Owensboro Times brought home 40 total awards from the Kentucky Press Association (KPA) annual convention this weekend, including 2nd place overall in General Excellence in their division of both the advertising and news contests.
OT can also boast another top honor, with Managing Editor Ryan Richardson being the KPA Journalist of the Year for the Daily Division.
Co-founders Jason Tanner and Christy Chaney noted that aside from the focus on digital storytelling, one thing that sets Owensboro Times apart is the dedication to local journalism. Established in 2018, OT is the only locally owned news outlet in Daviess County.
“We’re local people telling the stories of other local people and businesses. But we’re not just here to report on the community, we’re here to support it,” Chaney said. “We create a lot of content that highlights the people, places, and moments that make this community special. Owensboro Times is all about keeping local news local, staying true to the heart of community journalism.”
Tanner added that every person on the team is forward-thinking and pushes to move the company to new heights, always in an effort to provide the best product for the community.
“Since day one, OT has embraced the idea that local journalism is evolving more rapidly than ever, not just in terms of how people consume news but also the type of content they’re looking for. Something that makes us unique is we understand it’s not a one-size-fits-all model,” Tanner said. “Some people want quick videos, some want investigative reporting, some want feel-good features. We’ve got it all, and it’s all at the touch of a fingertip.”
For the KPA advertising awards, all news outlets that publish content daily compete in a single Daily Division. For the news awards, those same outlets are divided into Daily 1 and Daily 2 divisions based on size, with OT competing in Daily 1.
The OT staff won the following awards:
Journalist of the Year (Daily Division)
- Journalist of the Year — Ryan Richardson
News contest (Daily 1 Division)
- General Excellence — 2nd
- Breaking News Coverage — 1st (Ryan Richardson) and 3rd (John Kirkpatrick)
- Investigative Story or Series — 3rd (Ryan Richardson)
- Ongoing/Extended Coverage Story — 1st (Ryan Richardson) and 3rd (Staff)
- Lede — 3rd (John Kirkpatrick)
- Use of Social Media or Multimedia — 1st (Ryan Richardson and Nathan Seaton), 2nd (Staff), and 3rd (Staff)
- Video — 1st (John Kirkpatrick and Ryan Richardson) and 2nd (Ryan Richardson)
- Website — 3rd
- Breaking News Picture — 1st (Jason Tanner) and 2nd (Ryan Richardson)
- General News — 3rd (Ryan Richardson)
- Feature Picture — 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (all Ryan Richardson)
- Sports Picture Essay — 1st and 2nd (both Ryan Richardson)
- Special Section/Sports Special Section — 3rd (Staff)
Ad contest (Daily Division)
- General Excellence — 2nd
- Department/Discount/Jewelry — 2nd
- Automotive — 1st
- Financial — 1st
- Professional — 1st
- Entertainment/Dining — 1st
- Group Promotion — 1st
- Political — 1st and 2nd
- Use of Color — 1st and 3rd
- Ad Series — 1st and 2nd
- Holiday Ad — 2nd
- General/Miscellaneous — 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
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