The Ouray County Plaindealer took home 14 awards at the Colorado Press Association convention last weekend.
The annual Better Newspaper Contest, which covered work published during the 2024 calendar year, recognizes work across four categories: editorial, photo/ design, mixed media and advertising. This year’s contest was judged by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.
The Plaindealer swept the best feature story category, with co-publisher Erin McIntyre winning first place for her story, “It’s a very comforting feeling,” an article about the work of Neighbor to Neighbor, a nonprofit organization that helps meet the needs of Ouray County’s most vulnerable residents.
Report for America journalist Lia Salvatierra took home second place in the best feature category for her profile of Dexter, Ouray’s internationally renowned, three-legged Brittany Spaniel.
The Plaindealer won two awards for its extensive coverage of troubles within the Ouray Police Department, with McIntyre and co-publisher Mike Wiggins winning first place for best series or sustained coverage and second place for best public service project.
The newspaper also won two first place awards — best investigative story package and best environmental story — for a story written by Salvatierra, McIntyre and Wiggins about Crystal Reservoir being drained by the U.S. Forest Service and local efforts to acquire the reservoir.
The Plaindealer also earned:
• First place for best breaking news/ deadline reporting for stories written by Wiggins and McIntyre about the firing of Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood.
• First place for best opinion writing for a series of editorial columns written by McIntyre, including one demanding transparency from the Ouray Police Department after months of the Plaindealer’s attempts to obtain less-redacted documents about a use-of-force complaint involving a teenager.
• First place for best newsletter for the Plaindealer’s weekly e-newsletter written by McIntyre.
• First place for best feature photograph for McIntyre’s photo of a ballerina during Weehawken Creative Arts’ performance of “The Nutcracker.”
• Second place for best photography portfolio by McIntyre.
• Second place for best sports photograph for photographer David Emory’s photo of a high school track athlete sticking the long jump.
• Second place for headline writing by Wiggins.
• Second place for best classified ad page.
The Plaindealer competed against other weekly publications including the Sky-Hi News in Granby, the Berthoud Weekly Surveyor, the Crested Butte News, the Leadville Herald Democrat, the Left Hand Valley Courier in Niwot, and the Sopris Sun in Carbondale.
