Blast from the past: My former publisher found some of my state and national awards for my columns, photography, and investigative reporting while going through some boxes in the former Winters Express office. I had a bunch more.
Back in the day, it was a big deal to win these awards. And this is only a fraction of them, over the course of a 27-year career. I am hoping in another box he will find the General Excellence awards we won, First Place in California in 2001, and Second Place in the nation in 1998. Those were the crown jewel of the awards and very difficult to win. Oddly enough, the lower the circulation, the more competition there was because there were more small newspapers than large ones. The lower the circulation, the more competition there was.
The ones here are:
National Newspaper Association:
– First Place for Best Column, Humorous Subjects (circulation less than 5,000: 1995, 1999
– First Place, Best Serious Column (Circulation less than 3,000): 2009, 2012
California Newspaper Publishers Association:
– First Place (circulation under 4,300): Feature Photo, 2008
– First Place (weekly, circulation below 4,300): Best Column, 2013
– First Place (weekly, circulation below 4,300): Breaking News; Second Place, Best Investigative Reporting, and an award for my colleague and dear friend who passed away earlier this year, Margaret Burns, Second Place, Agricultural Reporting, 2014