Key Peninsula News staff and contributors took home 24 awards from the statewide Washington Newspaper Publishers Association 2024 Better Newspaper Contest during its annual ceremony Oct. 5.
Now in its 137th year, WNPA awards outstanding newspaper work published over 12 months.
Fifty newspapers across the state submitted 1,562 entries for the 2024 contest. KP News competed against daily and weekly publications in markets with a circulation of 6,500 or more. The competition is judged by a different state news organization each year. This year it was the Arizona Media Association.
KP News received more significant awards this year than ever before.
Executive Editor Lisa Bryan, Associate Editor Ted Olinger and Designer Heather Meier shared second-place honors for General Excellence, coming in behind 19-year-old daily The Wenatchee World. “Love the editorial content,” said the judges. “Plenty of local news with a lot of info. Opinion columns were unique and attention-grabbing.”
Bryan took home three more awards: first place for a lifestyle feature with “The Extraordinary Life of KP Stalwart Phyllis Henry” (August 2023), and second and third place for her editorials “Love Medicine” (February 2024) and “Communication is Essential” (September 2023).
About the Henry article, the judges said “Very well-written story about the life of a woman who had no idea she was a groundbreaker. A very inspiring read.”
Olinger was named second-place Feature Writer of the Year. “Compelling subjects, wonderful writing,” the judges said.
He also won first place in the long feature category for “KP Fire Department Saves Life of Palmer Lake Boy, 7” (February 2024). “Riveting and, like all good stories, it taught lessons on many levels."
Eddie Macsalka was named third-place Feature Writer of the Year. He also earned second-place Sports Writer of the Year and took second place in comprehensive coverage for his three-part series, “The Heart of a Survivor” (June, July, August 2023).
Macsalka also received third-place prizes for three articles in three different categories: “Softball Star Shares Her Struggles, Successes” (May 2023), “One Dead, One Injured After Fire Destroys KP Home” (August 2023),and “Gig Harbor Wins 45th Annual Fish Bowl” (October 2023) — making a team- high of six individual awards (two more than last year for him).
“Great reads,” said the judges. “Eddie tackled interesting storylines and displayed a talent for drawing readers in. Often quoted multiple sources, which brought a sense of place to his work that stood out.”
Tina McKail was the third-place winner for Photographer of the Year.
McKail shared second place with writer Sara Thompson for the sports profile “Retired Paralympian Megan Blunk Returns to the KP” (March 2024).
Thompson received second-place prizes in history and art profiles for “Two Wauna Women Reach a Landmark” (October 2023) and “Wauna Artist Mardie Rees Unveils Bronze Sculpture” (December 2023).
“Thompson takes the reader inside the process and mindset of an artist working in a challenging medium and crafting a captivating sculpture,” said the judges.
Joseph Pentheroudakis and Chris Rurik both earned first place in their categories for local history and environmental stories,
“Service Stations of the KP” (February 2024) and “Following the Salmon Under the New Minter Creek Bridge” (February 2024).
José Alaniz won an unprecedented second and third place in the art review category for his KP Reads essays on the graphic memoir “Learning from ‘Gender Queer’ ” (May 2023) and the graphic novel “ ‘On a Sunbeam’ by Tillie Walden” (January 2024).
“An honorable quest for understanding and acceptance prevails in José Alaniz’s review of ‘Gender Queer.’ ... There is joy in being seen by art and seeing others through it, too,” the judges wrote. “(His) review (‘On a Sunbeam’) is an exercise in the latter that still holds a thoughtful mirror to its writer.”
Vicki Biggs won third place in general features for “KP Artist Tweed Meyer Transforms Herself, Once Again” (January 2024).
Richard Gelinas took third place in general interest columns for his series “Empirically Yours.”
The enigmatic yet estimable Katrina Herringbottom won second place in topical columns for a series of KP Cooks documenting her love-hate relationship with Dolly Parton, how bad cooks can make good bread, and why risotto is the key to world peace.
Kamryn Minch won third place for topical columns with her series in KP Gardens, where she held forth on how to force your yard to love you back, the art of eating from the garden when you really don’t want to and how to cultivate seeds in your secret lair.
“The blend of personal anecdotes with genuine advice is done well,” the judges said. “There’s a lot of character added through the author’s voice. Enjoyed how it all tied into one larger point.”
UNDERWRITTEN BY THE FUND FOR NONPROFIT NEWS (NEWSMATCH) AT THE MIAMI FOUNDATION, THE ANGEL GUILD, ADVERTISERS, DONORS AND PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT, NONPROFIT LOCAL NEWS
