Nevada Appeal takes home 29 awards at 2024 Nevada Press Association contest

The Nevada Appeal staff claimed first place in the rural general excellence category, the Nevada Press Association’s highest honor.

“Excellent balance of hard news and feature stories,” the judge wrote. “Loved the sports sections! Lots of photos of local school athletes. Great example of a well-balanced paper doing an amazing job covering the community.”

It was one of 29 awards the staff claimed during Saturday’s Nevada Press Association convention in Reno.

The team also claimed first place in online general excellence led by news editor Rick Hoover.

The staff also won first place for PEAK NV in the magazine category. PEAK is a twice a year magazine dedicated to active seniors living in Northern Nevada.

The inaugural edition of This is Carson City! took home first place in the best advertising special section category. The edition also claimed second place for best editorial special section. The 2023 Best of Carson City was third place in the special section category.

The sports team at the Appeal and Record-Courier, led by news editor Duke Ritenhouse, took home first place for best special project, a magazine dedicated to the 100^th year of football being played between Carson and Douglas high schools.

The Appeal was second in advertising general excellence. The Appeal’s editorial page also placed second.

“The variety of content in the commentary and opinions is interesting and engaging. The participation via the letters to the editor show that readers are bought in and care enough to weigh in on the issues that matter to them and how they're covered,” the judge said.

And the staff’s photo coverage of Nevada Day was awarded third-place in the photo gallery category.

Individual first-place winners were: 

• Graphic artist Michael McGarvey for in-house advertising of the “Carson-Douglas 100” section.

• Reporter Scott Neuffer took home first place in breaking news category for his coverage of the court’s ruling on the slaughterhouse project.
• Neuffer was first in business spot news category

• Neuffer was first in the food and dining writing category for his collection of stories about restaurants.

• Neuffer was first in the health reporting category for his coverage of Carson Tahoe Health aiming to hire new providers in 2024.

• Reporter Jessica Garcia took home first place in the explanatory journalism category for her story about teen mental health issues in Nevada.

• Garcia also placed first in the police and criminal justice reporting category for her story about juvenile services in Carson City.

• She also took home first-place in the obituary category.

• Garcia’s feature about McAvoy Layne portraying Mark Twain took home first place.

• Reporter and editorial graphic designer Kyler Klix place first in the portrait category for his photo of a fire dancer.

“The photo utilizes light and shadow to highlight and emphasize the subject. Nice subject choice and sense of drama in the frame,” the judge said.

• Klix along with fellow editorial graphic designer Lauren Solinger took home first place for the Appeal’s page one design.

• Columnist Joe Santoro took home first-place for his Sports Fodder column.

Individual second-place winners were: 

• Neuffer in police and criminal justice reporting for his coverage about crime in Carson City in 2023.

• Sports director Carter Eckl took home second place for sports feature writing with his story including the Carson-Douglas 100 section about how the rivalry became the best in the state.

• Klix was second in the entertainment spot new story for his coverage of the Backcountry Festival.

• Klix and Solinger placed second for the Appeal in the overall design category.

Individual third-place winners were: 

• Neuffer took third in feature writing category for his piece on ghost hunting in Carson City.

• Neuffer took third in enterprise reporting for political/government for a story about affordable housing in Carson City.

• Eckl was third in sports feature writing for a story about Tristan Rutledge’s recovery from injury.