Salem Publishing Company was presented with 11 awards at the recent Missouri Press Association banquet, including first places for Best Online Newspaper or Website and investigative reporting.
Earning first place for Best Investigative reporting went to Andrew Sheeley for a story on murder and reform at Great Circle that appeared in Phelps County Focus. The other first place was for phelpscountyfocus.com, named the Best Online Newspaper and Website in its circulation category.
“Centering the Great Circle story on a murder and, crucially, the young individual who was killed, makes this story human while also conveying the toll of what was going on,” one judge wrote. “The time and energy put into this story sets it apart, especially considering how many people were interviewed for it. This is clearly a case where an unusual, terrible event spurred a journalist to look deeper and found more to report beyond an isolated death. It was also good to publish the facility’s response in full, for the sake of fairness.”
Salem Publishing Company websites had 3.4 million pageviews in 2021.
“This website (phelpscountyfocus.com) uses its space wisely and uses color to break up content,” the judge wrote. “Makes viewing and reading the website easy and user-friendly.”
MPA honors journalists in Missouri each year with the Better Newspaper Contest.
“It is great to see not only our journalists, but our newspapers recognized for work that is among the best in the state,” said publisher Donald Dodd. “Our readers see that excellent work every day in our print and online products. Congratulations to the staff on a job well done.”
• Best Feature Story, second place, Rolla Native to be Memorialized, Kaitlin Brothers.
• Best Story About History, second place, Rolla by Rotoscope, Andrew Sheeley.
• Best Sports Photograph, second place, A Season to Remember – Softball, Lori Lunceford.
• Best Story About Rural Life or Ag, second place, Love Thy Neighbor puts unity in community, Caleb Brubaker.
• Best Photo Package, second place, Beating the Heat at City Pool, Catherine Wynn.
• Best News or Feature Obituary, second place, Wayne writes epitaph to fill 100 tombstones, Donald Dodd.
• Best Sports Feature Story, third place, Hobbs Twins, Dave Roberts.
• Best Overall Design, third place, Phelps County Focus, staff.
• Multi-Media Reporting, third place, Honoring His Fallen Gold Star Father, Kaitlin Brothers.
