From photography to design, from news pages to editorials, from videography to headline writing, from sports to news to features to enterprise to advertising, The Register-Herald newsroom, competing in the large circulation class, won 11 first-place awards and 31 overall in the West Virginia Press Association annual journalism competition with the advertising team winning five first-place awards and 19 overall. For the fourth consecutive year, the Beckley newsroom took home second place in General Excellence, with the Charleston Gazette-Mail winning first. The Herald Dispatch of Huntington won third place. The Beckley advertising team won third place in General Excellence. “I’m so proud of this team and the work we put out every day in an effort to help our customers with their marketing. We faced so many obstacles last year, so being recognized with this award is truly an honor,” commented Lisa Stadelman, advertising sales manager for commercial printing. Longtime local photographer Rick Barbero won Photo of the Year.

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph, The Register-Herald’s sister CNHI newspaper, was named Newspaper of the Year for the second consecutive year by virtue of accumulating more points than any other newspaper in both advertising and news contest categories. Competing in Division 2, the Bluefield newsroom also won first place in General Excellence. The Beckley newsroom eclipsed its performance of the previous year when it won seven first-place awards and 21 overall. “Despite the myriad challenges of a pandemic, despite fewer journalists on staff, this team just simply went about its business,” said J. Damon Cain, Register-Herald editor. “I couldn’t be more honored to rub elbows with each and every one of these professionals. “Our haul and Bluefield’s performance clearly say there’s noteworthy journalism being committed here in the southern reaches of the state and we do a pretty good job of holding our own,” Cain said. First-place winners came from across the newsroom with Barbero winning both feature and news photo categories. Jenny Harnish swept the best video competition, winning first-, second- and third-place awards. Harnish also won first place in best photo essay for her pictures from a drive-through farmers’ market in Greenbrier County.

“Despite the myriad challenges of a pandemic, despite fewer journalists on staff, this team just simply went about its business,”

Showing their dominance, Barbero and Harnish won 11 of 16 awards in photo and video categories. Jackie Wetzel, a frequent freelancer for the newspaper, took home two first-place awards, one in the news feature competition for a story about the Meals on Wheels service in Wyoming County, and the other for best governmental affairs reporting for a story on water systems in Wyoming County. Jessica Farrish captured a first place in best lifestyle feature for a story about the complex nature of Black hairstyles. The presentation of that story helped the newspaper staff win a first place in the best lifestyle page competition. The staff was also credited with a first-place win for its entry in best Covid coverage. Cain, for the fourth time in five years, won best editorial and also claimed a first place for best headline. First-place advertising awards for Beckley came in Covid advertising, best single black and white ad, best classified section, best recruitment ad, and best theme pages in classified.

Other news awards went to: • Farrish, second place for best news feature, second place for best legal affairs reporting, second place for best governmental affairs reporting and third place for best news feature • Harnish, second place for best news feature photo and third place for best news photography • Sports Editor Gary Fauber, second place for best sports event reporting and third place for best sports news and feature reporting • Cain, third place for best news feature • Erin Beck, third place for best governmental affairs reporting • Staff, second place for best front page, third place for best single issue and third place for best newspaper design • Barbero, third place for best feature photography and third place for best videographer/photographer • Michelle James, third place for best news feature Other advertising awards were: • Two second-place awards for best single black and white ad, a second place for best agency ad, second place for best recruitment ad, second place for best classified display, second place for best promotion of public notice, best classified theme section, second place for best ad campaign, second place for best special section, third place for best political ad, third place for best house ad, third place for best classified display ad, third place for best promotion of public notice, and third place for best newspaper promotional ad.