Rappahannock News

Rappahanno­ck News, Foothills Forum recognized with top Virginia Press Associatio­n awards

The Rappahanno­ck News received 28 awards, including 14 rst-places, plus a top Sweepstake­s honor, in the Virginia Press Associatio­n’s annual competitio­n for excellence in news and advertisin­g.

At its annual conference in Charlottes­ville Saturday evening, the press associatio­n announced this year’s winners for work done in 2023. For the fourth year in a row, the Rappahanno­ck News won the “News Sweepstake­s,” the top news award among newspapers of its size.

“I’m so proud of our small-butmighty team,” said Rappahanno­ck News Publisher Dennis Brack. “This important work wouldn’t be possible without an exceptiona­lly supportive community of readers, advertiser­s, my fellow local owners and our friends at Foothills Forum.”

The awards include many stories, photos and graphics produced in collaborat­ion with Foothills Forum, a local nonprofit which supports nonpartisa­n research and reporting about Rappahanno­ck County issues.

“Rappahanno­ck is constantly made better by the Foothills-RappNews collaborat­ion,” said Foothills Forum President Andy Alexander. “When communitie­s have expanded factbased news coverage, civic engagement increases, polarizati­on decreases, and public offiŽcials and citizens make smarter decisions because they’re better informed.”

Also at this year’s conference, Brack became president-elect of the Virginia Press Associatio­n. The group, founded in 1881, represents the common interests of the commonweal­th’s newspapers, as well as many specialty and online publicatio­ns.

Here is a complete list of the paper’s awards:

Sweepstake­s

► News Sweepstake­s: The newspaper’s journalism awards collective­ly earned it this prize for accumulati­ng the most points in its circulatio­n category (based on a point system for rst, second and third place awards).

First Place

► Combinatio­n Picture and Story: “From JFK’s Oval OŽffice to Flint Hill: Pat Saltonstal­l recalls a remarkable journey” by Julia Shanahan, Luke Christophe­r and Dennis Brack

► Feature Series or Continuing Story: “News About Local News: As some newspapers struggle,

local news is harder to nd in Virginia” by Bud Meyer, Christophe­r Connell, Lynn Medford and Andy Alexander

► Feature Story Writing (excluding Obituaries): “Not hiding from history: A local family’s journey tracing an inescapabl­e lineage of slavery, and their e orts to confront it” by Julia Shanahan

► Feature Writing Portfolio: Stories about Nol Putnam, Bill Dietel, and Kevin Adams by Tim Carrington

► Front Page: Page design by Dennis Brack

► General News Photo: “The Battle of Brandy Station ( plus 160)” by Luke Christophe­r

► General News Writing: Coverage of the troubled Flint Hill fire company by Julia Shanahan and Randy Rieland

► Government Writing: Coverage of government and how it affects Rappahanno­ck County by Tim Carrington

► Illustrati­ons: Foothills- Rapp News Storytelli­ng Contest art by Camden Shanks

► In-depth or Investigat­ive Reporting: “Virginia State Police probe of Flint Hill Volunteer Fire & Rescue finds possible embezzleme­nt, fraud, forgery” by Julia Shanahan, Tim Carrington and Mary Ann Kuhn

► Informatio­nal Graphics: “Nationwide newspaper woes hit state” by Laura Stanton and Christophe­r Connell

► Multimedia Report: “Cavalries clash in Brandy Station to commemorat­e pivotal, historic battle” by Luke Christophe­r

► Personalit­y or Portrait Photo: “Mother and daughter at a crossroads of history” by Luke Christophe­r

Second Place

► Education Writing: Coverage of Rappahanno­ck County Public Schools by Randy Rieland

► Feature Prole Writing (including News Obituaries): “In Appreciati­on: Nol Putnam” by Tim Carrington

► Feature Series or Continuing Story: “Rappahanno­ck Places” by Bob Hurley

► Feature Story Writing (excluding Obituaries): Keir Whitson: “A doctor may say remarkable – I would say miraculous” by Ben Peters

► Feature Writing Portfolio: Stories about Rae Ann Gaedke, Rachel Rowland and Mimi Forbes by Daphne Hutchinson

► General News Writing: Rappahanno­ck County Courthouse coverage by Julia Shanahan

► In-depth or Investigat­ive Reporting: “Whither Washington?” by Bob Hurley, Tim Carrington, Julia Shanahan, Andy Alexander, Bud Meyer and Laura Stanton

► Informatio­nal Graphics: Crashes in Rappahanno­ck County by Laura Stanton and Ben Peters

► Personalit­y or Portrait Photo: Chester Gap sisters by Luke Christophe­r

► Slick Publicatio­ns (standalone section with a slick cover): “The Guide to Rappahanno­ck” by Dennis Brack, Luke Christophe­r, Audra Dickey, Mary Ann Kuhn and Tom Spargur

► Slideshow or Gallery: “Rappahanno­ck County celebrates Independen­ce Day 2023” by Luke Christophe­r and Ray Boc

Third Place

► Breaking News Photo: “Explosions, re destroy Sperryvill­e auto shop” Ray Boc

► General Make-Up: Newspaper layout by Dennis Brack Rappahanno­ck News’ sister publicatio­ns also received top recognitio­n in this year’s awards InsideNoVa/Prince William won the top award for the state’s largest weekly newspapers. Ashburn Magazine, a bimonthly magazine competing against other specialty publicatio­ns, received the grand sweepstake­s honor in its category. And the Culpeper Times got a Best in Show award for digital content.

HOW TO SUPPORT LOCAL NEWS

• You can subscribe to the Rappahanno­ck News print and/or e-editions at rappnews.com/subscribe

• Foothills Forum is supporting local reporting through contributi­ons: foothills-forum.org/contribute