptional work in advancing or upholding the cause of Freedom of Information. It also recognizes excellence in reporting about access to government-held information and the First Amendment. Donna King and the staff of the Carolina Journal, the News & Observer staff, and Jeffrey Billman and Michael Hewlett of The Assembly, were recognized as the first place winners in their respective divisions for this award.
The Hugh Morton Photographer of the Year award recognizes a photographer's body of work for the contest year and is the most prestigious photography award we give. This year the judges recognized Ted Fitzgerald of The Pilot, Woody Marshall of the News & Record, and Ken Fine of NewOldNorth.com.
The Duke University/Green-Rossiter Award for Distinguished Newspaper Work in Higher Education recognized Holly Kays of Smoky Mountain News, Korie Dean of the News & Observer, and The Assembly staff.
The Media & Law awards- sponsored by the NC Bar Association, recognizes outstanding legal reporting that fosters greater public understanding of the legal system and the role of lawyers in today's society. Kyle Perrotti of Smoky Mountain News, Tyler Duke of the News & Observer, Michael Hewlett of The Assembly, and Kelan Lyons of NC Newsline, took home these awards.
Stokes News, State Port Pilot, Mountaineer, Daily Reflector and PineStraw Magazine, were recognized at the top of their respective divisions for the Advertising Sweepstakes award.
We also recognized Amanda Martin, who in March of this year left the firm of Stevens, Martin, Vaughn & Tadych to concentrate her efforts on a faculty job at Duke Law. Amanda first started working with NCPA in 1995. Her unwavering commitment to defending the First Amendment rights of journalists and ensuring that the truth reaches the public has been nothing short of inspiring.
Below is the full list of our 2024 contest winners:
Division A,
Avery Journal Times Three awards to Henry Volk and Jamie Shell
Bertie Ledger-Advance Two third place awards to Todd Lane and David Friedman
Butner-Creedmoor News Two awards to Amanda Dixon
Charlotte Post Seven awards, including 4 first place, to Herbert L. White, Troy Hull, Cameron Williams, Melvin Harris Jr. and Staff
Cherokee One Feather Ten awards go to Brooklyn Brown and Scott Brings Plenty
Daily News of Jacksonsville Three third place, two second place and four first place awards to Morgan Starling and Chris Miller
Elkin Tribune One award goes to Steve Baird, and Staff
Graham Star six awards for Ruby Annas, Kevin Hensley, Marshall McClung, and Fala Welch
Hendersonville Lightning Five awards, including three first place, to Bill Moss
Johnstonian News Three awards go to Michelle Honeycut, Scott Bolejack and the Creative Staff.
Mitchell News-Journal One award to Stephanie Mason
Nashville Graphic three wards to Mike Brantley And Nancy West-Brake
News of Orange County One award to Dale Edwards
News-Journal Five awards go to Jessica Brown, Catharin Shepard, and Sue Ogas
News-Record & Sentinel One advertising award for Karen Ingraham, Johnny Casey, and Brittany Huntley
Rockingham Now Two awards to Jim Sands and Susie Spear
Smoky Mountain Times Three awards to Stephanie Mason and Jessica Webb
Stokes News Seven advertising and editorial awards to Bob Ward, Terri Flagg and Staff
Sun Journal four awards go to Cassie Groff, Trevor Dunnell, Wayne Dzubak and Zaneta Padilla.
Tabor-Loris Tribune three awards, including two first place, to Duece Niven
The Enterprise Four awards to Lou Ann Van Landingham, John Foley and Deborah Griffin
The Paper Seventeen total awards to Devan Berry, Janina Linens, Paul Schenkel, Sandra Wilkerson Queen, Marty Queen, Lisa Price, Josh McKinney, Bill Poteat, Allen VanNoppen and staff
Tryon Daily Bulletin two awards to Jeff Allison and Grant Langston
Watauga Democrat Eleven awards for Luke Barber, Natalie Fitch, Moss Brennan and Staff
Yadkin Ripple Two awards go to Dawn Bagale, Kitsey Burns Harrison, and Staff
Division B
Alamance News six awards go to John Adams, Tomas Murawski, Kristy Bailey, Bob Sutton & Staff
Brunswick Beacon Seven awards in total to Christy Williamson, Savanna Tenenoff, Dylan Phillips and Savanna Tenenoff
Cherokee Scout 14 awards in total to Nicole Wright, Randy Foster David Brown and Staff
Coastland Times Ten awards for Hannah Russ, Danielle Puelo, Summer Stevens and Staff
Courier-Times 13 awards to Jan Ross, Ginger Carroll,
Kelly Snow, Silas Albright, George Willoughby and Staff
Daily Herald five total awards go to Rhonda Irby and Richard Holm
Denver Citizen two awards to Ashlie DeCaron, Kelly Fox and Michelle T. Bernard
Enquirer-Journal One editorial award to Michael Wayne O'Neill
Franklin Press two advertising awards to Stephanie Mason and staff
Mount Airy News Ten awards to Regenia Grant, Samantha Turner, Elizabeth Atkins, Serena Bowman, Dawn Bagale, Ryan Kelly, Cory Smith and Staff
News Reporter six awards go to Justin Smith, Dashuan Vereen, , Bill Thompson, Joseph Williams, Grant Merritt and staff
North State Journal 16 awards, including seven first place awards to A.P. Dillon, Chuck Thompson, Shawn Krest, P.J. Ward-Brown, Cory Lavalette, Lauren Rose, Ena Sellers and Asheebo Rojas
Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald three awards for Holly Taylor, Cal Bryant and Staff
Robesonian four awards for David Kennard and Chris Stiles
Stanly News & Press Two editorial awards for B.J. Drye, Seth Mabry and staff
State Port Pilot A total of nine advertising and 20 editorial awards go to Linda Lash, Carol Magnani, Ben Frazier, Joey Robinson, Bob Liepa, Terry Pope, Morgan Harper, Michael Paul, Eliot Duke and Staff
Syvla Herald and Ruralite One 1st place editorial award to Jim Buchanan
Up & Coming Weekly One award to Bill Bowman
Washington Daily News four awards for Clark Curtis and Holly Jackson
Division C
Carolina Journal ten awards to Brianna Kraemer, Katie Zehnder, David Larson, Theresa Opeka, Jeff Moore, Donna King , Mitch Kokai and staff
Catholic News Herald six awards to Annie Ferguson, David Puckett, Annie Ferguson ,Troy Hull, César Hurtado, and Christina Lee Knauss
Charlotte Business Journal Four awards go to Elise Franco, Jennifer Thomas and Erik Spanberg
Daily Record Ten awards to Ginger Carroll, Donnell Coley, Thomas Honeycutt, Emily Weaver and Heather Byrd
Hickory Daily Record four editorial awards to Ernest Masche, Robert C. Reed, Sarah C. Johnson and Miya Banks
Independent Tribune two awards to Jemal Horton and Mark Plemmons
INDY Five awards to Jemal Horton, Matt Hartman, Thomasi McDonald, Lena Geller, Jasmine Gallup, Justin Laidlaw, Audrey Patterson, and Gabrielle Lazor
Lake Norman Citizen two advertising awards to Ashlie DeCaron, Kelly Fox and staff
Mooresville Citizen one award to Michelle T. Bernard
Morganton News Herald Two editorial awards to Chrissy Murphy and Staff
Mountain Xpress Three awards for Thomas Calder and Justin McGuire
Mountaineer 20 total awards for Mac Heishman, Kylie Frazier, Heather Allen, Vicki Hyatt, Aarik Long, Brionna Dallara, Becky Johnson and Staff
The Pilot 24 advertising and editorial awards go to Scott Yancey, Samantha Cunningham, Ginny Trigg ,Kathy Desmond, Jessica Galloway, David Woronoff, Abbi Overfelt, Ted Fitzgerald, John Nagy, Emilee Phillips, Matt Lamb, Deborah Salomon, Timothy Hale, Jonathan Bym and Staff
Queen City Nerve three awards to Ryan Pitkin, Liz Logan and Timothy DePeugh
Salisbury Post Four Awards for the Staff
Smoky Mountain News a total of 20 advertising and editorial awards go to Sophia Burleigh, Jessica Murray, Jack Snyder, Micah McClure, Holly Kays, Garret K. Woodward, Chris Cox, Cory Vaillancourt, Susanna Shetley and Staff
Statesville Record & Landmark two editorial awards to Benjamin Gibson and Donna Swicegood
Triad City Beat Two editorial awards to Sayaka Matsuoka and Gale Melcher
Triangle Business Journal Three editorial awards to Kayli Thompson, David Purtell and Staff
Wilson Times six awards go to Olivia Neeley, Drew C. Wilson, and Paul Durham
YES! Weekly six awards go to Alex Farmer, Lynn Felder and Shane Hart
Division O
Asheville Watchdog three awards for Sally Kestin, John Boyle, and Andrew R. Jones
Axios Charlotte three awards go to Ashley Mahoney and Staff
Border Belt Independent five awards go to Kerria Weaver, Rachel Baldauf, Ivey Schofield, Rachel Baldauf, Ben Rappaport and Sarah Nagem
Cardinal & Pine five awards for Michael McElroy, Billy Ball, Leah Sherrell and Staff
Carolina Public Press six awards for Mehr Sher, Frank Taylor, Jack Igelman, Grace Vitaglione, and Colby Rabon
CityView TODAY Eleven editorial award to Lexi Solomon, Tony Wooten, Bill Kirby Jr., Evey Weisblat, Claire Mullen, Paul Woolverton, Earl Vaughan Jr., Gary Mangum and staff.
Coastal Review Seven awards for Jennifer Allen, Mark Hibbs, Mark Courtney, Capt. Gordon Churchill, Dylan Ray and Staff
EducationNC One award to Caroline Parker, and Cheyenne McNeill
Enlace Lation NC one award to Paola Jaramillo
Iredell Free News one award to Mike Fuhrman
Island Free Press six editorial and advertising awards for Donna Barnett, Don Bowers and Joy Crist
NC Health News 20 awards go to Jaymie Baxley, Jennifer Fernandez, Rose Hoban, Anne Blythe, Lucas Thomae, Rachel Crumpler, Taylor Knopf and Staff
NewOldNorth.com eight awards go to Ken Fine
Ocracoke Observer six awards for Peter Vankevich, and Connie Leinbach
Port City Daily one award go to Brenna Flanagan
Richmond Observer two awards for Kyle Pillar, and William R. Toler
The Assembly 12 awards go to Daniel Walton, Emily Cataneo, Julia Wall, Kate Medley, Kunwar Khuldune Shahid, Jeffrey Billman, Michael Hewlett, Jeffrey Billman, Anne Blythe, Johanna Still, Kevin Maurer, Lisa Rab, Sarah Blake Morgan, Vibhav Nandagiri, Jeffrey Billman, Whitney Clegg, Nick Ochsner, Julia Wall, Storms Reback, John Drescher, and Steve Riley
The Rant Three awards going to Billy Liggett and staff.
Wise News Network three awards to Rusty Wise, Mason Beam, Grace Smith and staff
Division D
Daily Advance Two advertising awards going to Bev Alexander
Daily Reflector 18 awards to Christina Ruotolo Franey, Kim Grizzard, Bobby Burns, Ginger Livingston, Pat Gruner and Staff
Gaston Gazette four awards for Kara Fohner; Diane Turbyfillm, and Mike Hensdill
Goldsboro News-Argus 14 awards for Phyllis Moore, Chandler Johnson, Aviel Smolka, Sam Dietrich, and Rochelle Moore
Herald-Sun 22 awards go to Aaron Sánchez-Guerra, Adam Wagner, Richard Stradling, Mary Helen Moore, Korie Dean, Kristen Johnson, Ethan Hyman, Madison Hricik, Steve Wiseman, Brian Gordon, M.H. Moore, K.C. Tutuska, J. Shaffer, Chantal Allam, Avi Bajpai, Tammy Grubb, Danielle Battaglia, Shelby Swanson and Chip Alexander
High Point Enterprise 12 advertising and editorial awards fo Guy Lucas, Paul Johnson, Jimmy Tomlin, Laura Greene and Staff
Shelby Star One award to Michael Hensdill
Division E
Asheville Citizen-Times three awards to Joel Burgess, Angela Wilhelm and Sarah Honosky
Charlotte Observer 19 total awards going to Anna Maria Della Costa, Ryan Oehrli, Theoden Janes, Mike Kaye, Shane Connuck, Alex Cason, Catherine Muccigrosso, Gavin Off, Melissa Oyler, Heidi Finley, Chyna Blackmon, Ames Alexander, David Raynor, Roderick Boone, Adam Bell, Kallie Cox, Julia Coin, Scott Fowler, Makayla Holder and Staff
Fayetteville Observer 6 awards to Rachael Riley, Andrew Craft and Taylor Shook
News & Observer 31 total awards for Richard Stradling, Brian Gordon, Anna Johnson, Kimberly Cataudella Tutuska, Virginia Bridges, Susan Merriam, Teddy Rosenbluth, Danielle Battaglia, Josh Shaffer, Robert Willett, Mike Homan, Ethan Hyman, Jadyn Watson-Fisher, Kyle Ingram, Dan Kane, Drew Jackson, Kristen Johnson, Kaitlin McKeown, Andrew Carter and Staff
News & Record 17 awards go to Susie C. Spear, Connor McNeely, Woody Marshall, Dimon Kendrick-Holmes, Bryant Roche, Nancy McLaughlin, Allen Johnson, Kenwyn Caranna, Kevin Griffin, Camdyn Bruce, and Staff
StarNews 8 awards go to Sarah Gleason, Allison Ballard, Renee Spencer, Kevin Blevins, Owen Hassell, William Campling and Staff
The Virginian-Pilot two awards for Corinne Saunders
Winston-Salem Journal 18 awards for Scott Sexton, Walt Unks, Allison Lee Isley, John Dell, John Deem, Bryant Roche, Lisa O'Donnell and staff
Division F
27587 Magazine six awards to Philip M. Read and Bob Karp
Business NC six awards to Shannon Cuthrell, Chris Roush, David Mildenberg, Ed Martin and Staff
Charlotte Magazine five awards to Greg Lacour, Gavin Edwards and staff
Johnston NOW one award to Randy Capps and Mike Bollinger
O.Henry Magazine nine awards to Brad Beard, Billy Ingram, Jim Dodson, Cassie Bustamante, Bert VanderVeen and Cynthia Adams
Outer Banks Milepost six awards to Matt Walker, Catherine Kozak, Terri Mackleberry and staff
PineStraw Magazine 15 awards to Scott Yancey, Samantha Cunningham, Scott Yancey, Erika Leap,, Kathy Desmond, Ginny Trigg, Todd Pusser, Mariano Santillan, Jim Moriarty, Jenna Biter, Matt Myers and staff
SouthPark Magazine three awards to Richard Israel, Whitley Adkins, Sharon Smith and Alyssa Kennedy
Walter Magazine ten advertising and editorial awards to Laura Wall, Cristina Hurley, Hampton Williams Hofer, Justin Kase Conder, Paul Baker, Samantha Everette, Rebekah Evans, A.J. Carr, Mike Dunn, Eamon Queeney and staff
Special Awards
Henry Lee Weathers Freedom of Information Award:
Donna King and Carolina Journal Staff for their series on “the public’s right to know.”
The staff of the News & Observer for their series on “legislative secrecy.”
Jeffrey Billman and Michael Hewlett of the Assembly for their Coverage of transparency in the state child welfare system and courts.
Mark Binker Public Notice Award
For coverage on the Cherryville Historical Museum our winner of the Mark Binker Public Notice Award is Rusty Wise, Mason Beam, Grace Smith of the Wise News Network
Public Service Award
Community newspaper
The Staff of Smoky Mountain News.
In the daily division:
Virginia Bridges of the News & Observer
And in the online division :
Joy Crist Island Free Press
The Advertising Sweepstakes award recognizes the top award winners from each division.
Division A Stokes News
Division B State Port Pilot
Division C Mountaineer
Division D Daily Reflector
Division F PineStraw Magazine
Overall General Excellence in Division A
3rd place Charlotte Post
2nd place Watauga Democrat
1st place The Paper
Division B
Overall General Excellence
3rd place Washington Daily News
2nd place State Port Pilot
1st place North State Journal
Division C
Overall General Excellence
3rd place Carolina Journal
2nd place The Pilot
1st place Smoky Mountain News
Division O:
Overall general excellence
3rd place Carolina Public Press
2nd place The Assembly
1st place NC Health News
Division D:
Overall General Excellence
3rd place Goldsboro News-Argus
2nd place High Point Enterprise
1st place Herald-Sun
Division E:
Overall General Excellence
3rd place Charlotte Observer
2nd place News & Record
1st place News & Observer
Division F:
Overall General Excellence for Magazines
3rd place 27587 Magazine
2nd place SouthPark Magazine
1st place Walter Magazine
Congratulations again to our winners!