CASPER — The Pinedale Roundup, serving all of Sublette County, continues to be one of the best small weekly newspapers in the Cowboy State, bringing home numerous awards from the 125th Annual Wyoming Press Association Convention. This year’s contest submissions were judged by members of the National Newspaper Association. The convention and ceremonies took place Jan. 18-20 at the Ramkota Hotel & Conference Center in Casper.

On Friday, Jan. 19, Gov. Mark Gordon held his “Meet the Press” Luncheon and Associate Member Awards Presentation.The Pacemaker Awards Lunch and Major Awards Banquet were held on Saturday, Jan. 20.

For the annual convention, Wyoming newspapers are divided into and compete in three categories: “Dailies,” like the Casper Star Tribune, Wyoming Tribune Eagle, Laramie Boomerang and Sheridan Press; “Large Weeklies,” such as the Jackson Hole News&Guide, Gillette News Record, Powell Tribune, Lander Journal and Buffalo Bulletin; and “Small Weeklies,” including the Pinedale Roundup, Sundance Times, Uinta County Herald and at least a dozen other publications. Most Wyoming newspapers fall into the small weekly category, making the various contests especially competitive.

Awards

For the first time in its history, the Pinedale Roundup earned the prestigious Advertising Excellence award. Judges reviewed three editions of the Roundup from Feb. 17, Aug. 31 and Sept. 28 and considered the following when reviewing the ads for this award: design and layout, creativity and impact, selection of type, use of illustrations, photos and original art. O’Hare said it was an honor to accept this award on behalf of the Roundup’s advertising consultant Cortney Reed and graphic designer Sue Bruynes. “We are so proud to deliver such an exceptional product to our advertisers and we hope they’ll share in this honor, after all, these are their ads,” O’Hare added.
The Pinedale Roundup joins the Sublette Examiner, which won the award in 2010, on the traveling plaque. News Media Corporation made the decision to discontinue and close the Examiner in July 2023.

The Roundup also picked up several Pacemaker Awards, including first place for Best Use of Photos, a testament to our dedication to representing the community we serve. The judges reviewed those same three editions of the Roundup and said, “A great layout and a format that allows photos to play large as God intended. Go ahead, look it up, It’s in the Bible. Seriously, well edited with clean layout, impressive size and a variety of photos that allows them all to complimentary tell the story of a community.”

The paper won second place in the wildlife photography category for a “Alone Among the Dead,” a photo shot by O’Hare of a sole surviving pronghorn standing amongst the carcasses of its herd. The judges said they were “curious and intrigued by this image. The loneliness of the space paired with the moment at play is well done.”

A photo spread on the 2023 Pinedale Winter Carnival, also shot by O’Hare, earned the publication first place in the Photo Story category with the judges noting, “Strong images give this entry first place.”
The Roundup won second place in News-Feature Story category for the Nov. 17 article, “Army medic surprises siblings at Veterans Day assembly, written by O’Hare. The judges said, “Tremendous story. Great job capturing behind-the-scenes and also the big reveal in which the medic is reunited with her siblings. Solid writing. I felt like I was part of it throughout.”

The Roundup’s website, pinedaleroundup.com, went from earning an Honorable Mention in 2022 to winning first place in the 2023 Best Website category, with judges commenting, “Clean design, easy to read text and right rail, clean navigation put this entry into first place.”

O’Hare said, “Each of these awards is a testament to the incredible teamwork that we have here at the Pinedale Roundup. I may have had the honor or accepting these awards in Casper, but my team at home — Joy Ufford, Sue Bruynes, Cortney Reed and Eunice Allgood — are the ones who make the magic happen. As far as I’m concerned, they’re the best of the best.”

Ongoing education

Because the journalism industry is constantly evolving, continuing education is an important element in meeting the changing needs of our subscribers and potential subscribers. The WPA Convention featured 14 guest speakers who hosted seminars throughout the weekend. O’Hare attended lectures by Alex Mahadevan, director of MediaWise at the Poynter Institute, including “Building Trust and Misinformation Resilience Through Media Literacy” and “How to Use Generative AI Effectively and Ethically in your Newsroom.”
Bendy Hamm, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, held seminars O’Hare attended on “How Local Journalism Can Support Local Democracy and Increase Readership” and “Skeptical Reporting and Critical Thinking.”

The Pinedale Roundup being served subpoenas for a reporter’s notes and her testimony on the stand against a victim of sexual assault was a big topic of conversation during the “Newspaper’s Open Meetings and Open Records” discussion moderated by Chris Wages, WPA attorney, and Bob Bonnar, Publisher of the Newcastle Newsletter Journal. Wages also held a lecture on media law, focusing on copyright, libel and slander. Other classes O’Hare attended included “Decoding SEO: Unveiling Search Intent for Journalist and Marketers” taught by Mindy Peep, digital marketer with the University of Wyoming and Shelby Gunter, a web strategist.