The Paper wins 21 NCPA awards

On the heels of earning five national press awards, The Paper received 21 N.C. Press Association (NCPA) honors for excellence for its recent work across all divisions — news, sports, editorial, advertising, special sections and community service.

The NCPA recognition brings to 26 the number of state and national awards won by The Paper in 2025 and jumps the total number of awards earned in its two-and-a-half years of publication to 60.

One of the largest press contests in the country, the NCPA receives thousands of entries annually. Of this year’s NCPA awards, The Paper won 10 first-place, five second-place, and six third-place awards. Judges were from the Nebraska Press Association who focused on print and digital submissions from April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025.

First-place winners:

• Devan Berry, Advertising (three separate awards — Humor, Real Estate, Service Ad)
• Sandra Wilkerson Queen, Arts & Entertainment Reporting (Legend of Sleepy Hollow)
• Angela Kuper Copeland and Marty Queen, Investigative Reporting (Housing Crisis)
• Allen VanNoppen, Lighter Columns (Parking Lot Guy, Birdmageddon, Sad Saga of the Lima Bean)
• Bill Poteat, Profile Feature (Tommy Sain — Community Fixture)
• Marty Queen, Serious Columns (Answering the Call, Farewell Curtis Creek, Confronting the Past)
• The Paper Staff, General News Reporting (Hurricane Helene coverage)
• The Paper Staff, Special Section (Hurricane Helene)

Second-place winners:

• Devan Berry, Advertising (Retail Ad)
• Paul Schenkel, Sports Column (PS NCPA)
• Bill Poteat, Serious Columns (Bruce Hawkins, Job Loss Left Me Devastated, Burke County Voting)
• Angela Kuper Copeland, Editorials (Missed Opportunity, Hidden Costs in Legislative Catch-alls, Time to Move On)
• Allen VanNoppen, City, County Government Reporting (Valdese Council Bypass Open Meetings Laws)

Third-place winners:

• Devan Berry, Online Advertising (Woofstock)
• Marty Queen, News Feature Writing (Bridgewater Damn Back in Business)
• Paul Schenkel, Sports News Writing (Draughn, EB, Patton back together as realignment wraps up)
• Josh McKinney, Sports Feature Writing (It’s Not What Defines Me)
• Lisa Price, Photo Page or Essay (Painting the Town)
• Marty Queen, City, County Government Reporting (Interbasin Water Basin Water Grab)

“These awards reflect a team of talented, curious, and fiercely committed people with a shared mission: to inform, inspire, and serve the community,” Copeland said. “It’s rewarding for the judges to acknowledge the care we put into every story, ad, and layout.”