Las Cruces Sun-News wins 7 awards in state journalism contest

SANTA FE - The New Mexico Press Association recognized the best of New Mexico’s newspaper writing, photography and advertising at the Better Newspaper Contest banquet on Saturday.

The Las Cruces Sun-News won three first-place and four second-place awards, bringing home seven plaques. In addition, Sun-News reporter Justin Garcia won awards for helping the Ruidoso News cover the McBride Fire.

The NMPA organization handed out awards to newspapers in four divisions. The Sun-News competes in the top division, along with the largest newspapers in the state. Garcia's recognition reporting for the Ruidoso News came in the small, weekly division.

Sun-News reporter Michael McDevitt was awarded first place in Best News Writing for a profile on Desert Hope apartments, an affordable housing development serving previously unhoused residents. The story is titled, "Desert Hope promised a model for transitioning unhoused. Now, tenants and staff say it's a neglected property."

A judge wrote: "Well written, goes above and beyond — follows up on what could have been vs, what is."

McDevitt also won second place in Business Writing for his story about once vacant properties finding new life as cannabis shops.

Sun-News News Director Lucas Peerman and reporters Algernon D'Ammassa, Miranda Cyr and Leah Romero teamed to win first place in a new category in 2022: COVID-19 in Your Community. In this category, newspapers were asked to submit up to five print editions with pandemic coverage.

The submissions included Peerman's end-of-the-year story exploring how one Doña Ana County family was coping after the death of a loved one to COVID-19. The story was accompanied by a list of all COVID-19-related deaths in the county in 2021. In addition, D'Ammassa wrote about steps residents should take if they were exposed to COVID over the Christmas break.

The Sun-News also submitted multiple stories published the week that New Mexico lifted its mask mandate in mid February, including Romero's look at how area businesses responded, Cyr's exploration of what it was like in schools the day after students didn't have to wear a mask, and D'Ammassa's story detailing how state leaders came to their decision.

"Excellent variety of coverage for an issue that touched nearly aspect of life," a judge wrote about the Sun-News' COVID coverage. "This package of stories struck the perfect balance of statistical and government-based coverage while also incorporating the human element that made the reporting sing. Including the list of deaths in the county in 2021 was particularly haunting and impactful."

Cyr, a Report for America fellow covering education, was awarded second place in Education Writing for a series on community schools in New Mexico. Cyr talked to school districts across the state to detail why community schools exist and how they helped amid the pandemic.

Sun-News lead Reporter Damien Willis won two awards.

Willis' 2021 Distinguished Resident profile on Garrey Carruthers was awarded first place in Best Use of Multimedia. The online package included an hour-long podcast with Carruthers as well as an extensive photo gallery with archive pictures from Carruthers' time as governor of New Mexico and when he was chancellor of New Mexico State University.

A judge wrote: "You can tell they are embedded in the community. I like that a lot. Overall it is very clean."

The Reporter's Notebook is both a newsletter and podcast, which Willis produces weekly, to take readers behind the curtain of the reporting process. Willis earned second place in Explanation of News Operations or Newspaper for The Reporter's Notebook.

The Sun-News staff was awarded second place in Breaking News-Digital for its online coverage of the first day of legal recreational cannabis sales in New Mexico. Because the City of Las Cruces did not set operating hours for recreational cannabis shops, sales could begin at midnight April 1. Cyr attended the midnight premiere of one business and documented the first legal recreational cannabis sale in the state.

Sun-News reporters provided coverage throughout the day, including McDevitt's analysis of the first day of sales in Las Cruces; D'Ammassa's look at sales in southern Doña Ana County, near the Texas border; and intern Cielo Rodriguez's roundup of restaurants opening soon in case readers got the munchies.

Garcia, a reporter for the Sun-News, traveled to Ruidoso to help cover the McBride Fire in April. His stories were picked up by multiple Gannett-owned properties, including the Sun-News and Ruidoso News. His story recounting the harrowing first 24 hours of the blaze was awarded Best News Writing in Weekly Division II.

"Your first paragraph grabbed my attention and I wanted to keep reading," a judge wrote. "Your next two paragraphs kept me entranced. I absolutely needed to know more about Ruidoso's residents and the fire. Well written overall, but what really cemented my decision was the way you grabbed my attention in the beginning and didn't let go. That's exactly how a great news story should be written. Very well done! Congratulations, you are a talented writer."

Garcia, along with Carlsbad Current-Argus reporter Adrian Hedden and Alamogordo Daily News/Ruidoso News reporter Nicole Maxwell, won first place in Best Ongoing/Continuing Coverage in the Weekly Division II for their work covering the McBride Fire.

A judge wrote: "You were there when the community needed you! Great ongoing updates in the coverage and strong images and video support."

A newspaper from each division is awarded for General Excellence, the top award. This year’s winners are: Santa Fe New Mexican, Daily I; Farmington Daily Times, Daily 2; Taos News, Weekly I; and El Defensor Chieftain in Socorro, Weekly 2.

The contest was judged by the Wyoming Press Association.

The awards were handed out at the NMPA 113th Annual Convention.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Lucas Peerman can be reached at lpeerman@lcsun-news.com or @LittleGuyInATie on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Las Cruces Sun-News wins 7 awards in state journalism contest