MONROE — The Monroe Times walked away from the annual Wisconsin Newspaper Association’s (WNA) Better Newspaper Contest with 26 awards from 2024.
The WNA honored the work of newspapers across the state during its 2024 Better Newspaper Contest Awards Banquet on Friday, March 7 at The Madison Concourse Hotel in downtown Madison. The 2024 Newspapers of the Year were Superior Telegram, Weekly Division, and (Madison) Wisconsin State Journal, Daily Division.
The 2024 contest received 2,134 entries from 105 newspapers. Eligible entries were published between Sept. 1, 2023, and Aug. 31, 2024, and were judged by members of the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Wisconsin is split into five Divisions, A-E, based on circulation size and publication frequency. The Monroe Times is in Division D.
The Monroe Times received four first-place awards, nine second-place, four third-place and nine honorable mentions. Advertising consultant Tai Ruegsegger won first place in for Best Large Ad. Editor Adam Krebs won for Breaking News Reporting. Krebs and Natalie Dillon won for Best Opinion Pages, and Sarah and Doug Sabatke won for Visual Storytelling. Advertising Manager Lance Ray was second in the Bill Payne Award for Divisions D and E. The Times finished third in the General Excellence category.
“Newspapers play a vital role in our society in an age where information is abundant yet often fragmented. We need to be a beacon of reliable news and the integrity of our work is more important than ever,” said WNA President Kris O’Leary, who is publisher of the Tribune Phonograph, Record Review, Tribune Record Gleaner, The Star News and Courier Sentinel newspapers, during her convention remarks. “We must champion journalistic ethics, uphold the values of accuracy and fairness, and strive to amplify the voices that need to be heard.”
Best in Division winners were:
● Division E (non-daily circulation of 2,249 or less): Northwoods River News, Rhinelander
● Division D (non-daily circulation of 2,250 — 4,499): Superior Telegram
● Division C (non-daily circulation of at least 4,500): Peninsula Pulse, Baileys Harbor
● Division B (daily circulation of less than 9,999): Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc
● Division A (daily circulation of at least 10,000): Wisconsin State Journal, Madison