By Reader Staff
The three full-time staff members of the Sandpoint Reader celebrated a winning night at the annual Idaho Press Club awards banquet May 3 in Boise, bringing home 14 honors, including second place for General Excellence in the weekly publication category.
Senior Writer Soncirey Mitchell earned a total of six awards, including: first place for Light Feature Report with her story “Theory of the Unknown Origin: ‘They’re eating the pets’”; first and second place in Arts/Entertainment Report for “Mother, daughter, temptress, victim: The fate of female characters in pop culture” and “This hobbit kills fascists: JD Vance and the attempted perversion of The Lord of the Rings”; and first place for Political Report with “‘Fleecing the Flock’: BCRCC appoints Commissioner-elect Domke to Dist. 1 BOCC seat.”
Mitchell also earned third place in the General News Story category for “‘Nothing more than a narcissist refusing to come back down to reality,’” and third place for Column writing with her pieces “Sister of Eve,” “No exit: Seeing a male doctor as a woman” and “Still, there is pizza.”
From left to right: Ben Olson, Soncirey Mitchell and Zach Hagadone with their first place plaques. Courtesy photo
Editor-in-Chief Zach Hagadone gathered a total of five awards, including first place in the Series category for his ongoing reporting on the arson of Army Surplus No. 1 and first place in the Editorial category for “Sundown state: Hypocrisy, cynicism and irony from the Statehouse to the sidewalks of Coeur d’Alene.”
He also won second place honors in Political Report with “Sheriff’s temporary resignation draws ‘concerns’ from local GOP chair,” Election Report for “Out-of-county money trickling into Dist. 3 commissioner race” and Business Report with “Signs point to Amazon as future tenant of new development near Sandpoint Airport.”
Publisher Ben Olson won first place in Health/Medical Report for “Getting a leg up: Bonner General Health’s exoskeleton suit is kind of a big deal” and third place in Light Feature Report with “Hot springs people: An aquatic bestiary.”
In addition, Hagadone was elected by the statewide membership to serve on the Idaho Press Club’s board, which represents a wide range of media outlets and serves as the professional organization for Idaho journalism and public relations.
The IPC provides training opportunities, lobbies the Legislature on issues of press freedom and access, and assists members with communications related to everything from media law and public records requests to changes within the news and P.R. industries.
“As a longtime member of the Idaho Press Club, I’m honored to have been asked to represent not only the Reader in our statewide organization, but also member media outlets in North Idaho,” Hagadone said. “Awards are nice, but I’m more excited to be given the opportunity to directly support the essential work that Idaho journalists do every day — especially in a time when that work is more essential than ever.”
The Reader wasn’t the only panhandle newspaper to earn accolades at the IPC banquet. The Bonner County Daily Bee also won second place for General Excellence in the Daily Publication category. Managing Editor Caroline Lobsinger won second place in Light Feature for her story “Historic Mystery” and third place in General News Story for “Fire Destroys Army Surplus.” Meanwhile, Staff Writer Eric Welch took home third place in the Agriculture Report category for “My Own Private Garlic Party” and third place for Rookie of the Year among daily publications.
Finally, the Bonners Ferry Herald won first place awards in the weekly Sports Prep and Education Report categories, and second place for Staff Reporter Ned Newton as Rookie of the Year for weekly publications.
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