The Ouray County Plaindealer earned 10 awards at the Colorado Press Association convention last weekend, including two top awards for excellence in its class of newspapers.
Judges from the North Carolina Press Association awarded the Plaindealer top honors for excellence in both photography and design and mixed media.
Plaindealer staff also swept the news reporting category this year, winning both first and second place for its category of newspapers. The Plaindealer competed against publications including the Sky-Hi News in Granby, the Nederland Mountain Ear, the Leadville Herald Democrat, the Sopris Sun, the Crested Butte News and Intermountain Jewish News.
Judges awarded first place news reporting to a story by co-publisher Erin McIntyre, “Ridgway runs afoul of labor laws,” an article about the town violating the law by not paying its marshal deputies overtime. Second place news reporting was awarded to co-publisher Mike Wiggins for his article, “Wasted water riles residents,” which detailed issues with an Elk Meadows property with a water leak for two years, which had used hundreds of thousands of gallons of water. The owner fixed the leak shortly after the story was published.
The Plaindealer also earned:
• First place best newsletter, for the weekly e-newsletter written by McIntyre and former Report for America journalist Liz Teitz. Judges liked its conversational tone and how it recapped the news covered in the printed edition. The newsletter, started in 2021, now has more than 2,000 subscribers. You can sign up for it by clicking here.
• First place feature photograph, for a photo of Cupcakes the camel by McIntyre.
• First place photo slideshow, for photos accompanying the article “Carl’s Village,” by McIntyre. Judges wrote the photos were “a heartwarming depiction of human kindness and relationships.”
• First place photo portfolio by McIntyre, which had a variety of photos from articles published in 2023.
• First place sports photo by David Emory, for a photo of a high school track athlete sticking the long jump.
• Second place best breaking news/deadline story, for “Body parts broker gets 20 years,” written by McIntyre. The story detailed the sentencing hearing for Megan Hess, who formerly operated Sunset Mesa funeral home in Montrose and was convicted of mail fraud after she transported body parts she harvested from bodies without permission from the deceased people or their families.
• Second place best feature story, “Carl’s Village,” by McIntyre. The article was about elderly Ouray resident Carl Dismant, who continues to live in his home with help from caring friends and neighbors.
• Second place best classified ad section. The contest covered work published during the 2023 calendar year.
The paper’s co-publishers were also awarded the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition’s Jean Otto “Friend of Freedom” award. This is a lifetime achievement award, recognizing “sustained commitment and courageous battles to keep government officials accountable to the people they serve through transparency and freedom of information.”
