L&T staff report
The Kansas Press Association contest season is officially over, and the Leader & Times ended up coming away with multiple awards from its 2023 circulation.
L&T Publisher Earl Watt said he was very pleased with how the awards season ended up.
“It’s always a special year when you win the Sweepstakes Award, that’s not something that happens every year. It’s tough to win the Sweepstakes because there are so many good newspapers in Kansas, especially of our size,” Watt said. “We compete in the second largest circulation division in the state, and my hat’s off to the Harvey County Now, they ended up doing really well, as did the newspapers from Great Bend and Emporia and other communities. To win the Sweepstakes Award, this year in particular, it had to really be earned because there were so many good newspapers competing. Of all the years we’ve brought home the Sweepstakes Award, the years that stick out to me are 2010 and this year because of the overall quality of the work that was submitted from us and the other newspapers in our division. Our staff is doing the work of telling this community’s story, and I’ve always said our job is to tell this community’s story just as good or better than how other communities are doing. I’m very proud of the results from the staff – this was one of Elly’s better years with the awards she received, and I feel like this was also one of Robert’s better years as well. And not to sound greedy, but there were a few minor disappointments from this year, particularly with the story we did about the WWII soldier whose remains were returned to Plains after 80 years of being missing. But to see what we did receive, I was really pleased – we received five 1st place honors, seven 2nd place honors, and 17 3rd place honors, and it was those honors that really put us over the top for Sweepstakes. And we had a very wide variety of stories that were submitted and got recognized, so that’s also something I’m really proud of. I always say the quality of our stories goes back to the quality of the community we serve – if we don’t have anyone doing anything, we don’t have anything to write about, so we’re very fortunate to be able to cover all of that and tell those stories.”
L&T reporters Robert Pierce and Elly Grimm also shared their thoughts about this award season.
“While I was very happy to win the Sweepstakes award, my favorite highlight from this year was sweeping the government and political story category, with myself taking the top two spots,” Pierce said. “The story on the law enforcement K-9 plot at Restlawn Cemetery was one of my favorites from 2023. I was a little surprised the judges liked my story on the treasurer’s office and gave it second in government and political story, but I’ll take a win. The other two stories I was recognized for were also a couple of my favorites. I loved the story I did with Annica Slater and Bri Frisby going back to get their degrees after starting careers. I know in today’s age, that kind of story seems to happen all the time, and many people do the same thing Annica and Bri did. However, for some reason, something just told me their story needed to be told. The final story was one that took a while to come to fruition. Chayli Duerson had been working to adopt an international child for at least a couple of years, and having that happen during the holiday season told me it would make a perfect Christmas feature story. Thank you KPA judges for recognizing this story and the others I got awards for.”
“I was extremely happy with the awards I ended up with, though there were a couple stories I thought for sure would get more recognition, but that’s the story basically every year with me,” Grimm added. “I was particularly glad to see my Spotlight column is still going strong after a few years, and I just KNOW one of these years will be the year I get 1st place in that category. I was also really happy some of my photos got some recognition, I’m always pleased when that happens. From what I’ve heard, this year was SUPER competitive, so I’m glad the paper got the awards it did, and the results make me want to step up my game a little more and do even better for next year. With this year being an election year, I’m sure there will be a wide variety of more politically-based stories that will be coming up, and I’m ready to see how all of that turns out.”
Watt added he was also pleased with the convention itself.
“When you go to convention, you’re networking with your peers and others who do what you do throughout the state. I visited with several people who I’ve met in the past and some new people, and we all pick each other’s brains and talk about what’s worked and what hasn’t. I always come back energized, and I’ve already got a couple ideas of some things I’d like to implement for the L&T, so it’s exciting. Something else I always notice is we don’t tell the paper’s story well enough because we’re so busy telling the stories of everyone else in the community. A large chunk of the community looks at the paper on a daily basis, or on our Web site. In fact, 72 percent of the public believes newspaper advertising is important, and that’s better than social media or any other media. People look to the paper on a regular basis throughout the state of Kansas, and there’s also research showing 82 percent of the public sees a print or digital newspaper every month. We don’t sit and toot our own horn, but if we don’t tell the people, they’re just going to rely on the rumor mill or other misinformation instead of reading a legitimate news source about what’s going on. It’s important for us to share our story and talk about what our outreach is with our print edition, our Web site, and our social media. We’re working to be innovative and keep our community informed, and I would say that’s our main mission.”
Watt added he sees each year’s results as motivation for the next year’s award season.
“There have been years where we haven’t received as many awards, and that gets me thinking ‘What can we do next year to step up our game?’ This year, even though we got the Sweepstakes Award, we got 17 3rd place honors, and I’d like to see us move some of those up to 2nd or 1st place for next year, and that comes down to the staff and the pride they have in the work they’re putting together. The staff works really hard covering the meetings and everything else they do and making sure they’re getting this community’s attention. There’s been a lot going on throughout Liberal this year, and with all of that, it’s our obligation to make sure the community knows that information so they’re informed. I take this as motivation to do even better, and I feel strongly that we’ll continue to put out quality stories and other work. I also want everyone at the paper to enjoy this moment because we haven’t won the Sweepstakes since 2018, and I want everyone to recognize how their work does matter, and that was proven by their fellow peers. Journalism isn’t really a job where you get a lot of pats on the back for the work you do, and this should be a feather in the staff’s caps about how they’ve stepped up their game.”
Overall, the staff agreed, there is plenty of work to do for next year.
“Again, my hat’s off to the community for giving us the opportunity to tell all these stories and cover everything going on,” Watt said. “It’s always humbling to be recognized for your work, and this was a great time for us to be recognized for what we’ve done, and I hope we can continue to go up from here. We’ll continue to print this community’s story and share everything online, and I hope people will continue reading about what we’re doing.”
“I was happy with the awards I received, but I will admit I was a little disappointed we didn’t receive any recognition in the photo package category. I had looked through several Sunday Living fronts to pick out what I wanted to submit,” Pierce added. “I even sent copies to some friends and family to get their thoughts. I got a little input on it, and with the help of Elly, I chose the pages I wanted to submit. I’m sure, like many of the categories in this contest, this one is also competitive, so I’m sure what they chose was very good, to say the least. I would like to say while I appreciate the recognition from the KPA judges, my ultimate judge is the readers of this paper and the people who have trusted me to tell their stories. I call these people my teammates, and to say the least, I have some great teammates in the communities I report on in this job. Thank you to all of you for your trust and letting me do this job. Keep up the good work.”
“Everyone here at the paper works their butt off every day to make sure everything gets covered, whether it’s sports, entertainment, news, etc., and I would just like to encourage everyone in the community and surrounding area to continue supporting the paper because without that support, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do,” Grimm said. “If you can purchase a paper at the store, or visit our Web site or social media, definitely go for it because you won’t be disappointed in what you see.”
