Ten Falls City Journal entries from publications between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022, earned awards at the annual Nebraska Press Association Better Newspaper Contest. The awards were announced at the NPA convention held in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Nikki McKim earned second place in the Special Awards – Leadership, all classes together, “Freedom of Information” for coverage of Beatrice 911 and the Richardson County Commissioner. “The Freedom of Information” award is given as a means to publicize the efforts to preserve free speech and transparency in government. First place went to the Fairbury Journal News editor Gordon Hopkins for his coverage on a wind farm campaign organization.
Chelsie Alexander earned first place in the Agricultural Advertisement category for the National FFA Week ad. She earned second place in the Single Retail Advertising Idea-black and white category for her McPeak Open House advertisement. Chelsie also earned third place in two separate categories, including Building Circulation and Reader Interaction both with “the Babies of 2021.”
Chelsie Alexander and Brian McKim earned third place in Special Single Section for the 2022 Spring Sports Preview.
Brian McKim earned third place in the category of Personal Sports Column for his column “Right or Wrong, its my Opinion.”
Nikki McKim earned first place in Feature Photography, for a photo from the 2022 Hot Air Balloon Festival in Falls City titled, “Hot Air Balloon Festival Blown Away.” She took second place in the Single Feature Story category for the article titled, “I’m excited about the Department we have and what the future holds,” about the Richardson County Sheriff’s Department and Sheriff Hardesty’s quest for building a new jail. Nikki McKim and Alexander McKim placed second in Headline Writing for the article titled, “The Kids are not all right,” about bullying in local schools. Nikki also placed third for her Feature Series titled, “A 20 year rivalry becomes deadly,” telling the story of a triple murder near Preston, NE.
Entries were judged from thousands of separate newspapers all over Nebraska.
