Mitchell Republic wins General Excellence, Sweepstakes at annual SDNA contest

The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·2 min read

May 13—DEVILS LAKE, N.D. — The Mitchell Republic was judged to have the best print edition and best website among all daily newspapers in South Dakota, in addition to winning the most awards in its circulation division.

The Mitchell Republic won 10 first-place awards and 28 awards overall during the 2022 South Dakota Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest, presented Friday during a joint convention with North Dakota Newspaper Association in Devils Lake, North Dakota. The newspaper competes in the highest division against all other daily newspapers. All of the work that was judged was compiled in the 2022 calendar year.

SDNA's General Excellence Award recognizes the newspaper's overall quality and commitment to journalism, with the Mitchell Republic winning the award among all daily papers in South Dakota.

"Strong state, local opinion page content, sports, local columns, features and national content," the judge wrote. "Well-organized paper. Has good advertising. The Mitchell Republic is a strong local newspaper."

The Mitchell Republic also claimed the daily newspaper's Sweepstakes Award, which goes to the newspaper that accumulates the most points by placing in individual categories.

"So many of our talented staff members were honored with awards this weekend," said Mitchell Republic Editor Luke Hagen. "It's exciting to see our hard work get recognized by our peers who judged this contest. We work hard every day to bring great work to our readers, and these awards are a nice reassurance that we're making good decisions for the people who support us."

Here is a full list of the awards:

* Laura Fosness, first place, best digital campaign; third place, best series ad idea; second place, best use of color; third place, best use of local photography.

* Tom Stevens, third place, best two column ad; first place, best series ad idea; third place, best single ad idea; first place, best use of color.

* Luke Hagen, first place, best feature photo; second place, best local column.

* Erik Kaufman, first place, best feature series.

* Hunter Dunteman, third place, best lede; first place, best news series.

* Matt Gade, first place, best portrait photo.

* Mitchell Republic staff, first place, General Excellence.

* Marcus Traxler, first place, best sports column.

* Adam Thury, second place, best portrait photo; second place, best sports photo, first place, best news photo.

* Mitchell Republic staff, third place, best typography and design.

* Jeremy Fugleberg, second place, best feature series.

* Zech Lambert, Marcus Traxler, second place, best sports series.

* Patrick Lalley, third place, best feature story: profile.

* Jason Harward, third place, best local government story.

* Sam Fosness, Jason Harward, Marcus Traxler, third place, best news series.

* Sam Fosness, third place, best sports reporting.

* Mitchell Republic staff, first place, best website.

* Mitchell Republic staff, Sweepstakes.