Rapp News wins 13 Virginia Press Association awards
Recognition includes 8 First Place honors
The Rappahannock News received 13 awards, including eight first-place honors, in the Virginia Press Association’s 2019 competition for excellence in journalism and advertising.
The awards were scheduled to be presented at the organization’s annual conference in Roanoke earlier this month, but the conference was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Awards were for work published during 2019.
Rappahannock News editor John McCaslin won several awards for writing and photography, including a first place honor for government writing, which included coverage of behind-the-scenes influence on the U.S. Postal Service’s since-reversed decision to move the post office out of the Town of Washington, where it had been for 215 years.
Much of the work that received first place awards was produced in partnership with Foothills Forum, a local nonprofit which supports nonpartisan research and reporting about Rappahannock County matters.
In a related development, the Virginia Press Foundation named Foothills Forum co-founders Larry “Bud” Meyer and Bill Dietel as two of the winners of its Leadership & Innovation Awards, which “recognize and celebrate those who work in journalism in Virginia and who have exhibited leadership and innovation, in big and small ways, by making their organization, newsroom or classroom a better place.”
This year’s Rappahannock News Virginia Press Association winners:
1ST PLACE
Government Writing: A portfolio of stories including “How Big Washington swiped Little Washington’s Post Office” by John McCaslin
In-depth or Investigative Reporting: “Opioid Ripples” by Randy Rieland, Lynn Medford, Laura Stanton and Kenneth Garrett
Multimedia Report: “Opioid Ripples” by Randy Rieland, Laura Stanton, Kenneth Garrett, Lynn Medford, Dennis Brack and Bud Meyer
Video: “Opioid Ripples, by the numbers” by Laura Stanton and Randy Rieland
Informational Graphics: “Opioid Ripples” by Laura Stanton, Randy Rieland and Dennis Brack
General Make-Up: Design of the Rappahannock News print edition by Dennis Brack
Special Sections: “Rappahannock Snapshot” by Bud Meyer, Randy Rieland, Sara Schonhardt, Luke Christopher, Dennis Brack and Andy Alexander
General News Photo: “Amissville Carnival Parade” by Ray Boc
3RD PLACE
Feature Photo: “Let there be light” by John McCaslin Personality or Portrait Photo: “The locals place is losing its home” by John McCaslin Pictorial Photo: “Big Meadows ablaze” by John McCaslin Feature Story Writing Portfolio: “Mystery of Clover Hill,” “When tragedy came calling to Old Hollow,” and “Giving Roy Sullivan his due — and distance” by John McCaslin
Feature Story Writing: “Giving Roy Sullivan his due — and distance” by John McCaslin
The paper is owned by Washington-based Rappahannock Media LLC, which also owns Northern Virginia’s biggest news website, InsideNoVa.com, weekly newspapers in Prince William and Culpeper counties, produces the Belvoir Eagle for Fort Belvoir, and publishes a group of monthly and bi-monthly lifestyle magazines serving Fauquier, Loudoun, Stafford and the Virginia Piedmont.
Details on all the winners statewide are available on the VPA’s website: http:// vpagallery.com/2019/2019Winners/