News Journal staff brings home top honors from KPA

In an attempt to give you a better understanding as to what it means to a newspaper to win the General Excellence Awards from the Kentucky Press Association I compare it to a high school team going to the state tournament in basketball or playing in the football finals at Kroger Field.

Don Estep is publisher of the News Journal.

Well, the News Journal won this year’s General Excellence Award in the weekly three division at the KPA awards banquet held last Friday night at the Hyatt Regency in Lexington. That is the division for the weekly newspapers that have the most circulation.

Not only did we go to the state, we have dominated the state. This is the sixth time in the last seven years that the News Journal has won this honor. The other time we placed second. Overall we brought home 20 awards Friday night.

To us, this is a big thing because we compete against newspapers from across the state. But what does it mean to you?

I think it should mean that you are proud that Whitley County, your local newspaper, has the best large weekly newspaper in the state and it has been that way for over 30 years.

Why has this happened? For one thing Terry Forcht has given us full support. As the publisher I have had the best staff, one that strives for excellence and a superior newspaper.

Naturally, we like to brag about our towns, counties, schools, restaurants, and many other things. In this case I feel justified to brag about this newspaper.

Our award winners were News Editor Mark White, Sports Editor Trevor Sherman and News Reporter Timothy Wyatt. Congratulations to this reporting staff.

But what is not mentioned in the awards ceremony are the others who make up the staff of the News Journal. They are the best.

Our office manager, Linda Carpenter, was the first person I hired when I took on the position of publisher in 1987. She started as a salesperson but in a short while she taught herself computer skills. Her artistry in advertising composition put the News Journal far ahead of other newspapers and it helped us grow to become the largest weekly newspaper. Nobody can match her skills.

I had to steal Jennifer Benfield from another newspaper. I knew how talented she was and getting her on board was another key for us to become successful. That was 32 years ago. Presently she does our accounting and circulation, but Jennifer can also handle any job that we have. What a win that was for us to get her.

And the third staff member that I want to praise is Melissa Hudson, our advertising manager. When she first applied for a job here about 20 years ago we didn’t have an opening. She kept coming back and asking if anything had opened up. Finally I said we don’t have an opening, but if you want to take the risk I will make a place for you. I am so glad she didn’t give up because she has been the best sales person we have ever had.

You can read about our KPA award winners in the news story in this edition of the News Journal, but I also wanted to recognize all the staff for making us the best.

Before Covid we had a much larger staff, but with the turmoil newspapers have suffered we only have seven staff members now. The good news is that our circulation increased last year and this newspaper is growing again.

It would be most helpful if local advertisers would give us full support also. We still have a strong advertising base, but too many choose billboards and TV. We want and need you along with our readers to continue growing.

We gratefully say,”We are the Best!” Thanks!