In addition, the staff won the overall General Excellence award, as well as the Advertising Sweepstakes Award. Kyle Perrotti and Holly Kays also each won a Media and the Law Award, which is judged by the North Carolina Bar Association; only four total Media and the Law Awards were given out across all divisions.

Owner and publisher Scott McLeod said that while reporters do the job because they love it, it’s always nice to receive recognition for their hard work.

“Journalists aren’t in this business to win awards, they want to report responsibly on what’s happening in their communities,” he said. “However, when judges from other newspapers single out our work to be among the best in the state, it does make me proud of what we’ve accomplished.”

Individual winners included Micah McClure, Jessica Murray, Sophia Burleigh, Greg Boothroyd, Amanda Bradley, Cory Vaillancourt, Holly Kays, Kyle Perrotti, Hannah McLeod and Chris Cox.