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The Newton News, PCM Explorer and Jasper County Tribune were honored in a variety of categories during the 2021 Iowa Newspaper Association Awards Ceremony. Held virtually Feb. 11, the newspapers came home with the top prize in both Best Sports Column for Troy Hyde and Best Continuing Coverage for Jamee A. Pierson.
“It is wonderful for our work to be honored by our peers in the newspaper industry,” editor Pam Pratt said. “Our staff endeavors to produce quality content for our readers. With a dedicated staff, it is an honor to be recognized for the work we put into our publications.”
The Newton News came home with four awards including Best Sports Section — second place, Coverage of Agriculture — Second Place, Best News Story, Christopher Braunschweig — third place and Best Continuing Coverage, Pierson, Braunschweig — third place.
Hyde led the Jasper County Tribune awards with first place for Best Sports Column. Coverage of Business received third place and Best News Feature, Braunschweig also took home third.
For the PCM Explorer, Pierson took home first place for Best Continuing Coverage. Coverage of Business took home second place along with Best Sports Column for Hyde and Best COVID-19 Coverage placed third. For Best Front Page, the Explorer placed second.
The 2021 Iowa Better Newspaper Contests were judged by the MDDC Press Association. Entries are separated into daily and weekly categories and then divided into different divisions depending on size of circulation.
The Newton News was placed in the Daily Class 1 while the PCM Explorer and Jasper County Tribune were judged in Weekly Class 1 division. More than 3,000 entires were judged in a variety of categories in each division.