Journalists from across the state gathered in Lincoln over the weekend for the 151st Annual Nebraska Press Association state convention. The convention features two full days of workshops and networking opportunities designed to inspire and educate newspaper writers, photographers, editors and publishers.

The convention concluded with the NPA Contest Awards.

There were a total of 2,569 entries in this year’s contest which was judged by the South Carolina Press Association. First, second, and third place winners were announced Saturday night at an Awards Banquet at the Cornhusker Marriott Hotel in Lincoln. Entries must have been printed in the entering newspaper between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2023.

Syndicate Publishing did quite well in this year’s contest, winning a total of 10 awards. The Callaway Courier and Cozad LOCAL each won a first place award, while the Gothenburg Leader garnered eight awards on the night.

The Courier was honored with a first place award in the category of news writing for the coverage of the school board officer election. The judge of the category commented, “A well-written and suspenseful account of local school board drama where it took a whopping 12 votes to elect a school board chair. (And the vote for a VP went only slightly better). A good example of journalism that holds readers’ attention while also explaining to them the rationale behind the drama.”

While the divided board may not be the “feel-good” type of content that the writers at Syndicate prefer, it is news. “One of the duties of the local newspaper is to keep the public informed on what is happening in their community, good and bad,” said Courier Editor Ellen Mortensen. “We are the local documentarian as well as the watchdog, if you will, of the community.”

In the category of single special section, the Leader picked up the third place award for the Salute to Harvest, and the Salute to Beef received first place. Both of those special sections were also distributed in the Courier and included local content and advertisers.

The judge’s comments on the Salute to Harvest stated, “A good, strong section with solid stories and photos about crops and harvest in Nebraska.” For the first place Salute to Beef the judge commented, “This section has it all. Great design, great articles and great photos. It has something for everybody.”

“While it is nice to earn accolades from your peers for your hard work, our top priority is and always will be to our readers,” said Mortensen. “Awards are nice, but I do what I do for the sake of the community and its residents.”