Wooster Daily Record, Ashland Times-Gazette staff up for 21 AP awards in annual contest
Staff members at The Daily Record and The-Daily-Record.com and Ashland Times-Gazette and Times-Gazette.com have been nominated for a total of 21 awards in the annual Ohio Associated Press Media Editors contest.
The award finalists were announced Monday.
The Daily Record, with 13 awards, is competing in Division III against other newspapers similar in size for news and sports reporting, photography, design and online work in 2022. The Sandusky Register, The (Dover-New Philadelphia) Times-Reporter and Mansfield News Journal are among other papers in that division.
The Times-Gazette, with eight awards, competes in Division II against other Ohio newspapers, including The (Newark) Advocate, The (Ashtabula) Star Beacon and Zanesville Times Recorder.
Reporter Bryce Buyakie leads Wooster staff in award nominations
Staff writer Bryce Buyakie is up for three awards for Best News Writer, enterprise and explanatory reporting. He also is among the staff who covered the June 13, 2022 overnight storm that left thousands of people in three counties powerless for five days, two of which saw temps soar into the 90s with a heat index of 105. The Daily Record is nominated for Best Spot News Coverage for a series of stories reporting information on everything from outage updates and road closings to how long food lasts in the refrigerator and where to get water, ice and a shower.
Buyakie's awarding-winning enterprise story looked at the triple threat impacting food pantries in Wayne and Ashland counties as they struggled to keep up with rising demand and supply shortages. His explanatory report looked at how to navigate a roundabout.
Kevin Lynch, who covers Holmes County, is nominated for awards in feature and business writing. His business entries explained the allure of Amish fry pies, where to get burgers and a beer across the tri-county area and how a Holmes County company grew to find success in the NBA and gyms everywhere as "Hardwood Heroes." Among Lynch's feature entries were stories about a WWII veteran who was celebrating a 100th birthday, the legacy of coach Perry Reese and how a postcard mailed from Texas 78 years prior had finally made its way to relatives of the intended party in Ohio.
Correspondents Art Holden and Shams Mustafa each placed in column writing; Holden for Best Sports Columnist for his Outdoors features and Mustafa for Best Columnist for editorial opinion writing.
The Daily Record has dual awards for headline writing by Editor Veronica Van Dress and Planning Editor Jeanine Kendle.
Here are the newspaper's 13 award nominations:
Best Business Writer: Kevin Lynch
Best Columnist: Shams Mustafa
Best Enterprise Reporting: Bryce Buyakie
Best Explanatory Reporting: Bryce Buyakie
Best Feature Writer: Kevin Lynch
Best News Writer: Bryce Buyakie
Best News Writer: Derek Kreider (Now with Akron Beacon Journal)
Best Headline Writer: Jeanine Kendle
Best Headline Writer: Veronica Van Dress
Best Sports Columnist: Art Holden
Best Spot News Coverage: Staff for "June storm surprise"
Best Full-Page Design: Scott Lanter
Best Digital Presence: The-Daily-Record.com
Tom Puskar dominates photo award categories for Ashland
Ashland's staff photographer Tom E. Puskar has six award nominations for his photo work in the areas of features, news and sports. He also is up for two video awards.
Wooster's Buyakie shares an award with Grant Ritchey for Best Spot News Coverage for a series of reports on an April 11, 2022 crash on I-71 that turned tragic when a firefighter working the scene was struck and killed. Safety forces from across Ohio attended the funeral of Lt. Philip Wigal.
Correspondent Irv Oslin is up for Best Columnist for his feature and outdoors columns that largely center on paddling and camping in Mohican Country.
Here are the Times-Gazette's eight award nominations:
Best Columnist: Irv Oslin
Best Feature Photo: Tom Puskar (two awards)
Best News Photo: Tom Puskar
Best Sports Photo: Tom Puskar
Best Spot News Coverage: Grant Ritchey and Bryce Buyakie
Best Video: Tom Puskar (two awards)
The awards in actual order of finish — first, second and third places — will be announced during a program in Columbus on May 7. The General Excellence winners also will be announced at the event.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Wooster & Ashland newspapers win AP journalism awards for 2022 work
