The results are in, and the Newberg Graphic was showered with honors for reporting and photography in 2024.

The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association presented the awards in its Better Newspaper Contest on Friday, July 18, at the Boulder Falls Center in Lebanon. Editor Gary Allen won five awards, including both news writing and photography.

Allen won first place in Best Educational Coverage for his ongoing reporting on the Newberg-Dundee Public Schools budget shortfall in 2024. He was also awarded second place in Best Coverage of Business or Economic Issue for a slate of stories on wineries suing PacifiCorp for negligence in 2020 wildfires and second place in Best Spot News Coverage for “VFW dismisses commander for failing to supervise woman arrested for embezzling funds.”

Allen won third place in Best Writing for “Newberg winery finds that bad wine can make for good whiskey”, “Saying goodbye to a redwood giant” and “‘I’ve seen this happen in other countries.’”
He was also awarded third place for Best News Photo for a shot taken during a protest against the Newberg-Dundee schools superintendent, in relation to the budget crisis.

The association recognized reporters and editors from the Graphic and other sister publications, among other media outlets across Oregon, for their outstanding coverage.

Lauren Bishop, editor for The (Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and Sherwood) Times, the (Forest Grove and Hillsboro) News-Times, the Columbia County Spotlight, The Newberg Graphic and the Woodburn Independent received one solo second-place award as well as two first-place and a third-place accolade for stories written in conjunction with colleagues.

Assistant editor Kaelyn Cassidy was honored with two second-place solo awards for her reporting at the Columbia County Spotlight and two first-place honors in conjunction with colleagues through ONPA in 2024.