Newspaper and Foothills Forum receive 46 awards in annual state competition
For the fifth consecutive year, the Virginia Press Association (VPA) has honored the Rappahannock News as the best weekly newspaper of its size in the commonwealth.
In addition to winning the “Sweepstakes” prize for overall quality, the newspaper and Foothills Forum, its nonprofit journalism partner, received 46 awards in VPA’s annual competition for excellence in news coverage and advertising.
The press association, which represents more than 150 news organizations, announced this year’s winners during a banquet on Saturday at its annual conference in Richmond. The competition received more than 2,800 entries.
The Rappahannock News competes in a class of 27 non-daily newspapers with circulations of between 1,600 and 4,000.
Roughly half of the 46 awards were first place in categories covering reporting, graphics, photography and videography. The others were for second and third place. The competition covered work in 2024 and was independently judged by members of a press association in Oregon.
More than 30 of the individual awards went to journalists for Foothills Forum, the community-supported organization that supplements news coverage produced by the newspaper’s small staff. Although separate entities, the two news organizations collaborate journalistically.
Among first place winners:
- Rappahannock News Editor Julia Shanahan for coverage of local government.
- Photographer Luke Christopher, whose five top awards were in categories for best feature photo, sports photo, picture story, photo gallery and best pictorial photograph.
- Rappahannock News publisher Dennis Brack, for front page presentation and designing several specialty news publications.
- Publisher Dennis Brack shared with Mary Ann Kuhn a first prize in the “General News Writing” category for coverage of an FBI raid on a Huntly property owned by Russia-affiliated pundit Dimitri Simes. Kuhn, an editor for the newspaper and Foothills Forum, also won a top award in the public safety writing category for her story on “Who Murdered Doris Critzer?”
- Foothills Forum journalist Ireland Hayes won five top awards for her writing, photos and videography. Her award in the photography category was in “open” competition, meaning she won over entries from all news organizations, including the state’s major outlets.
- Foothills Forum reporter Randy Rieland won two top honors for stories on local youth mental health issues. One of those awards was also in “open” competition against all other news organizations, large and small. In commenting on his work, a judge wrote: “Sensational package. . .Bravo!”
- Reporter Tim Carrington won two top awards in feature writing. One was for his story on former U.S. Court of Appeals Judge David Tatel’s memoir about his legal career and his journey into blindness. The other is for a portfolio of his 2024 stories including profiles of Tatel, developer Jim Abdo and the retirement of Northern Piedmont Community Foundation Executive Director Jane Bowling-Wilson.
- Foothills Forum reporter Bob Hurley was recognized as leader of the team that won for “The Villages of Rappahannock County,” a magazine-style special publication. Hurley also won a top prize for a portfolio of stories on local environmental topics.
