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2023 General Excellence Awards for The Falmouth Outlook
By Carolyn Reid
Marilyn Belcher, co-owner of the Falmouth Outlook, could not contain herself after she and Neil left the annual awards ceremony at the Kentucky Press Association.
“At this year’s Kentucky Press Association awards, we are bringing home 44 advertising and news awards, including First Place General Excellence in Advertising and Second Place General Excellence in News!” she posted on Facebook.
The ceremony ended the annual Kentucky Press Association’s conference as it does every year. This year was more exciting for the Falmouth Outlook because more papers entered than have in many years, meaning the local paper could see more how it stands in the state.
We stand strong.
Advertising, with the leadership of Jessie Beckett and Sam McClanahan, claimed 12 first-place awards, including general excellence, and 19 second- and third-place awards. These awards are usually judged by the use of graphics and content, requiring them to use as much color and style as possible while getting the message across with as few words as possible. The ad department has up to 24 categories they can enter.
The editorial side grabbed five first-place and seven second- and third-place awards, including second place for general excellence. The editorial side is judged on information, use of documentation, use of photos, depth of investigation, or just plain telling a good story. Editorial is divided into 27 categories.
All of the submitted content fell between the months of October 2023 to the end of September 2024.
Without further ado, we give you the 2024 winning entries for the Falmouth Outlook.
Automotive: 1st place for spacing, the use of color, and design elements — 27 Auto--Jessie Beckett; 3rd place — Jim Shell Auto — Jessie Beckett and Sam McClanahan
Hardware: 1st place for eye appeal and information — Heilman Hardware — Jessie Beckett
Professional Services (category sweep): 1st place — F&M Transport — Jessie Beckett and Sam McClanahan; 2nd place — TC Electric — Jessie Beckett; 3rd place — Johnson Heating — Jessie Beckett and Sam McClanahan
Food and Alcohol: 1st place — Mustang’s — Jessie Beckett and Sam McClanahan; 3rd place — Wyatt’s — Jessie Beckett
Clothing Store: 2nd place — Randy’s Clothing Moonlight Madness — Jessie Beckett; 3rd place — Randy’s Clothing
Healthcare: 1st place — Sorrell Home Medical — Jessie Beckett
Entertainment and Dining: 3rd place for a picture of a spaghetti dinner that draws the reader in — Rotary Dinner — Jessie Beckett
Special section: 3rd place for “nice layout, great stories about events being held” — Wool Fest — Jessie Beckett
Best cover from Special Section: 1st place for leading “in the direction of what the section is all about wool and where it comes from and the locals who care for an raise the sheep”--positive the sheep were local — Wool Fest — Jessie Beckett
Group Promotion: 1st place — Randy’s Moonlight Madness — Jessie Beckett; 2nd place--Xanadu Moonlight Madness
Agriculture/Lawn and Garden: 2nd place — 4H and Extension Program — Jessie Beckett; 3rd place — Farmers Market
Best Political Ad (category sweep): 1st place — Alan Whaley — Jessie Beckett; 2nd place — David Fields — Jessie Beckett; 3rd place — Josh Plummer — Jessie Beckett
Best Use of Color: 1st place — Women’s Night of Worship — Jessie Beckett; 2nd place — Outlook New Year
Best Holiday Ad: 1st place — Mineer Heating Christmas — Jessie Beckett; 2nd place — Trinity New Year — Jessie Beckett
General/Miscellaneous: 2nd place — NKY Monument Appreciation — Jessie Beckett and Sam McClanahan; 3rd place — Cupid’s Helpers — Jessie Beckett
Special Events: 1st place — PC Farm Tour — Jessie Beckett; 2nd place — Wool Fest Holiday — Jessie Beckett
Editorial
Best Breaking News: 2nd place--Scott Collins 1968-2022 — A tribute to our colleague Scott Collins who died suddenly October 2, 2022 — Staff
Best General News Story: 2nd place — “Every Facebook post, every door I knocked on…” Coverage of Falmouth City Council meeting where Sebastian Ernst gave reasons that people elected him — Carolyn Reid; 3rd place — Falmouth City Council commits over $70,000 in spending during questionable regular meeting — Coverage of Falmouth City Council meeting when a split vote on council, broken by Mayor Sebastian Ernst, led to the purchase of the Falmouth School Center, a building that was about to be taken by an organization to address housing; it also included the acceptance of Councilperson Tim Morrison’s resignation immediately following the vote — Carolyn Reid.
Best Feature Story: 1st place — A team of teachers, a Facebook post, and a proud principal all contribute to dream job for local child — Lane Hartzel’s rise to Official Hershey Taste-tester after the school and his parents worked together to find a position for him for career day — Carolyn Reid; 2nd place — NKU HeyU Pep Band director and PCHS alum lit up Birmingham at NCAA Tourney — Will Redden was the talk of social media after he was caught on video having the time of his life, directing the NKU Pep Band — Carolyn Reid
Best Investigative Story: 1st place — “We have to dismantle everything because of one administration” — The county defended to the Falmouth Outlook its creation of a new fire department as the county questioned the wisdom of the action — Carolyn Reid; 2nd place — Grant County judge reassures, but locals question plan to dispatch 911 to KSP — Covered the controversy surrounding the sale of local dispatch to Kentucky State Police — Carolyn Reid.
Best Lede: Certificate of Merit (only entry) — first lines of the Marty Hart hiring story, the Lane Hartzel Hershey story, and the story about the two semis who…uh…had some difficulty as they passed through this county in early 2023.
Best Headline Writer: 1st place — A Tale of Two Semis; According to parents, PC Rec is a wreck; Thursday night fights — Carolyn Reid
Best Picture Essay (Breaking, General, or Feature): 1st place — The county celebrates the life of a servant — Coverage of the funeral of Fire Chief David Marquardt — Outlook Staff
Best Special Section/Best Sports Special Section: 1st place — Pendleton County Guide — Outlook Staff; 3rd place — Wool Fest Guide — Outlook Staff
Publisher Neil Belcher shared his joy. “Marilyn and I are extremely proud of our Outlook team for their hard work and dedication to bring quality community journalism to our readers week-in and week-out. It means so much to see their efforts acknowledged and rewarded by their peers in the newspaper industry. We can’t say enough about how proud we are of our staff.”