The Intelligencer and Wheeling News Register Win 19 West Virginia Press Association Awards | News, Sports, Jobs

CHARLESTON — The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register picked up 19 awards over the weekend during the West Virginia Press Association’s 2022 Better Newspapers Contest.

The event, which returned to in-person after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the ceremony to go remote for two years, was held at the Four Points by Sheraton in Charleston in 2021. The newspapers compete with the big ones in Division I newspapers in the country.

The newspapers won five first prizes; six awards for second place; and eight third place awards.

Newspaper staff received first place for Best Individual Edition for the 12 September 2021 edition of the Sunday News Register. The issue was highlighted by an in-depth look at the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and Washington DC from a national and local perspective.

Reporters chronicled the weekend’s anniversary events, polled Ohio Valley residents for their memories of the day, spoke to Ohio and West Virginia politicians in DC about their experiences on This Morning, and had teachers reflect on how they related the events to born students discuss after the attacks. The issue also included a celebration of the newest Wheeling Hall of Fame class and a look at two Marshall County parents fighting back against COVID-19 mask mandates at the time.

Staff writer and photographer Scott McCloskey received first place for Best News Photography for “A Fresh Coat of Paint,” which featured the Fort Henry Bridge in the midst of a fresh coat of paint. One side had a new shade of blue while the other showed the old shade of green.

The newspapers also took three first places in the advertising categories. The annual 2021 edition of Progress, titled Reimangining the Region, won for Best Feature. The 2021 Football Preview won for Best Specialty Sport and West Virginia Northern Community College Graphics Department for Best Agency Promotion.

Second place awards were in the following categories:

– Best Editorial, Editor John McCabe, for his entry “Justice For Sale In Pleasants County” on the Santa Gate controversy there;

– Best Lifestyle Columnist, Heather Ziegler;

– Best Front Page, News Editor Ian Hicks for the Thursday 28 January edition of the newspaper;

– Best Lifestyle Pages, Scott Hanson, for May 23, 2021, Sunday News Register life section;

– Best Sports Special Section for Football Preview 2021;

– Best color ad, quarter page or less, for Howard’s Diamond Center ad.

The awards for third place were as follows:

– Best Reporter on Government Affairs, Eric Ayres, for reporting on Bluefield State College’s ultimately unsuccessful attempts to establish a campus at Wheeling;

– Best Editorial, McCabe, for his contribution “Don’t Defund The Public Library,” in which he discusses the Ohio Board of Education’s decision to cut funding for the Ohio County Public Library;

– Best Sporting Event Coverage, Cody Tomer, for the story “Father And Son Both Sink Holes In One”;

– Best Lifestyle Sites, Hanson, for the 24 January 2021 edition of the Sunday News Register;

– Promotion of the best agency for the promotion of WVU Medicine Children;

– Best classified ad for Thomas Auto Center “We’re Hiring” ad;

– Best process color ad larger than a quarter page for the Happy Thanksgiving – The Highlands ad;

– Best Topic Page(s) for “Through the Years”.

“We are very proud of the excellent work our employees do throughout the year to keep Ohio Valley residents updated on the latest happenings and to help our business partners share their message with the community,” said general manager Perry Nardo of The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register. “Honors like those presented in the West Virginia Press Association’s Better Newspapers Contest are a powerful reminder of the difference we make in life every day in the Upper Ohio Valley.”