For the fourth consecutive year and the eighth time in nine years, the News Journal brought home the First Place General Excellence Award in the large weekly division during the Kentucky Press Association’s 2024 Excellence in Kentucky Newspapers Contest.
“We are very proud of the accomplishments of our award winning staff,” said former News Journal Publisher Don Estep, who retired at the end of last year. “It is a tremendous honor to be recognized by our peers in this manner, and we feel these awards reflect the hard work and dedication our staff puts into each and every issue. I’m proud of our staff. It is the best.”
In addition, Trevor Sherman, who replaced Estep as publisher this year, was named the Kentucky Press Association’s Journalist of the Year in the weekly division.
“Trevor first started with us in 2011 as an advertising sales representative and a delivery route driver, and moved up to sports editor in late 2013. He began making the transition to doing more news and feature writing in early 2020. We couldn’t be prouder of how much he has grown as a journalist and this award is a reflection of that growth,” Estep said. “I look forward to seeing what he accomplishes and where he takes the News Journal in the years to come.”
Journalist of the year is determined in each division based on a points system for winning, first, second and third place awards. The highest point total in a single division is the winner.
The News Journal garnered a total of 24 awards in addition to general excellence and Sherman’s journalist of the year award, including 13 first place awards, five second place awards, three third place awards and three certificates of merit.
“The News Journal has been blessed over the past ten years to have been recognized with a total of eight first place awards in the KPA’s General Excellence category. The remaining two years, 2015 and 2020, the paper finished in second place. This is truly a testament to the talent and dedication of the staff members whose work has been featured in our pages over the years,” Sherman said.
“Whether it has been news reports, human interest stories, photography, local sports coverage, columns, classifieds, advertising, or anything else that has helped to inform and entertain our readers, it has all been the result of the passion and hard work of our invaluable employees.”
Sherman added that Estep, who co-founded this publication along with Terry Forcht nearly four decades ago, has remained as a guiding force, and as the News Journal continues to benefit greatly from the wisdom that has come as a result of his many years of experience.
“Congratulations to all News Journal staffers who have contributed to our success over the years, and thank you to our loyal subscribers for ensuring that we are able to continue doing what we’re doing. Finally, a huge thank you to every business that has ever spent their advertising dollars with us. We continue to strive each week to put out a quality product that will help you get your messages out to the public at-large,” Sherman said.
Sherman led the way winning nine awards, in addition to the journalist of the year award, and he shared a tenth award with managing news editor Mark White.
Sherman won first place for best investigative story or series for a series of articles he wrote last summer focusing on housing insecurity.
“You did a great job of covering all sides of this problem and how to solve it,” the judge wrote.
Sherman’s first place award for best sports story was for an article about Whitley County wrestlers making history at the first-ever female state championship.
His first place best sports feature story award was for an article on Josh Grubb’s journey from near death to becoming cross country team captain.
His first place award for best enterprise or analytical story was for an article about fire departments countywide struggling with a lack of volunteers.
Sherman also received the first place award and second place awards for best sports picture essay. His first place entry was for coverage of local athletes in the South Laurel Cardinal Classic track and field event.
“Great timing in capturing the jumps. I like the variety of photos,” the judge wrote about his first place entry.
Sherman and White shared a first place award in the best ongoing/extended coverage story category for coverage of the I-75 shooting in northern Laurel County by a Woodbine resident and the subsequent search for suspect Joseph Couch in a thickly wooded area.
In the wake of the shooting, several schools in the region canceled in-person classes, some businesses closed, and numerous federal, state and local officers took part in the manhunt as statewide and national media descended upon the area.
Couch’s body was discovered in the woods 11 days later. He died from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“Excellent,” the judge wrote. “As story unfolded, new and important information was added and updated to original submission.”
Sherman also won a second place award best headline writer and a certificate of merit for best sports columnist.
The News Journal swept the best general news story category with Sherman taking first place for a story on the proposed Jellico Mountain logging project, reporter Timothy Wyatt taking second place and White taking third place.
White won five other awards.
He took home a first place award for best editorial writer for his column opposing House Bill 509, which would have created a giant loophole in the Kentucky Open Records Act.
“You were the clear winner. Honest writing with well supported opinions,” the judge wrote.
White also took home a first place award for best feature story for an article about a local woman, who saved a life through the generous donation of her kidney.
“Good feature writing, pulls at heart strings with the ups and downs,” the judge wrote.
White won a first place award for best breaking news picture for coverage of high winds and flash flooding last spring, and first place for best general news picture for coverage of a color run at Corbin Elementary School.
“As a professional photographer, I understand what it takes to get this image at just the right moment. Well done,” the judge wrote about the best breaking news picture.
In addition, White received a certificate of merit for best lede. A lede is an opening sentence or paragraph of a story that summarizes the most important aspects and draws a reader in.
Wyatt won first and second place awards for best video. The first place award was for a video of local union members holding a rally outside the Kentucky Consular Center.
“This video shows a grassroots movement on a local level, which serves the local community well,” the judge wrote about Wyatt’s first place entry.
Wyatt also won a first place award for best feature picture for his drone photo of a hot air balloon taken at last year’s Whitley County Fair.
In addition, Wyatt won a third place award for best enterprise or analytical story.
The News Journal staff won a second place award for best editorial page, a third place award for best special section/best sports special section, and certificates of merit for best use of social media or multimedia and best website.
“Really good columns and layout,” the judge wrote about the News Journal’s editorial page.
The News Journal received its awards during the 2025 KPA Winter Convention awards banquet, which was held Jan. 24 at the Hyatt Regency in Lexington.
Judging for this year’s awards was done by members of the Arkansas Press Association. The contest period ran from Oct. 1, 2023, through Sept. 30, 2024.
